According to statistics from Ho Chi Minh City, after arranging administrative units, the city currently has 52 wards and communes (48 wards and 4 communes) that do not meet the area standards according to Resolution No. 112/2025 of the National Assembly Standing Committee.
The resolution stipulates that mountainous communes must have a minimum area of 100 km2 and a population of 5,000 people; island communes have an area of 15 km2 and a population of 2,500 people; the remaining communes must have a minimum area of 30 km2 and a population of 16,000 people. For wards, the standard is a population of 21,000 people and a minimum area of 5.5 km2.
Ba Diem commune was established on the basis of merging three communes Ba Diem, Xuan Thoi Thuong and Trung Chanh (former Hoc Mon district). This is the commune with the largest population in Ho Chi Minh City with more than 204,000 people, but the area is 27.36 km2 - lower than the minimum level of 30 km2 for the commune.
Hoc Mon commune was formed from Hoc Mon town along with Tan Hiep and Tan Xuan communes (former Hoc Mon district), with more than 93,000 people but an area of only 16.43 km2.
Binh Chanh commune was established on the basis of merging the entire Tan Quy Tay commune, part of An Phu Tay commune and Binh Chanh commune (former Binh Chanh district). This locality has more than 76,000 people, while the area is only 21.33 km2.
Meanwhile, Long Hai commune was established from Long Hai town along with Phuoc Tinh and Phuoc Hung communes (old Ba Ria - Vung Tau province). The commune has more than 109,000 people, but the area of 27.93 km2, also does not meet the standards for commune-level administrative units.
However, all four localities are among the 29 communes that the Standing Committee of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee agreed on the policy of establishing wards.
Previously, localities had organized to collect voters' opinions on the establishment of wards and all received a consensus rate of over 94%. The People's Councils of communes also issued resolutions approving the policy of establishing wards on the basis of maintaining the current status of administrative boundaries.
According to the procedure, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee will submit to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council for consideration and approval of the policy. After that, the dossier is sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs for appraisal, and submitted to the Government to report to the National Assembly Standing Committee to decide on the establishment of new wards.
Notably, when converting from commune to ward, Ba Diem, Hoc Mon, Binh Chanh and Long Hai will no longer apply the minimum area standard of 30 km2 at the commune level but switch to the 5.5 km2 standard at the ward level.
With the current area from 16.43 km2 to 27.93 km2, all four localities far exceed the area standards for wards, and all meet the requirements for population size.
