Dong Nai has all conditions to become distinctive, livable city

Dong Nai is accelerating preparations to submit its dossier for appraisal and recognition by the Central government as a centrally governed city, worthy of the province's position and role in the country's overall development.

Dong Nai City is taking shape with many modern high-rise buildings. Photo: Cong Nghia

On the occasion of Dong Nai soon becoming a centrally governed urban area, reporter from Dong Nai Newspaper and Radio, Television had a conversation with Associate Professor, Dr. NGUYEN HOANG PHUONG, Deputy Head of the Faculty of Socio-Economics and Environment, Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics (Region II), about the vision, aspirations, and solutions to develop Dong Nai urban area commensurate with the locality's position.

Meeting the conditions for transformation

•In the time coming, Dong Nai will have the opportunity to be recognized as a centrally governed city. How do you assess the locality's current level of development, especially in terms of urbanization?

- With a population and economic scale ranking among the country's leading localities, and with a strategic and most important national transport infrastructure system under construction, Dong Nai is an important growth pole of the Southern Key Economic Region. The 2025 economic growth rate of 9.63% also reflects very strong development momentum. Dong Nai has met, and even exceeded, many criteria for a centrally run urban area. Long Thanh International Airport is creating a "breakthrough" that opens up new development space linked to logistics, services, and the global economy.

Despite these impressive results, Dong Nai's urbanization process still faces many "bottlenecks" and challenges, including development disparities across areas following mergers. Social infrastructure for housing, healthcare, and education, as well as technical infrastructure, has not kept pace with the speed of industrialization. The quality of human resources has not met the requirements for the shift to high-tech industries, while pressure on urban governance and environmental protection continues to grow.

Overall, Dong Nai has reached the necessary scale and foundation, though to become a modern and sustainable urban area, the key issue is to improve the quality of infrastructure, human resources, and governance capacity in the coming period.

•Dong Nai's urban development orientation has an important role in Long Thanh International Airport. Besides the airport, how should issues related to the industrial economy and high technology be repositioned in the new period?

- In addition to the impetus from Long Thanh Airport, Dong Nai is seeking to fundamentally reposition its economy along the model of a modern, smart industrial city. The core issue is shifting from a processing-based industrial model to a high-tech, high-value-added industry. Dong Nai needs to prioritize the development of spearhead sectors such as aviation, semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), and automation, while modernizing its industrial park system in an ecological, smart, and innovation-driven direction.

“To develop commensurately, Dong Nai needs to complete a modern urban governance model, associated with digital government and improving the quality of officials; along with developing economic drivers, special attention must be paid to improving the quality of life, developing human resources, and protecting the environment, ensuring sustainable and harmonious development between regions.”

Associate Professor, Dr. NGUYEN HOANG PHUONG, Deputy Head of the Faculty of Socio-Economics and Environment, Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics (Region II)

In parallel with that is the restructuring of development space in a reasonable direction between regions, closely linking industry, urban areas, and logistics, especially the Long Thanh Airport area.

Dong Nai is fully capable of transforming from a traditional industrial province into an internationally competitive logistics and high-tech center.

•Becoming a centrally governed city, in your opinion, what will be the notable differences in the organization and management of urban government compared to its current provincial status?

- There will be a fundamental change in governance methods. The core is to shift from administrative management to modern urban governance. The government will operate digitally, with data-driven governance, through smart operating systems and tools like GIS (Geographic Information System) for monitoring, forecasting, and decision-making. The management mindset will also strongly shift towards serving, with people and businesses at the center, while ensuring greater transparency and accountability. Additionally, development management will be based on integrated planning and a multi-centered urban structure, instead of being fragmented by administrative boundaries as before.

Dong Nai will not only change its organizational model but also undergo a comprehensive upgrade in governance capacity, development quality, and people’s living standards.

Connection, harmony to build Dong Nai's urban identity

•Dong Nai's urban development is not isolated but connected with other localities, especially the megacity of Ho Chi Minh City. How should the problem of connection, cooperation, and creating a regional development effect be calculated?

- Dong Nai's urban development needs to be framed within the broader fabric of regional linkages, especially with Ho Chi Minh City, shifting from competition to a complementary division of functions. This feature is the key to forming an effective and sustainable development structure.

Ho Chi Minh City continues to serve as a financial, commercial, and high-end services center. At the same time, Dong Nai is positioned as an aviation economy, logistics, and high-tech industrial center associated with Long Thanh International Airport. This division of roles helps the two localities avoid direct competition and instead form a unified economic whole capable of competing at the regional and international levels.

Another important orientation is the sharing of development space. As Ho Chi Minh City comes under mounting pressure from population growth, infrastructure strain, and land costs, Dong Nai can play the role of "urban decompression," taking on industrial and logistics functions and absorbing part of the population, thanks to its land reserves and capacity for spatial expansion.

A corner of the existing Dong Nai urban area.

In addition, Dong Nai plays a special role in ensuring ecological security and water resources for the Southeast region by protecting forest ecosystems and river basins. At the same time, with its gateway position connecting the Central Highlands and Cambodia, Dong Nai can become a regional transit and logistics hub.

Dong Nai's development is not separate but must be closely linked to the regional structure, in which linkage, division of labor, and complementarity are the "key" to creating spillover effects and enhancing overall competitiveness.

• In the future, in your opinion, what outstanding features should Dong Nai's urban area have? What should be done to make the airport city, industrial city, or riverside city the main highlight?

- Dong Nai's urban identity in the future will not lie in a single model, but in a harmonious integration of an airport city, a riverside city, and a modern industrial city, thereby forming a multi-centered and multi-layered urban structure. This initiative is the appropriate approach to both create growth momentum and ensure identity and quality of life.

Among them, the airport urban area associated with Long Thanh International Airport will serve as a strategic lever and a factor in positioning Dong Nai on the international economic map. Not just transportation infrastructure, Long Thanh Airport is also the nucleus of a multi-functional airport city, strongly developing logistics, trade, finance, and high-value-added services. This initiative will be the "gateway" to transform Dong Nai from an internal regional center into a global connection point.

The Dong Nai riverside area will help create a sense of place and improve the quality of life. Exploiting the river corridor to develop green spaces, ecological parks, and cultural and tourism services will help form a dominant landscape axis, creating a harmonious, modern urban appearance that remains connected to nature.

Besides the two factors above, modern industry remains the core economic foundation, but needs to be repositioned towards high-tech, ecological, and smart development. Developing industries such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, automation, and aerospace will help Dong Nai increase its added value and long-term competitiveness.

By Vuong The - Translated by Mai Nga, Minho