The additional parks are part of a goal to have 3–4 square meters of green space per Saigon resident by 2030.
The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee issued a plan for the remainder of 2022 to establish 10 additional hectares of public parks and two hectares of green space, as well as to plant and rehabilitate 6,000 trees.
The city also requested lists be made for the Department of Natural Resources and Environment detailing public land plots that are zoned for parks but currently used for other purposes so roadmaps can be outlined for transforming them into green spaces.
By 2025, the city aims to add at least 150 hectares of public parks and 10 hectares of public green spaces as part of a 10-year plan ending in 2030. The aim is to get the average area of public parkland and green space in 2030 to 1 square meter and 3–4 square meters per resident, respectively.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it's recommended that urbanites have access to at least 0.5–1 hectare of public green space within 300 meters of their home. While this might be the case for some neighborhoods in District 1, 7, or other new residential enclaves, older districts in Saigon are in dire need of green space.
While Saigon recently revamped the park at Bạch Đằng Wharf and is moving ahead with plans to return Lê Lợi Boulevard to an accessible stretch of the city, few specific locations for increased green space have been offered.
While admirable, the plan to 'green' Saigon faces significant obstacles, specifically the high demand for urban real estate. Developers have long sought more of the valuable land in and around Saigon, while other interests for space include addressing the city's woeful parking situation.
