This is a problem, because HCMC urban district residents only have 0.6 square meters of green public space per capita.

The 2000 HCMC municipal administration tree zoning plan, however, aims to increase the green space to 3-4 square meters per person by 2010.

Hanoians, however, already have a generous five square meters and while people in Hue enjoy a whopping 10 square meters.

In HCMC’s 13 urban districts – 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, Go Vap, Tan Binh, Tan Phu, Binh Thanh and Phu Nhuan, over 30 percent of the 956 streets are treeless because there are no pavements or they are too narrow for tree planting.

In addition, overhead and underground cables for electricity and telephone leave no space for trees.

The situation varies from district to district; for example 22.3 percent of Tan Binh District is covered in trees while Go Vap has a mere 0.04 percent of green public space.

Poor choice of trees

Some trees were unsuitable for sidewalks because their roots damaged roads and pavements or were a danger to residents, the deputy head of the Vietnam Park and Greenery Association Nguyen Thien Ha warned.

Nguyen Van Linh Boulevard in District 7 is 80 percent planted with peacock flower trees.

Their roots grow rapidly and protrude above the ground potentially causing damage to the road over the next 20 years, he said.

The 18 kilometer, 10 lane boulevard is one of the city’s biggest and most modern streets, playing an important role in the city’s economic growth.

Damage to the boulevard would cause expensive losses, Ha said.

In Vo Van Tan Street in District 3, roots of some of the trees have grown excessively and ruined the sidewalk.

When storms occurred, trees sometimes uprooted or heavy branches broke off, endangering pedestrians and vehicles.

Ha warned prompt action was needed to replace the trees, to prevent serious injuries or damage.

Along Quang Trung, Tan Son, Duong Quang Ham streets in Go Vap District, trees on the city’s black list for pavements like gums and malabar almond are planted everywhere.

One resident of Quang Trung Street said, “We are extremely unhappy with the two lines of almond trees as they are full of worms. Their fruit attract mosquitoes and flies. A sanitation worker can catch a kilogram of worms when they are on duty.”

In other streets like Nguyen Huu Tho linking District 7 and Nha Be District, many newly-planted trees are stunted and bare due to a lackof proper care.

Many sidewalks in the city’s heart are planted with different types of trees of different sizes and heights, like Nguyen Trai and Nguyen Hue in District 1, detracting from the streets’ appearance.

Reasons for the problem

One main reason for the city’s haphazard pavement greenification, is after reunification in 1975, the state encouraged citizens to plant trees without any guidelines.

Thousands of those random trees cover the city today.

The management of tree planting was also poorly coordinated between different agencies and authorities who also lacked qualifications for tree assessment, selection and control.

Some residents also planted or chopped down the trees without intervention from lax authorities.

According to regulations, all commercial construction projects have to allot at least 40 percent of the land for public spaces including areas for plants and trees.

A large number of investors ignored this stipulation in their construction approval and only focused on building.

Greening the city is not attractive to businesses so it relies mainly on limited funding from the state’s budget.

According to the director of the HCMC Greenery and Park Company, Tran Thien Ha, local authorities should not rely on state funds but consider piloting the improvement of city streets like Nguyen Hue, Nguyen Trai and Le Duan themselves.

There was also concern the city’s recent zoning of underground parking lots below existing parks would harm the parks’ trees.

In addition to the impact from construction the exhaust from vehicles would pose a danger to the trees health, the deputy head of the municipal Fatherland Front, Le Hieu Dang, said.

He also said the city should stipulate more areas for trees in construction applications and clampdown on commercial and parking encroachments on pavements to make way for planting.

Source: SGGP