The inspection focused on state management responsibilities in urban planning and implementation in Ho Chi Minh City from 2015 to 2022. The findings revealed numerous violations in both planning procedures and execution.

According to the conclusion, the city's People's Committee failed to complete its master planning on schedule, with delays stretching over several years.

Inaccurate input data - such as land use status in some districts - led to discrepancies in key metrics like population density and transportation planning.

Prolonged delays, outdated data, and incomplete content have compromised the quality of urban plans, making management and implementation more difficult. In several areas, urban planning strategies were deemed unrealistic, undermining investment appeal.

Detailed 1/2,000 scale zoning plans were found to contain many shortcomings, including incorrect land-use designations and multiple adjustments made without ensuring alignment with technical and social infrastructure.

The report also highlighted that from 2011 to 2023, Ho Chi Minh City invested more than VND 528 billion (approx. USD 21 million) in urban planning - insufficient to meet the demands of rapid urban development. Public investment in infrastructure was fragmented and fell short.

Transportation, environmental management, and flood prevention accounted for 60% of the city's infrastructure investment needs - about VND 950 trillion (approx. USD 37.6 billion). Yet the city’s budget could only cover 20% of this amount.

The result: urban infrastructure remains disjointed, traffic congestion, flooding, and pollution are worsening, and public access to green space and modern infrastructure continues to decline.

Widespread delays in key urban projects

Reports from several districts reveal a long list of suspended or severely delayed projects, often referred to locally as "hanging projects."

Notable examples include the Binh Quoi – Thanh Da urban area (426.93 hectares), the Northwest Cu Chi urban area (approx. 6,000 hectares), the Saigon Safari Park (456 hectares), Binh Trieu Station (41 hectares), and the 6.7 km-long Xuyen Tam canal renovation.

District-level data revealed: seven stalled projects in District 6, two in Tan Phu District, two in Binh Chanh District, 12 in District 7, 11 in Binh Thanh District, two in Hoc Mon District, and 12 in Thu Duc City, among others.

This situation has led to significant waste of public and private resources while exacerbating traffic jams, flooding, and inadequate public infrastructure.

Inspections of several district-level zoning plans uncovered further issues. For instance, a commercial–residential project at 50 Phan Van Khoe Street in District 6 failed to allocate space for a required kindergarten.

The Department of Construction granted construction permits before the technical design was reviewed and approved - violating regulations.

In another case, a mixed-use residential–commercial project by Gotec Vietnam in District 6 received permits that excluded rooftop floors from its total floor count. It also wrongly included kitchen spaces in commercial units and failed to fulfill obligations related to 20% social housing quotas.

At the Richstar Residence project, developed by Nova Richstar, the city adjusted zoning regulations without calculating the additional land-use fees.

Instead, authorities allowed the parent company, Nova Real Estate Investment Group, to make a provisional payment of VND 1,083 billion (approx. USD 42.9 million) for eight projects - including VND 242.5 billion (approx. USD 9.6 million) for Richstar - based on a proposal from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment. The Inspectorate deemed this procedure baseless and improper.

At the Tan Thang Sports and Residential Complex (Son Ky Ward, Tan Phu District), developer Gamuda Land added mezzanine levels to 16th-floor units in Block A1, exceeding approved designs.

Although these additions were later approved by the Ministry of Construction and incorporated into revised planning, the project originally lacked permission for underground levels.

Nevertheless, the Department of Construction allowed Gamuda Land to build one to two basement levels in blocks A1, A5, and A6 - violating the approved plans.

Potential criminal violations under review

The Government Inspectorate recommended that the Prime Minister direct the Ministry of Construction and Ho Chi Minh City authorities to clarify individual and collective responsibilities.

On the economic front, the Inspectorate proposed that the city and relevant departments review and correct discrepancies in the master planning documents of 19 districts and subdistricts, and potentially reclaim over VND 24 billion (approx. USD 950,000) in improper expenditures related to urban planning.

They also advised reviewing and collecting overdue land-use fees totaling more than VND 802 billion (approx. USD 31.8 million) across several projects citywide. These include:

A commercial–residential complex at Lot F in Tan Tuc Town, Binh Chanh District, by Western City Co., Ltd.
The An Ha residential area in Pham Van Hai Commune, Binh Chanh District, by Nhut Thanh Investment–Construction–Trading Co.

Richstar Residence by Nova Richstar

The Van Gia Phuc social housing–commercial housing project in Ward 10, District 6, by Nova Real Estate Investment Group.

The Inspectorate emphasized that if any of these cases are found to contain evidence of criminal wrongdoing, the Ministry of Construction and relevant provincial or municipal authorities must forward the case files to investigative agencies for legal processing in accordance with the law.

Nguyen Le