Minister of Construction Addresses Overburdened Traffic and Urban Flooding Crisis

Urbanization’s Biggest Bottleneck: Transportation

Speaking at the 2025 Year-End Review and 2026 Task Deployment Conference, Minister of Construction Tran Hong Minh emphasized that rapid urbanization, coupled with a surge in population density and vehicles, has outpaced infrastructure development. This mismatch has led to severe consequences such as traffic congestion, flooding, land subsidence, and a decline in living standards, particularly in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

According to Minister Minh, urban issues like flooding and land subsidence are often viewed in isolation, but their root cause lies in inadequate transportation planning and urban space utilization. The piecemeal expansion of road networks, without integration with public transit and underground infrastructure, has placed excessive pressure on the ground. Urban areas, however, have finite load-bearing capacities.

In Ho Chi Minh City, several new urban areas have experienced sidewalk and road infrastructure subsidence of up to 40cm. Minister Tran Hong Minh attributed this not only to geological conditions but also to inadequate initial planning for traffic organization and infrastructure load-bearing capacity. As private vehicles, especially heavy-duty ones, increase rapidly, the continuous pressure on road foundations makes subsidence inevitable.

In light of these challenges, the Ministry of Construction advocates for an adaptive and sustainable approach to urban transportation. Transportation is not merely about mobility; it is intrinsically linked to structural safety, drainage efficiency, and environmental quality. With climate change increasing the frequency of heavy rainfall, outdated transportation infrastructure will only heighten urban vulnerability.

Public Transportation: An Irreversible Path Forward

Minister Minh asserts that developing green and high-capacity public transportation is imperative. Digital transformation in traffic management, infrastructure optimization, and emission reduction are underway to decrease reliance on private vehicles. For major cities, investing in public transit is essential not only to alleviate congestion but also to reduce pressure on land and technical infrastructure.

High-capacity public transportation, according to Minister Minh, must be integrated with underground infrastructure. Lessons from high-density countries like China demonstrate that metro and urban rail systems are most effective when embedded within a synchronized underground infrastructure framework, accompanied by policies restricting private vehicles. Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City should persist in this approach rather than solely relying on road expansion.

Transportation is also an indirect contributor to worsening urban flooding. Extensive concretization of roads, coupled with non-compliant stormwater drainage systems, obstructs surface runoff. Even moderate rainfall can paralyze many roads. Technical standards dictate that drainage inlets should be spaced 20-25 meters apart, but in reality, this distance is often much greater, with some inlets even removed during traffic upgrades.

To address this, Minister Tran Hong Minh advocates for integrating transportation and drainage systems into a unified design. Japanese cities exemplify this with open channels and forced pumping stations, where transportation infrastructure is aligned with drainage directions. Ahead of heavy rains, systems are preemptively discharged to create additional storage capacity, minimizing road flooding.

Even in established areas of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, transportation infrastructure faces significant risks. Many historic inner-city streets have long been overcapacity, with narrow roads and weak structures bearing heavy traffic loads. According to Minister Minh, upgrading these areas requires comprehensive urban renewal, including resident relocation and reconfigured traffic spaces, rather than isolated street-by-street interventions.

To address persistent bottlenecks, the Ministry of Construction stresses the importance of aligning transportation planning with the Urban Master Plan. The implementation of the Capital Law and new inter-agency coordination mechanisms presents an opportunity for Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to accelerate critical transportation projects, particularly public transit and underground infrastructure.

Minister Tran Hong Minh concludes that transportation investment is not just about immediate congestion relief but also about ensuring the long-term adaptability and sustainability of megacities. Only through integrated, environmentally friendly transportation systems linked with underground infrastructure can issues like flooding, subsidence, and urban overload be fundamentally resolved.