26/12/2017
As of December 2016, Việt Nam has 795 towns with an urbanization rate of 35.5%. Rapid urbanization has created an overload for infrastructure and negative environmental impact. Over the past years, urban environmental management has made considerable progress. This includes the improvement of urban environmental protection regulations and policies, increase in investment and resources for urban environmental protection, implementation of projects and programs on environmental quality improvement and remediation, and improved air and water quality in some urban areas. However, shortcomings and obstacles remain in pollution control and planning which have led to ongoing pollution in numerous urban areas, in particular big cities.
Urban planning integrated with environmental protection
As early as in 1998, Prime Minister approved an orientation master plan for urban development in Việt Nam to 2020. In 2009, it was revised and reapproved for urban development to 2020 with a vision to 2050. The master plan was developed on the basis of sustainability, suitable spatial planning and wise use of natural resources and energy, environmental protection and ecological balance. Using this master plan as a guide, Prime Minister issued regulations on urban development of five big cities: Hà Nội, Thừa Thiên-Huế, Đà Nẵng, Hồ Chí Minh and Cần Thơ.
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| Đà Nẵng is considered as the green, clean, beautiful and most livable city in Việt Nam |
At a local level, some provinces and cities have developed and approved their urban development master plans, for example Bắc Giang, Hải Phòng and Bình Thuận. In other places, urban development has been integrated into socioeconomic development master plans. These master plans include urban management into environmental protection. As for Hà Nội, urban development has been mentioned in the Capital City Law. Some other cities, notably Đà Nẵng, have effectively realized urban development planning and achieved considerable success. Đà Nẵng is one of the few cities which are considered as a green, clean, beautiful and most livable city in Việt Nam.
However, the implementation of urban development master plans has encountered numerous issues both at national and local levels. The most pressing issue is rapid urbanization while infrastructure insufficiently meets requirements, leading to serious traffic jams, flooding due to overloaded sewage systems and increasing pollution. For big and old cities, it is difficult to implement the master plans regarding urban zoning. In addition, climate change and sea level rise have put additional pressure on the outdated infrastructure of coastal cities.
Developing and completing environmental regulations
Environmental protection and urban environmental management have been detailed in current regulations. For example, the Law on Environmental Protection 2014 has updated stipulations on water, air and solid waste management. National environmental technical regulations and standards have been regularly reviewed and updated. These are among advanced measures for urban environmental management. However, some specific regulations on solid waste and air pollution control in urban areas are still needed. In addition, big gaps exist between regulations and their enforcement and compliance.
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| Automatic Air Monitoring Station in Hồng Hà Commune (Hạ Long City, Quảng Ninh) |
Investment and resource mobilization in urban environmental protection
In the period of 2012 - 2016, investment and resources for urban environmental management continued to increase and diversify. At the national and local levels, programs and projects on environmental management were implemented and expanded. However, most resources were from state budgets. The projects mainly focused on construction of sanitary landfills, hospital waste treatment and centralized wastewater treatment.
The rate of urban works with environmental treatment facilities has increased by 4-5% compared to the previous period. The implementation of a master plan of medical waste treatment for the period 2011 - 2015 has contributed to minimizing untreated medical waste discharge. In addition, international aid and loan projects as well as private sector contribution have enhanced urban environmental management. In this period, ODA funding for environmental projects was estimated at about 3,769 million USD. In addition, socialization funding for solid waste collection and treatment has increased.
However, funding for urban environmental management has failed to meet demand. Allocation of resources for urban environmental management has been imbalanced. Private sector involvement in urban environmental projects remains limited due to insufficient enabling polices.
Environmental monitoring
Urban areas are one of the key areas for regular environmental monitoring. Environmental monitoring has been implemented for a long period to provide necessary information for environmental management, education, propaganda and development of environmental remediation programs. In addition, automatic environmental monitoring stations have been expanded, mostly in urban areas.
Over some years of implementation, environmental monitoring results have contributed to identifying pollution sources and provide input to development of environmental reports, management and public disclosure. However, the number of automatic monitoring stations remains very small that insufficiently provides input for assessment and publication of the state of the environment. Therefore, environmental quality projects remain limited. In addition, funding for operating monitoring station is insufficient, leading to incomplete assessment of environmental quality trends.
Public disclosure, awareness raising and community mobilization
In urban areas, thanks to easy access to environmental information, with the majority of population having good education, environmental awareness is relatively higher than population in other areas. To meet demand, various forms of environmental information have been introduced. However, a considerable proportion of the population has not paid due attention to environmental protection and still maintain environmentally unfriendly habits. Therefore, public awareness raising for urban population needs to continue.
To address shortcomings in environmental management, it is necessary to take priority measures of dust and air pollution control, improving drainage of urban canals and rivers, sewage systems, wastewater and solid waste treatment and urban planning. In addition, it is necessary to implement comprehensive measures to overcome challenges to mitigate and remedy pollution in urban areas. These have been highlighted in Prime Minister’s Directive 25/CT-TTg dated 31/8/2016 on some urgent measures for environmental protection, including urban environmental protection.
Nguyễn Văn Thùy, Mạc Thị Minh Trà, Nguyễn Thị Hoa
Centre for Environmental Monitoring
Vietnam Environment Administration (VEA)
