The master plan for Ho Chi Minh City calls for construction of high rises on 930 hectares of land along the Sai Gon River.

Public space along with a park will be created on this stretch of land along with high-rise complexes.

Thearea extends from the Sai Gon Bridge in Binh Thanh district to District4 and the Tan Thuan Bridge in District 7. Tan Cang and Ba Son ports andother ports along the Sai Gon River will be moved to the city outskirtsto make way for high-rise buildings. An 81-floor building, the tallestin the country, will be built in Tan Cang port, next to Dien Bien Phustreet and the Sai Gon bridge.

Many other buildings in the area have been approved at a height of 80 to 150m.

The master plan calls for lowest buildings to be built next to the river, at about 6m.

In Ba Son port, the buildings will be around 180-220m high.

"HCMCity has a very low proportion of green trees per resident, around2sq.m, far from the international average of 10-15sq.m per person. Sothe city should create park and green space," Nguyen Dang Son, deputyhead of the Urban Research and Infrastructure Development Institute, wasquoted as saying in Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

The city's master plan in 2010 called for parks built along rivers, including the Sai Gon, Dong Nai and Nha Be rivers.

"However,the price for land along the rivers is very high and planners willhesitate to use land for parks and green spaces. But the local authoritymust ensure that this be done," he said.

The master plan for thenew urban area of Thu Thiem, a park next to the Sai Gon River, will belocated on nine hectares and will be two kilometres long.

The public park will function as a green lung not only for the Thu Thiem urban area but also for all of HCM City.

Awetlands area south of Thu Thiem urban area will be preserved, and onlya very low density of new construction will be allowed.-VNA