The district of Thu Duc was established in 1975, right after the reunification of the country. In 1997, the district was divided into 3 districts: Thu Duc, District 2, and District 9. On January 1, 2021, Thu Duc City was established by merging the entire area and population of these 3 districts. After the establishment, Thu Duc City covers an area of about 211.5 km2 (equivalent to 10% of Ho Chi Minh City’s area), with a population of over one million and 34 wards.
Thu Duc is the only “city within a city” in Vietnam to date. Hanoi is also proposing to establish 3 subordinate cities in the South, North, and West of the capital. Other places are expected to follow a similar model in the near future.
After more than 3 years of establishment, the first and only “city within a city” in Vietnam has experienced strong development and has become a new driving force for Ho Chi Minh City.
Specifically, economic and social development activities have shown remarkable achievements. In 2023, the value of trade and service production reached over 73,000 billion VND (an increase of 12.8%), the value of industrial production reached over 32,000 billion VND (an increase of 8.39%), and the disbursement rate of public investment was 98.2% compared to the plan.
By 2023, Thu Duc City has contributed about 30% of the total GDP of the entire city area, equivalent to 7% of the country’s GDP. The high-tech productivity alone is 16.6 times higher than the labor productivity of Vietnam and 6.6 times higher than the labor productivity of Ho Chi Minh City. The photo shows the high-tech zone of Ho Chi Minh City.
To achieve such remarkable achievements, besides the efforts of the entire city, there are also favorable conditions for economic development in this area. Thu Duc is the center of the South East with well-invested and synchronized infrastructure.
Thu Duc also has key transportation routes that are crucial to economic and commercial activities, such as the Ho Chi Minh City – Long Thanh – Dau Giay expressway, National Road 1K, Hanoi Highway, Mai Chi Tho Boulevard, etc. The transportation infrastructure is being upgraded to serve the people’s lives and socio-economic development, such as the construction of the An Phu interchange with a total investment of 3,400 billion VND.
In addition, Thu Duc also has functional areas such as the Thanh Thiem financial district, Rạch Chiếc healthcare center, Tam Da ecological technology center, and Truong Tho technology zone. These are considered the foundation for future development.
Thanks to the merger and establishment of the “city within a city,” the real estate market in Thu Duc is experiencing strong changes. Especially, the price of houses and land in Thu Duc has tended to increase after the city was established. The photo shows the high-end urban area of Thao Dien along the Saigon River.
This is also the location of the National University Village of Ho Chi Minh City with modern technical infrastructure, attracting a large number of high-quality human resources. The photo shows the dormitory of the National University of Ho Chi Minh City.
In 2024, Thu Duc is expected to complete 7 key projects and start construction of 5 new projects, including 3 school construction projects, one erosion prevention project, and one transportation project.
