Vietnam - JICA addresses Vietnam’s traffic congestion

Vietnam should pay greater attention to urban planning in order to ease traffic congestion, said a JICA expert.

At the Vietnam-Japan seminar on urban development held on March 1 jointly organised by the Vietnam Ministry of Construction and Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Yoshio Wada, Deputy General Director of Japan International Coordination Agency (JICA) South-East Asia Department in Vietnam shared his opinions with DTinews about easing traffic congestion.

Could you share your country’s experience in urban development?

In Japan, we faced urban development failures. 40 years ago, we tried to follow American urban model which relies on people depending heavily on cars for daily travel. The results revealed that the model wasn’t ideal for Japan, a country with aging population. Moreover, a city where people travel only by car will have heavy air pollution. Vietnam should consider if this model is really suitable for their population.

What is your opinion on the measures the Vietnam Ministry of Transport are applying in order to tackle traffic congestion?

The most important factors are urban planning and traffic flow management. There should be satellite cities around the urban core to divert traffic away from the centre. Because Hanoi is the centre of the economy, politics and commerce, traffic in the city is really heavy.

According to you, easing traffic congestion is not solely the task of Transport Department?

In order to ease traffic congestion, co-operation is needed between many departments. For example, public transportation is a solution, but not a permanent solution for traffic jams. To ease traffic jams, the city should disperse its functions. One of the most important factors during rapid urbanization is infrastructure that the city needs to focus on.

Capital, technology and management are what will build a good urban environment. JICA will help Vietnam in terms of technology and management from Japan’s experiences such as the development of a public transport network and in climate change mitigation and natural disaster prevention.

Lan Huong | dtinews.vn

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