Urban Planning and Architecture in Industrial Development Zones

A seminar on IZ urban planning and architecture, held in Bien Hoa City, Dong Nai Province in late March 2007, drew over 300 attendants including policymakers, policy researchers, administrators, planners and operators of projects from southern provinces and cities in Southern Focal Economic Zone.

The workshop discussed hindrances to sustainable development in the Southern Focal Economic Zone. The impediments include incompatible development between industrial zones and rural urban zones in size, pace, quality, infrastructure systems and social structures; increasing numbers of workers immigrating to industrial zones lacking facilities for family lifestyles; alarming working environment problems in industrial zones and export processing zones, especially in water-rich regions like Ho Chi Minh City; and the absence of reciprocal cooperation boosting advantages and minimising obstructions for sustainable development.

Delegates focused on analysing and seeking solutions linking urban and rural networks, industrial and export processing zone systems, regional infrastructure, and linkage between regions, to ensure sustainable development. Many attendants also proposed standards for accommodation, quality of life, and environment, for immigrating workers.