Da Nang city
Da Nang is taking advantage of international cooperation to support its sustainable green growth strategy.
Da Nang is the core city of the key economic zone of Central Vietnam. It is the only city in Vietnam to be considered environmental city by prestigious international organizations. Notably, Da Nang was chosen as “one of 20 APEC low-carbon model city” in November 2012, one of the first 33 cities in the world joining the “100 Resilient Cities Challenge” by Rockefeller Foundation, the recipient of ASEAN Environmentally Sustainable City Award 2011 and the recipient of 2013 Asian Townscape Awards by the United Nations Human Settlement Program (UN Habitat Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific).
Behind its environmental success is Da Nang’s strategy to prioritize the sustainability and efficiency of resource use as the main focus in the city’s development plan. According to a World Bank report “Energizing Green Cities in Southeast Asia – Applying Sustainable Urban Energy and Emissions Planning“, the city is pursuing a wastewater management strategy, an energy efficiency and conservation program, and looking at ways to use renewable energy technologies and public transport development. Da Nang is among a few cities in Southeast Asia to achieve the initial energy efficiency improvement.
Da Nang has taken the advantage of opportunities from international cooperation.
In August 2013, the World Bank (WB) supported Da Nang under the project “Danang Sustainable City Development“. The total project cost worth $272.135 million consists of World Bank’s International Development Assistance (IDA) credit worth $202.435 million and Da Nang’s counterpart capital worth $69.7 million. The objective of the project is to support Da Nang’s sustainable development strategy towards the improvement of green and safe urban environment and energy efficiency.
This is the biggest project that the WB has funded Vietnam so far. The contribution to Da Nang’s sustainable development is expected to inspire the development of other neighbouring provinces in Central Vietnam.
It is estimated that after completion, the project will benefit 400.000 local people including 205.000 women. In particular, residents of Da Nang city will have access to improved public transport system and sanitation while investors and tourist will be provided with better urban infrastructure and related agencies, departments, sectors and organisations will be equipped with enhanced organization and implementation skill under project’s components.
To enable Da Nang city to implement its environmental protection, the German International Cooperation (GIZ) gave 2 environmental monitoring devices worth 2 billion VND including an optical microscope and an ion chromatography device to the city on February 28, 2014. GIZ’s donation is part of the “Environmentally and Climate-friendly Urban Development in Da Nang” (ECUD) project with the purpose of help Da Nang city administrators to carry out the agenda of environment and climate change. In the hope of Da Nang becoming a green city by 2020, the ECUD project consists of 4 parts: integration of environmental and climate-related aspects in the master planning process; strengthening the city’s environmental plan and developing the strategic model; building up a cross-authority environmental and climate monitoring system; implementing case studies for environmentally and climate-friendly urban development in Da Nang.
Tống Minh
Đăng ký: VietNam News
