Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Major economic hubs ofbig cities and provinces nationwide have announced ambitious multi-billiondollar projects to become smart cities, well-equipped to take advantage ofopportunities presented by the digital age.

But so far, the country still lacks a specificstandard framework for building a "smart city", experts said.

Many countries in the world are building intelligentcities based on information technology, telecommunications and many otherfactors.

In Vietnam, at least 30 cities and provinces suchas Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Binh Duong, Thai Nguyen and Kien Giang arelooking forward to turning themselves into smart cities.

Ministries such as information and communicationsand science and technology have held many workshops on building smart cities toattract opinions from domestic and foreign experts, especially models and solutionson how to build a smart city in Vietnam.

Larry Ng Lye Hock, director of Singapore UrbanRedevelopment Authority, said that when developing a smart city, simplyapplying the model of one city or country to a different city or country willnot work.  

He shared experiences of Singapore at a recentworkshop on building smart urban areas towards sustainable development, whichwas organised by Architectural Magazine and AkzoNobel Paint Vietnam.

Each place has different conditions, environmentand culture. Therefore, it was important to understand what the people of thecity need and the city’s existing conditions to come up with the mostappropriate solution, he said.

Tran Quoc Thai, deputy director of the UrbanDevelopment Department - Ministry of Construction (MoC), said the ministry wasproposing a plan to develop a smart city by 2025 with a vision to 2030.

This was an important national project andrequired the active participation of all ministries, sectors and localities,especially enterprises, in order to effectively implement the tasks andobjectives assigned by the Prime Minister, he said.

It is forecast that 70 percent of the world’spopulation will live in urban areas by 2050.

The rapidly increasing urbanisation in Vietnam wouldput tremendous pressure on the system of infrastructure, facilities and theliving and working conditions of people, requiring architects and builders tograsp real trends and meet the demands of the community, Thai said.

Many complicated problems still remain in buildingan intelligent city, especially the limitation of financial and humanresources, said Phan Tam, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications.

Besides, to develop smart cities, cooperationbetween product supply units and IT service providers should be improvedfurther, Tam said.

Bui Quang Ngoc, General Director of FPTCorporation, affirmed it was necessary to have more internet-connected productsand more new products serving to build an intelligent city.

With the goal of having at least three smartcities by 2020, the Government has also launched many policies to prioritisethe development of digital industry, smart tourism, smart agriculture andtelecommunication infrastructure.-VNS/VNA