Speculating on World-Class Transportation Infrastructure in Ho Chi Minh City
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 March 2019
Summary
INTRODUCTION
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) has seen its population and the number of vehicles on its roads rapidly increase over the last ten years. Today, there are close to 8 million motorbikes in the city, and over half a million cars. Recently, the Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, Nguyen Thanh Phong attributed rising congestion problems to larger-than-expected population growth. Estimates that had put HCMC at 10 million inhabitants by 2025 have already been vastly exceeded, and Nguyen announced that the city is already home to roughly 13 million inhabitants. The number of motorbikes on the roads is now at 7.6 million, alongside over 700,000 cars. Recent data show that over 1,000 new motorbikes are added into traffic each day.
The city has responded in various ways to these strains on the transport infrastructure and to its growing congestion problems. Most recently, HCMC authorities, following their counterparts in Hanoi, have been considering the implementation of a motorbike ban in the urban core. Urban planning analysts have advised against such a drastic measure, citing that such a ban would exacerbate the pri
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- Publisher: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak InstitutePrint publication year: 2017