Chairman of the provincial People's Committee Nguyen Van Linh concludes the meeting.

According to the provincial Department of Construction, the province has 17 urban areas, of which Bac Giang is a second-tier city and the rest are fourth- and fifth-tier urban areas. Vi Thanh Quyen, deputy director of the department, said the general and detailed planning schemes have been made. The People's Committees of districts and Bac Giang city have carried out 238 projects to build technical infrastructure at residential areas with a total capital of 2.4 trillion VND (103 million USD) and a total area of 358 hectares. 

The attraction of investment in urban development has been focused on 26 projects conducted by businesses, with a total capital of 6.45 trillion VND (276.8 million USD). Covering about 573 hectares, the projects have contributed to speeding up urbanization in the province.

However, the urban population only accounts for 14.9 percent, while the target is more than 20 percent by 2020. The urban development planning of districts and Bac Giang city remains limited as there are only three of 17 urban areas with approved urban development proposals...

At the meeting, Vice Chairman of the provincial People's Committee Nguyen Thi Thu Ha asked the People's Committees of districts and Bac Giang city to change the thinking of urban development, not locating residential areas near main roads like today. 

At the same time, they should make master plans for urban and residential area development serving the needs of attracting investment while resolutely solving the phenomenon of making planning schemes based on investors and projects.

After listening to the opinions, Chairman of the provincial People's Committee Nguyen Van Linh urged departments and agencies concerned to implement synchronous measures to ensure the proportion of the urban population as set in the Resolution of the Congress of the provincial Party Organisation. 

A corner of Bach Viet urban area (Bac Giang city).

To achieve this goal, the People's Committees of districts and Bac Giang city need to prepare funds for planning and demarcation in the field, striving to complete the provincial urban area construction planning by 2020. 

They should pay attention to attracting resources for the development of new urban areas, ensuring synchronous infrastructure; while renovating and upgrading the infrastructure of existing urban areas. Giving top priority to site clearance, the provincial People's Committee will allocate funds for the People's Committees of districts and Bac Giang city to create clean grounds to attract investment in urban construction.

"The Department of Construction and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment should review the land use plans and draw up a detailed plan for the construction of new urban areas. They must raise the quality of appraisal of planning projects, attracting only capable enterprises, while increasing examination and inspection, and strictly handling violations in real estate construction and business," Linh emphasized.

Van Thuong