In which, the relocation of universities is still prioritized.
After merging with Binh Duong and Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Ho Chi Minh City currently manages more than 12.7 million vehicles, including about 1.4 million cars and more than 11.3 million motorbikes.
This figure clearly reflects the huge pressure on the urban transportation system, which has been overloaded for many years.
In that picture, universities located in the city center are a "soft bottleneck" but have a significant impact.
Hundreds of thousands of students and lecturers move daily during peak hours, bringing great pressure on traffic, parking lots, technical infrastructure and urban services.
The plan to relocate universities out of the center has been discussed for many years, but the implementation is still slow due to problems with land funds, land law, investment capital to build new facilities, as well as the psychology of fear of disruption of schools, lecturers and students.
However, if delays continue, the price to pay will not only be prolonged traffic congestion but also waste of resources for higher education development in the long term.
The core issue is not about "bringing schools far away", but about building true university urban areas. These must be integrated spaces, places for learning, research, living and innovation placed in a complete ecosystem.
The university urban area needs to have dormitories with sufficient accommodation with reasonable costs for students; housing for lecturers and scientists; a modern system of libraries and laboratories; cultural and sports space; startup centers and business linkages.
When learning and living conditions are guaranteed, relocation will no longer be a "must-go" but become an opportunity to improve the quality of training.
University urban areas must be conveniently connected to the city center with a network of high-quality buses and metro. When students and lecturers can move quickly, safely, and at low cost, the attractiveness of facilities outside the center will increase significantly, contributing to reducing personal vehicles and congestion.
Prioritizing relocating universities out of the center, if implemented methodically, will not only contribute to reducing traffic congestion but also open up opportunities to restructure the space for intellectual development in a more sustainable and modern direction.
