Building modern multi-layered, polycentric urban structure

Politburo Resolution No. 16-NQ/TW, dated July 21, 2026, on the construction and development of Dong Nai city through 2035, with a vision toward 2065, outlines a development vision centered on a modern, multi-layered and polycentric urban structure.

Under the resolution, the city's river system and natural ecosystems will form the principal landscape axis of the urban structure.

Leveraging the strengths of each area

Following the merger, Dong Nai has become one of the country's leading localities in terms of land area and population. With its expanded geographical and development space, the city needs to rethink its urban development model as it works toward becoming a special-class urban area and a strategic gateway to the Southern key economic region.

The Bien Hoa - Vung Tau Expressway has largely been completed, with its mainline already in operation.

Against this backdrop, Resolution No. 16 is regarded as a strategic framework for repositioning Dong Nai's urban development model, marking a shift from a conventional urban structure to a polycentric, multi-layered model.

One of the key tasks set out in Resolution No. 16 is to formulate a strategic, long-term development plan for the city. Accordingly, the city's master plan must be capable of guiding development, embrace breakthrough thinking and adopt a 100-year vision, while creating strategic transit spaces and strengthening links among the urban, aviation, border-gate and domestic economies. At the same time, development space should be organized in an open, flexible and highly adaptive manner under a polycentric, multi-polar and multi-layered model, integrating land, water, airspace, underground space and digital space along new strategic corridors.

Huynh Ho Dai Nghia, a public policy expert at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities under Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City, said Resolution No. 16 requires Dong Nai to fundamentally rethink its approach to urban planning.

“Dong Nai can no longer develop in a fragmented manner, with each industrial park, urban area and road operating as a separate entity. Instead, development space must be organized in an open, polycentric and multi-layered manner, linking land, water, airspace, underground space and digital space,” he said.

According to Nghia, this approach is highly relevant to Dong Nai's current conditions. The city has an international airport, seaports, the Dong Nai River, expressways, ring roads, a border area and transport corridors connecting it with Ho Chi Minh City, the Central Highlands, the South-Central Coast, the Mekong Delta and the Kingdom of Cambodia.

“If properly planned and developed, Dong Nai can pursue more intensive growth based on infrastructure, data, logistics, services and smart urban development, rather than simply expanding outward,” Nghia noted.

Infrastructure paves the way for a new urban structure

According to Nguyen Van Ut, Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee and Chairman of the Dong Nai People's Committee, Long Thanh International Airport, the seaport system, the Hoa Lu International Border Gate Economic Zone, interregional economic corridors and the Dong Nai riverside axis give the city significant advantages in expanding its development space and generating new growth drivers.

To turn these opportunities and advantages into tangible results, the city is prioritizing the mobilization and efficient use of investment resources, with public investment serving as a catalyst for attracting greater social investment and promoting public-private partnerships. Priority is being given to strategic infrastructure projects, particularly interregional transport links and connections to Long Thanh International Airport and major logistics hubs.

Dong Nai is one of the few localities in Vietnam with access to all five major modes of transport: road, rail, air, inland waterways and maritime transport. In particular, Long Thanh International Airport is planned to become the country's largest airport, while Dong Nai also has more expressways running through its territory than any other locality. The city is also coordinating with relevant agencies and localities to develop high-speed rail and urban railway (metro) lines. Taken together, these advantages provide favorable conditions for Dong Nai to reorganize its urban structure toward a polycentric, multi-layered model.

Resolution No. 16 identifies four major development corridors for Dong Nai: Ho Chi Minh City – Bien Hoa urban area – Long Thanh urban area – Phuoc An port complex; Bien Hoa urban area – Dau Giay – Tan Phu – the Central Highlands; Phuoc Long – Dong Xoai – Chon Thanh – Hoa Lu – Cambodia – mainland ASEAN; and Long Thanh urban area – Lam Dong – the South-Central Coast and the Central Highlands.

Once the expressways, ring roads, airport, seaports and metro lines are completed and put into operation, the city will enter a new phase of urban development, in which urban development will no longer be confined to conventional outward expansion but will instead take shape around a polycentric urban structure linked to public transport, logistics, industry and quality of life.

According to Phan Thi An, Deputy Director of the Center for Architecture and Urban-Rural Planning under the National Institute of Architecture of the Ministry of Construction, the breakthrough development of transport infrastructure, together with the emergence of the Long Thanh Airport urban area, presents an opportunity for Dong Nai to form a mega-urban region with the potential to become a highly competitive economic center, not only in Southeast Asia but also on the global stage.

By P.Tung – Translated by M.Nguyet, Thu Ha