Shaping tourism chains of the coast

Danang and other coastal locations are developing through modern urban expansions

At recent conferences, economic experts have lauded the goal of the overall planning of central coast urban tourism development. This direction not only promotes the region’s potential, but also reaffirms the role of joint efforts in the region’s future development.

The coastal city of Danang is taking the lead in central urban development as the city has crafted a methodical planning model that helps to stimulate the close association between industry and services.

Nguyen Duc Quynh, deputy general director of Furama Resort Danang, said that overall, the city could be proud of its seamless infrastructure system, which provides a good link between tourism services and the trade sector.

Local infrastructure such as bridges, roads, airports, and seaports has been invested in and upgraded in a synchronous manner, aiming to take full advantage of the coast for tourism development. Along with this, the city will continue to be developed in a more harmonious way, avoiding separation between the sea and urban development.

Quynh added that accelerating the development of the Vo Nguyen Giap coastal route, along with a pipeline of resort properties, has created an architectural highlight for Danang. This development as a whole is praiseworthy, yet also brings Danang multiple challenges in ensuring harmonious overall development. “To meet 5-star standards for resorts along the coast, Danang needs to provide adequate support in terms of trade, services, and also at an intellectual level,” said Quynh.

Danang has recently announced the prime minister’s decision on approving the city’s revised master planning to 2030, marking a breakthrough step on the way to becoming a national and international urban centre gearing towards sustainable development.

Over the past few years, urban management and planning have been an important achievement for Danang. The city has approved 1,340 planning projects covering 24,000 hectares in total area, of which investment and construction area occupies 900ha. The urban space has been expanded along the coast and Han River banks, a huge area compared to back in 1997 when Danang was separated from Quang Nam province.

Green modernisation

According to Huynh Duc Tho, Chairman of Danang People’s Committee, the city is pursuing diverse development goals such as building a green, sustainable, liveable, and low-carbon city that have been supported by a number of domestic and international organisations and units.

According to Tho, in the current development trend and experiences gained in the upward process, Danang has a new approach which is more suitable in the planning, construction, and development of the city. “Adjusting the general planning of Danang city to 2030, with a vision towards 2050, does not change the urban nature. In light of this, the population will increase from two million to 2.5 million people. Danang will then rank behind Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi and on par with the northern port city of Haiphong as a major regional location,” Tho said.

He acknowledged that as a young and newly-developed city, Danang houses a small number of large-scale works in the urban space. This will undoubtedly have effects on the city’s architectural development trend. Management planning and investment in urban development will help Danang improve the quality of infrastructure, simultaneously connecting urban transport systems with regional traffic. “Modernisation shall be the key in Danang’s urban development, but it must regard the goal of the city to be environmentally friendly and people-centric as a development orientation,” Tho said.

Central localities in general share many similarities but, analysed in detail, each locality has its own characteristics and perspective on urban development. Most localities however have focused on the coastline and take advantage of tourism as a key development orientation. For example, Thua Thien-Hue aims to develop the whole province into a first-class urban centre and become a city directly managed by the central government. The core zone is still developing equally between industry and tourism services. The ancient capital of Hue covers the whole of Thua Thien-Hue urban centre.

Provincial urban spaces

Bordering Danang is Quang Nam province, which has very limited development conditions. The province’s biggest advantage is arguably the coast, stretching from Cua Dai in Hoi An town to Chu Lai’s Nui Thanh district.

The core of Quang Nam’s urban goals is associated with two great heritage sites – Hoi An Ancient Town and My Son Sanctuary.

Le Tri Thanh, Chairman of Quang Nam People’s Committee, said that most of the proposed projects follow the integrated resort model, including tourism services associated with resort urban spaces and supporting infrastructure such as amusement parks and golf courses, among others.

Meanwhile the VinPearl Hoi An premium resort has been put into operation, creating an architectural hallmark in the area. With a string of high-end resort properties in the offing, it is expected that in the next five years the area of South Hoi An will give birth to a chain of high-class resort cities.

With that, nearby Quang Ngai province has been taking steps in establishing large-scale urban coastal projects. Among them, the premium Coco Beach Resort project has begun work in the first phase and prepares to deploy phase two. Simultaneously, many other investors such as FLC Group and TNG are deploying a raft of prestigious ventures.

In the meantime, local authorities in Binh Dinh province are organising seminars on orientation of Quy Nhon city development planning. Although Quy Nhon is characterised by central area space constraints due to limited land areas, the roadmap for urban expansion to the north is now available based on established traffic routes and towns.

Along with this, Binh Dinh is set to revise the planning orientation of Nhon Hoi Economic Zone, which prioritises the development of urban tourism and resort properties, and the most prominent one, FLC Resort, has come into operation. A series of investors such as TMS, Phat Dat, Hung Thinh, and Truong Thanh are expected to bring a facelift to Quy Nhon city.

Last year, Phu Yen – another province on the central coast – made remarkable progress in attracting investment. A series of sizable projects such as Viet Beach and Rosa Alba Resort have finalised construction, while prominent developers like Dat Xanh Group, FLC Group, Gamy Group, and IRB Group have brought Phu Yen a new vitality.

With its abounding advantages, the central coastal region, from Nghe An to Binh Thuan, has emerged as a golden destination to financiers in tourism infrastructure and resort real estate. The wave of investment in these areas will not only boost the local economy, but also create a modern urban coastal tourism chain in the not-too-distant future.