The City of Ho Chi Minh: A Tale of Two Scarcities – Land and Resettlement Housing.

Ho Chi Minh City’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment has proposed to the city’s People’s Committee a number of measures to ensure a sufficient supply of residential land and resettlement housing when the state revests land in the area.

According to the department, one of the main challenges faced by local authorities is the lack of residential land and housing to accommodate displaced households, which significantly impacts compensation, support, and resettlement processes, as well as project implementation timelines.

In the case of Nha Be district, due to the lack of residential land and housing for resettlement, arrangements had to be made using resources from District 7.

Similarly, other districts also face the challenge of having to balance their compensation, support, and resettlement efforts for projects by relying on residential land and housing resources from other localities.

Notably, critical and urgent projects currently in the compensation, support, and resettlement phase are facing difficulties due to the shortage of residential land and housing options, requiring them to source these from various other localities.

For instance, the Rach Xuyen Tam environmental improvement and infrastructure development project involves resettlement in 16 different residential areas in Binh Thanh, District 10, District 12, and Thu Duc City.

Similarly, the Duong Channel North Bank environmental improvement, infrastructure development, and dredging project involves resettlement in eight different residential areas in District 8, Binh Tan, Tan Phu, and Binh Chanh districts.

The department noted that such resettlement arrangements are not ideal as they do not align with the needs and wishes of the people, deviating from the principle of resettlement and causing difficulties in compensation, support, and resettlement processes.

To address these issues, the department has recommended that the Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee issue directives to the Chairpersons of the People’s Committees of Thu Duc City and 21 districts to proactively lead and instruct the review of vacant land, public land, and land being leased for inappropriate or inefficient use.

This review should propose the development of resettlement projects or suggest alternative solutions to ensure sufficient residential land and housing for resettlement before land revocation procedures are carried out.

Additionally, the department has proposed that the Department of Construction take the lead in coordinating with relevant agencies to report and submit to the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee for the issuance of regulations on the procedures for establishing and implementing resettlement projects, providing a uniform framework for all localities to follow.