According to Dr. Architect Ngo Viet Nam Son - urban planning expert, the biggest lesson from Metro Line 1 is to fully prepare planning, site clearance, capital sources and management mechanisms before starting construction, avoiding the situation of both doing and adjusting, causing the project to be prolonged.
Metro No. 1 takes about 14 years to complete due to many reasons such as adjusting the total investment, changing the mechanism, slow disbursement and obstacles in coordination. To simultaneously complete many lines before 2030, Ho Chi Minh City needs a special mechanism, strong decentralization for investors, and prepares land and capital sources" - Mr. Son said.
According to Mr. Son, mobilizing the private sector to invest in routes such as Ben Thanh - Can Gio, Ben Thanh - Thu Thiem and Thu Thiem - Long Thanh will reduce pressure on the budget. However, the State still has to maintain the role of orienting planning, issuing technical standards and coordinating the entire network for routes to connect synchronously.
He also highly appreciated the expansion of the metro to Binh Duong, Dong Nai and Long Thanh airport, because this will be a driving force for the formation of new urban areas, promoting population expansion and expanding regional development space.
Notably, Ho Chi Minh City has approved the planning of 5 TOD zones along Metro Line No. 2 with a total area of nearly 940ha. According to Mr. Son, if the land value around the stations is effectively exploited, the city will have more resources to reinvest in infrastructure, reducing dependence on the budget.
When 8 metro lines are completed, Ho Chi Minh City will move from a concentrated development model to a multi-center city, connecting Can Gio, Cu Chi, Binh Duong, Tan Son Nhat airport, Long Thanh airport and the national railway network. This will be an important driving force to reduce population density and reduce road traffic pressure" - Mr. Son assessed.
From an economic perspective, Dr. Tran Du Lich - former Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Institute of Economics - believes that the city cannot only rely on the budget but must effectively exploit added value from infrastructure.
According to him, the TOD model needs to be deployed synchronously along metro lines. When infrastructure is invested, the land value around stations will increase, creating conditions for the development of commercial, service, housing and land auction areas to generate revenue for reinvestment.
Metro is not only a transportation project but also an urban development project. If the added value from land is not exploited, it is very difficult to have resources to continue expanding the network" - Dr. Tran Du Lich emphasized.
Mobilizing businesses to participate in metro projects is the right direction, helping to diversify capital sources and reduce the burden of public investment. However, the city needs a transparent and stable benefit sharing mechanism to attract long-term investors.
Mr. Tran Du Lich said that if 8 metro lines are completed by 2030, Ho Chi Minh City will for the first time own an interconnected urban railway network, connecting new urban areas, two international airports and a national railway network, creating a platform to increase the rate of people using public transport, reduce congestion and increase the competitiveness of the largest urban area in the country.
