Delegates speak at the seminar (Photo: VNA)Da Nang (VNA) – The People’sCommittee of Da Nang city held an international seminar with CityNet on“Investing in Sustainable Urbanisation” in the central city on November 22,focusing on sustainable city finance and urban infrastructure investments.
In his remarks at the seminar, Vice Chairman ofthe municipal People’s Committee Ho Ky Minh said the local administration aimsto sustainably develop Da Nang. In 2014, the city adopted a project to build asmart city which outlined five priority areas, namely transport, water supply,drainage, food safety control, and building a connected city, he noted.
The event provided a platform for city membersof CityNet, like Da Nang, to share their best practices and discuss how toaddress some of the challenges of investing in sustainable urbanisation, thevice chairman added.
CityNet, a regional network of localauthorities for the management of human settlements, was founded in Nagoya,Japan in 1987. Starting with 26 members, CityNet has grown to 135 members, madeup of city governments, non-governmental organisations, private companies, andresearch centres. Its members include six cities from Vietnam – Hai Phong,Hanoi, Hue, Da Nang, Quang Nam, and Ho Chi Minh City.
As the largest association of urbanstakeholders committed to sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region,it connects those active in the field to exchange knowledge and find innovativesolutions for urban challenges.
According to the CityNet Secretariat, growingdemand for infrastructure development is a huge challenge to urbanisation.Urban communities largely depend on effective urban planning, as well as accessto affordable public services. However, they have limited access to cityfinance to do so, not to mention the ever-increasing demands on infrastructure dueto a booming urban population.
City finance is crucial in making cities moresustainable, inclusive, and resilient, said Mary Jane Ortega, CityNet SpecialAdviser. Without sustainable financing and investments in urban infrastructure,cities will not be able to develop solutions to the various challenges they arefacing. So the cities must develop specific programmes for cooperation,particularly in finance for sustainable city development, she added.
Toru Hashimoto, Executive Director of the Departmentof Development Cooperation of Yokohama, Japan, said Yokohama has fosteredinternational partnership with many cities of different countries. In SoutheastAsia, the city has set up ties with Cebu (the Philippines), Bangkok (Thailand),and Da Nang (Vietnam), he said.
He further noted that Da Nang is growing fastand will experience similar urban issues to Yokohama’s. Rapid economic growth,together with a booming population, will trigger traffic congestion, pollution,declining disaster resilience, and difficulties in urban management.
To address these, Yokohama and Da Nang haveworked together in a number of projects, including the building of Lien ChieuPort under a public-private partnership contract and the application of a jointcrediting mechanism (JCM) to install high-efficiency pumps at the Da Nang WaterSupply Company, Hashimoto said.
He revealed that Yokohama is surveyinglocations and looking into all possible organic solutions to help Da Nang copewith pollution and develop smart public transport in the Vietnamese city. –VNA
In his remarks at the seminar, Vice Chairman ofthe municipal People’s Committee Ho Ky Minh said the local administration aimsto sustainably develop Da Nang. In 2014, the city adopted a project to build asmart city which outlined five priority areas, namely transport, water supply,drainage, food safety control, and building a connected city, he noted.
The event provided a platform for city membersof CityNet, like Da Nang, to share their best practices and discuss how toaddress some of the challenges of investing in sustainable urbanisation, thevice chairman added.
CityNet, a regional network of localauthorities for the management of human settlements, was founded in Nagoya,Japan in 1987. Starting with 26 members, CityNet has grown to 135 members, madeup of city governments, non-governmental organisations, private companies, andresearch centres. Its members include six cities from Vietnam – Hai Phong,Hanoi, Hue, Da Nang, Quang Nam, and Ho Chi Minh City.
As the largest association of urbanstakeholders committed to sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region,it connects those active in the field to exchange knowledge and find innovativesolutions for urban challenges.
According to the CityNet Secretariat, growingdemand for infrastructure development is a huge challenge to urbanisation.Urban communities largely depend on effective urban planning, as well as accessto affordable public services. However, they have limited access to cityfinance to do so, not to mention the ever-increasing demands on infrastructure dueto a booming urban population.
City finance is crucial in making cities moresustainable, inclusive, and resilient, said Mary Jane Ortega, CityNet SpecialAdviser. Without sustainable financing and investments in urban infrastructure,cities will not be able to develop solutions to the various challenges they arefacing. So the cities must develop specific programmes for cooperation,particularly in finance for sustainable city development, she added.
Toru Hashimoto, Executive Director of the Departmentof Development Cooperation of Yokohama, Japan, said Yokohama has fosteredinternational partnership with many cities of different countries. In SoutheastAsia, the city has set up ties with Cebu (the Philippines), Bangkok (Thailand),and Da Nang (Vietnam), he said.
He further noted that Da Nang is growing fastand will experience similar urban issues to Yokohama’s. Rapid economic growth,together with a booming population, will trigger traffic congestion, pollution,declining disaster resilience, and difficulties in urban management.
To address these, Yokohama and Da Nang haveworked together in a number of projects, including the building of Lien ChieuPort under a public-private partnership contract and the application of a jointcrediting mechanism (JCM) to install high-efficiency pumps at the Da Nang WaterSupply Company, Hashimoto said.
He revealed that Yokohama is surveyinglocations and looking into all possible organic solutions to help Da Nang copewith pollution and develop smart public transport in the Vietnamese city. –VNA
VNA
