sidewalks in Ho Chi Minh City continue to be encroached, pedestrians have to ask for directions

The painful prospect of pedestrians having to "assign a way"

After 3 days of traveling with her family in Ho Chi Minh City, Ms. Duong Cam Linh (23 years old, from Quang Tri) said she felt tired from being congested during rush hour and having to constantly "assign for directions" when walking on the sidewalk.

"We took a walk in the city center but it was very difficult because motorbikes took up the whole sidewalk, sometimes we had to walk on the road because there was no way to go," Ms. Linh shared.

Not only tourists, many people living and working in Ho Chi Minh City are also upset because the sidewalk is everywhere occupied.

After finishing work, Ms. Nguyen Thi Mai (32 years old, office worker, old District 3) was upset: "Every day I have to walk a section from the parking lot to the company. But there is not much walking space on the sidewalk, motorbikes are packed, not to mention street vendors and restaurants are everywhere. One day I had to get into the flow of cars on the road, it was very dangerous.

Install a camera system to manage sidewalk encroachment

At a press conference on the socio-economic situation in Ho Chi Minh City on July 24, Mr. Nguyen Kien Giang - Deputy Head of the Department of Traffic Construction Maintenance and Exploitation Management, Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction informed about the challenges in restoring order on roads and sidewalks.

According to Mr. Giang, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction continues to record many violations related to the illegal use of roadways and sidewalks for business, parking or construction barriers. These violations are quite common in areas bordering administrative boundaries, densely populated residential areas, spontaneous markets and around large hospitals.

A representative of the Department of Construction said that one of the current outstanding difficulties is the change in the mechanism for handling violations. Previously, the authority to sanction acts of encroachment on sidewalks and roadsides belonged to the People's Committees at the district level, however, from July 1, 2025, this authority was transferred to the commune and ward levels.

This poses an urgent need to review the functions, tasks and implementation capacity of forces at the grassroots level.

Although the handling has changed positively in some areas, the situation of violations continues. To overcome this, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction is implementing a number of synchronous solutions. In the immediate future, the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Management and Operation Center will survey and propose installing camera systems in areas where violations frequently occur, to support recording, fines and monitoring urban order.

In addition, the Department is also advising on the establishment of interdisciplinary inspection teams to assess and supervise sidewalk management on complex routes - especially in the border areas between Binh Duong province and Thu Duc city ( administrative boundaries before the merger). Coordination with these localities will be strengthened in the coming time to create clear changes in the field.