The Prime Minister issued Decision 2631/QD-TTg approving the Master Plan for Ho Chi Minh City Socio-economic Development till 2020, with a vision towards 2025.
According to this decision, Ho Chi Minh City will be expanded and developed in all directions. The primary eastern direction lies a development corridor supported by Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway and Hanoi Highway. The primary southern direction has a development corridor along Nguyen Huu Tho Road, which focuses on promoting local river and water characteristics and has low construction density. The secondary northwest direction develops along National Assembly 22 and the secondary southwest takes the development corridor as Nguyen Van Linh Road.
The master plan divides the city into six areas of development, including the urban development zone (13 existing districts, six new districts and new townships), industrial development zone (new urban districts, Cu Chi, Hoc Mon, Binh Chanh and Nha Be districts), ecological - tourism zone (along the Sai Gon, Nha Be and Dong Nai rivers, Can Gio mangrove ecosystem), agricultural zone in combination with ecological belt (Cu Chi, Hoc Mon, Binh Chanh and Can Gio districts), rural residential zone (Cu Chi, Hoc Mon, Binh Chanh, Nha Be and Can Gio districts) and nature conservation area (Can Gio mangrove forest, special-use protective forests in Cu Chi and Binh Chanh districts).
The city space is also classified into four functional areas. Particularly, the existing urban area consists of 13 business districts, covering a total area of approximately 14,200 ha and a population of about 4.5 million by 2025. The expanded urban zone will have six new districts, covering 35,200 ha. Towns, rural residential zones and new urban zones in five suburban districts have an area of some 160,200 ha. In addition, parks and industrial zones will comprise one high-tech zone, 20 industrial parks and export processing zones and industrial clusters with a total area of 8,792 ha.
The city development model is based on central - multipolar model. The central zone is the downtown area within a radius of 15 km, including District 1, District 3, part of District 4, Binh Thanh District, and Thu Thiem new urban zone in District 2.
Besides, municipal centres in four directions include Long Truong Ward in District 9 in the east, the Section A of southern city urban zone in the south, the new northwest city urban zone in the north, and the area surrounding the National Road 1 in Tan Kien commune, Binh Chanh district in the west.
Furthermore, urban development is not encouraged at conservation parks such as the Can Gio biosphere reserve and protected forests in the suburban districts of Binh Chanh and Cu Chi.
Construction is strictly restricted in protected areas of Can Gio mangrove forest biosphere reserve, in special protective forest in Cu Chi and Binh Chanh districts, in safety zone of Tan Son Nhat International Airport, military zones, security zones, and protective areas along Dong Nai, Sai Gon and Nha Be rivers.
In rural areas, the Government also requires the development of new large-scale urban areas, namely Tay Bac township in Cu Chi and Hoc Mon districts (6,000 ha), Hiep Phuoc port - urban area in Nha Be district (3,900 ha), agricultural protection land (86,322 ha) in Cu Chi, Hoc Mon, Binh Chanh, Nha Be and Can Gio districts.
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