The revised Master Plan for Ho Chi Minh City to 2040, with a vision extending to 2060 establishes a transformative spatial framework anchored on six distinct planning regions. This article examines the scientific rationale, strategic objectives, and implementation solutions underlying this visionary model.
The imperative for spatial transformation
- Critical infrastructure overload at the urban core: Population densities exceed 30,000 people/km² in several inner districts, rivaling the world’s most congested urban areas including Hong Kong, Mumbai, and Manila.
- Mobility crisis: Peak-hour average travel times reach 42 minutes per journey—exceeding Bangkok and Tokyo despite significantly lower vehicle ownership rates (HCMC Department of Transport, 2024).
- Escalating flood vulnerability: 23% of the urban area sits below historical tide levels; the October 2024 storm (180mm in 3 hours) inundated 71 major routes with over 30cm of water. Climate adaptation demands differentiated responses across varying topographies.
- Spatial inequity in economic opportunities: Peripheral areas lack substantial employment centers beyond manufacturing.
- Expanding access to urban nature: Redistributing development toward peripheral areas with available land and natural assets enables the creation of large-scale parks, bringing residents into closer harmony with green environments.
International best practices
Singapore’s polycentric planning strategy divides the island into five regions—Central, East, West, North, and Northeast—each anchored by regional centers like Tampines (East) and Jurong East (West). These centers concentrate employment, commerce, and public services around major transit interchanges connecting 2-3 urban rail lines. This model directly parallels Ho Chi Minh City’s regional center concept. Combined with Electronic Road Pricing, Singapore achieved a 20-25% reduction in central business district traffic.
Seoul organizes the metropolis into five integrated living zones, each featuring city-level centers (such as Gangnam in the Southeast). Twenty-three subway lines and transit-oriented corridors maintain over 60% public transport modal share, keep journey times under one hour, and expanded green space to 18.74 square meters per resident by 2023.
Tokyo structures the metropolis across three major regions: the Central 23 Special Wards, the Western Urban Area (Tama), and the Tokyo Bay Islands (Izu-Ogasawara). Within the central region, three sub-centers—Shinjuku, Shibuya, and Ikebukuro—complement the historic Marunouchi core, seamlessly connected via the Yamanote Loop and cross-city metro lines. The western region features satellite cities like Tachikawa and Hachioji as rail-connected regional centers. This polycentric network delivered a 23% CO₂ emission reduction within four years.
Six distinctive regions: leveraging HCMC’s unique assets
 Figure 2: Areas with varying flood risks require different response strategies. Source: enCity for the Ho Chi Minh City Master Plan Revision to 2040, Vision 2060 |  Figure 3: Ho Chi Minh City’s diverse ecological landscape zones, largely disconnected from existing urban experiences. Source: enCity for the Ho Chi Minh City Master Plan Revision to 2040, Vision 2060 |
HCMC possesses an extraordinary diversity of landscapes rarely found within a single metropolis: heritage riverside districts along the Saigon River; Thu Thiem Peninsula and southern Thu Duc’s urban wetland ecosystems; Binh Chanh’s geometric canal networks channeling water to agricultural fields; Cu Chi’s distinctive gray soils supporting rubber plantations and specialized farming; Nha Be’s wetland systems serving as the city’s southern water retention basin; and the expansive 35,000-hectare Can Gio Biosphere Reserve at the southern terminus.
Each region embodies distinct geological, pedological, and ecological characteristics, currently engaged primarily in small-scale agriculture and tourism without generating differentiated urban experiences for city residents. Moreover, each landscape requires tailored flood adaptation strategies: northern highlands need retention ponds to moderate downstream flows; established low-lying urban areas require protective infrastructure and enhanced local storage; while new low-lying developments should embrace adaptive models that reduce costs and environmental impacts while preserving landscape character.
Demographically, while the population remains concentrated in the historic core, peripheral areas experience explosive growth, generating infrastructure and service demands. Without bespoke development strategies for each region, urban expansion risks becoming synonymous with indiscriminate concretization, erasing local identity, and triggering environmental degradation. Currently, employment and amenities remain centralized, overwhelming transport networks serving center-periphery movements.
To forge a globally connected yet authentically local metropolis, the revised master plan has structured HCMC into six strategic development regions:
1. The central region
The region encompasses Districts 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, Phu Nhuan, and Binh Thanh across 172 km², projecting 5.4-6.05 million residents by 2040. The iconic Le Loi-Nguyen Hue corridor and the emerging Thu Thiem Peninsula center function as both regional and metropolitan centers, concentrating financial services, government, civic squares, and heritage networks. Transformation emphasizes enhanced public and active transportation (cycling, pedestrian), expanded pedestrian zones and green corridors, particularly strengthening connections to the Saigon River waterfront. Heritage assets are preserved in integrated clusters, creating immersive cultural and historical urban experiences.
2. The eastern region: innovation metropolis
Spanning 211 km² with 2.64 million projected residents by 2030, this region concentrates research institutions, universities, technology campuses, premium residential developments, logistics hubs including Cat Lai and Long Binh ports, and dynamic cultural-design-premium service clusters. While Thu Thiem serves as the metropolitan commercial-service center, the eastern region’s strategic core emerges at Truong Tho—positioned to become a pioneering urban laboratory. The Truong Tho center offers substantial development capacity with expansion potential toward Thanh Da and Rach Chiec.
3. The western region:
Integrating Binh Chanh and Binh Tan districts across 252 km² with approximately 3.10 million residents, this region’s canal infrastructure mirrors Mekong Delta patterns. East-west canals will be preserved as urban waterways while north-south channels undergo naturalization to moderate flow and enhance retention. As HCMC’s western gateway, the regional center anchors at the Tan Kien Transit-Oriented Development surrounding the HCMC-Can Tho railway terminus, integrating two urban rail lines with highway and arterial connections.
4. The northern region:
Comprising District 12, Hoc Mon, and Cu Chi across 579 km² with 2.30 million residents, this region has large agricultural land reserves but rapidly shrinking due to spontaneous urbanization. The master plan guidelines preserve agriculture-integrated urban characteristics while emphasizing landscape connectivity and traditional markets as essential public realms. With elevated topography, abundant green infrastructure, major river boundaries, and emerging high-speed transport including Ring Roads 3 and 4, the HCMC-Moc Bai Highway, and Tay Ninh railway, northern urbanization will intensify. The regional center strategically positions at the Hoc Mon-Cu Chi interface, offering scenic landscapes, substantial land reserves, proximity to historic Hoc Mon, and critical transport convergence.
5. The southern region:
Incorporating District 7 and Nha Be across 194 km² with 1.35 million residents, this region possesses exceptional potential for world-class urban development through existing investments and distinctive wetland landscapes. Environmental challenges include positioning within the metropolitan flood corridor and challenging soil conditions. The planning strategy envisions a network of elevated island developments amid preserved wetlands, featuring transit-oriented communities while maintaining natural, adaptive land-water interfaces. Phu My Hung anchors the regional center with strengthened connections to other metropolitan centers via public transit and direct linkage to Long Thanh Airport through Phu My Bridge 2 and the Ben Luc-Long Thanh Expressway.
6. Coastal region: marine innovation
The region is centered on Can Gio District across 732 km² with 600,000 residents by 2040, concentrated in northern Phuoc Khanh and southern Can Thanh areas. The region mostly comprises mangrove biosphere reserves and agricultural lands. Urban design strategies recommend freshwater reservoir systems between existing mainland areas and marine zones, simultaneously enhancing landscape values and providing local water resources for urban development. Planning innovations include pilot floating urban communities, renewable energy zones, and preservation of distinctive spiritual and cultural spaces characteristic of historic coastal settlements.
This six-region framework enables HCMC to alleviate pressure on the heritage core while achieving equitable distribution of economic opportunities and urban services, unlocking potential for transformative new investments. Integrated with the comprehensive metro-BRT system, this polycentric model transcends current challenges—addressing transport bottlenecks, flood vulnerability, and environmental degradation—while building capacity for global city status.
Author: Dzung Do Nguyen, CEO of enCity
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