Ho Chi Minh City to have four cities under new master plan TUOITRENEWS A corner of Ho Chi Minh City. The city People's Committee has set up a project to reorganize the city under a new urban administration model. Tuoi Tre The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee has built a new urban administration model for the city. If approved by the National Assembly within this year, the new model will be applied in 2016. Accordingly, the city will be re-organized to have four satellite cities revolving around a central area that is comprised of 13 districts. On August 7, the City Party Committee organized an extraordinary conference to discuss the project to build a new urban administration model that has been prepared in the past six years. The objective of the project is to build a new administrative apparatus that is professional, simplified and effective. Participants agreed that HCMC is a large city comprising 19 urban and 5 rural districts, with a total population of more than 8 million. The city has continuously grown in every aspect and become an economic, cultural, scientific and technical hub in southern Vietnam and the country at large. However, the city’s current administration model has exposed many weaknesses, failing to meet the city’s needs for development and management in the long run. Therefore, since 2007, after getting permission from the Politburo, HCMC began to prepare a project for a new model of urban administration. Under the new model, the city will be re-organized to have four satellite cities revolving around a central area that is comprised of 13 districts. They will be governed by two levels of administration: the centrally-run municipal and grassroots governments, instead of three levels as present.  After getting approval of the Government and permission of the National Assembly (NA), the city will prepare a plan of organizational and HR plan that specifies power, functions and duties of the government levels under the new model. The city will collect public opinions to perfect the project by 2015 so that it can be applied in 2016. To this end, the NA Delegation of HCMC has sent a statement to the NA Standing Committee proposing that the NA issue a resolution to allow the city to apply the new urban administration model on a pilot basis. Four cities plus a 13-district central area Under the new model, the city will have four satellite cities revolving around a central area that is comprised of 13 current districts. The administration apparatus of every district will be called Administrative Committee that is headed by a District Administrative Committee Chairman or Chief District. Meanwhile, every satellite city will be governed by City People’s Committee headed by a Chairman or Major. The 13 districts include Districts 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, and Binh Thanh, Phu Nhuan, Go Vap, Tan Binh and Tan Phu Districts; and the four cities will be the East, West, South and North. The East City will comprise Districts 2, 9 and Thu Duc District, with a total area of 211 square kilometers. It will be adjacent to the HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay expressway and its central quarter will be Thu Thiem new urban area. The city will develop high-class services (including finance and credit), high tech industries, ecological tourism and others. The West City will consist of the entire Binh Tan District, parts of Wards 7 and 16 of District 8, and four communes of Binh Chanh District, including An Phu Tay, Tan Kien, Vinh Loc A, Vinh Loc B. This city’s center will be Tan Kien urban area that is contiguous to National Highway 1. The city, with an area of 109 square kilometers and a population of 810,000, will focus on service industries, industrial parks, and new residential areas.  The South City will include District 7, Nha Be District, a part of Ward 7 of District 8, and two communes – Binh Hung and Phong Phu – of Binh Chanh District. Covering 169 square kilometers and having 470,000 residents, the city will take the South Saigon urban area, including the Phu My Hung urban area, as its core. This city’s economy will center on industries and port services. The North City will comprise District 12 and Hoc Mon District, with a total area of 162 square kilometers and a population of 860,000 people. The city, with its core being Tan Thoi Nhi commune area, will build a service-based economy, ecological tourism, high-tech agriculture, and new residential areas.