Ashui.com

An international consulting consortium comprising the US-based Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and the Netherlands’ Royal HaskoningDHV has been chosen to detail out a new master urban plan for the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho, with special emphasis on solutions to cope with climate change.

The city’s Department of Planning and Investment said the consortium will prepare the urban planning for the city for immediate development in the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050, the news site VnExpress.net reported.

A bird’s eye view of Can Tho City. (Photo: Ashui.com)

While BCG will primarily flesh out socio-economic plans for the city and deal with solutions and resources to implement the master urban plan, Royal HaskoningDHV will devise socio-economic development orientations. These include land-use schemes, urban and rural development, technical and social infrastructure systems, environmental protection, prevention of natural disasters and response to climate change.

Preparing the master urban plan for Can Tho City is deemed urgent due to multiple changes with regard to climatic conditions, resources and the socio-economic situation. Climate change and the consequent sea-level rise and land sinking have been accelerating, adversely affecting people’s livelihoods in the Mekong Delta, especially Can Tho City.

The overexploitation of water resources upstream, especially the development of hydropower dams, has affected the watershed, dwindled fish resources and triggered more acute salinity intrusion, let alone environmental pollution and ecological imbalance.

Despite such challenges, urban development schemes in Can Tho City have been aligned to old planning that fails to take into account new changes. The new urban planning is expected to help Can Tho have the vision to pursue a long-term socio-economic development strategy.

(The Saigon Times)