The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has just issued a decision to cancel Decision 32/2023/QD-UBND dated July 26, 2023 regulating the management and temporary use of part of roadways and sidewalks in the city.
Currently, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction is developing a Project for management and exploitation of sidewalks and roads to apply to the entire city after merging Binh Duong and Ba Ria - Vung Tau.
The goal of the project is to effectively exploit the sidewalk space for activities outside of traffic, while still ensuring safety, order and urban aesthetics.
However, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction said that many practical issues arising in Ho Chi Minh City have not been regulated in Decree 165/2024/ND-CP, such as the temporary use of sidewalks for business services, buying and selling goods or placing temporary works. In addition, Decree 44/2024/ND-CP on management and exploitation of assets of road traffic infrastructure is not in accordance with the characteristics of Ho Chi Minh City after the merger.
Therefore, the Department of Construction recommends that the Ministry of Construction review and propose the Government to amend related decrees to serve as a legal basis for developing a new project, aiming at effective, transparent and consistent sidewalk management with the reality of Ho Chi Minh City.
According to Decision 32, from the beginning of 2024, some activities are allowed to be used with fees for part of sidewalks and roads such as: organizing cultural - sports events, festivals, parades; parking for cultural activities; business services, buying and selling goods; parking for vehicles with fees; transporting household waste...
The fee ranges from 50,000 - 350,000 VND/m2/month for vehicle parking activities; from 20,000 - 100,000 VND/m2/month for other purposes such as business services, trading, organizing cultural events, etc.
However, it was not until May 2024 that District 1 (formerly) was the first locality to pilot sidewalk rental as a service business location, then expanded to districts 3, 4, 8, 10, 12 (previously).
According to a report by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction, as of July 2025, the total amount of fees collected is only about 8.5 billion VND.
After more than a year of piloting, the actual amount of money collected is too low compared to initial expectations. Previously, when developing the project, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport (now the Department of Construction) calculated that with more than 600 roads with a road surface of over 9 m, if exploited for rent as parking lots, the revenue could reach about 550 billion VND per year.
In addition, about 1,143 roads with sidewalks 3 m or more wide, if rented for business activities, are expected to bring in more than 971 billion VND/year.
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction assessed that toll collection helps legalize temporary sidewalk use activities, contributing to improving urban aesthetics.
However, the implementation process is still not synchronous, many localities have not implemented it strictly, leading to the situation of illegal traffic trading and parking still commonly; at the same time, there are concerns about the transparency and effectiveness of the policy.
