Households start renting sidewalks in HCMC downtown

Several food and beverage establishments along Hai Trieu Street on Thursday began to place tables and stools on the sidewalks.

The street is one among 11 downtown routes in the district allowed to use parts of its sidewalks for business purposes.

Tran Huy Hoang, the owner of a pho shop on Hai Trieu, said he has rented 8 sq.m of sidewalk in front of his home, at a price of VND100,000 ($3.93) per square meter a month. The space is enough for him to place two more tables out for his customers, while still leaving enough room for entrance to the store.

"I paid to use the sidewalks for three consecutive months, at a total of VND2.4 million. This price is appropriate for downtown areas," Hoang said.

Hoang said Hai Trieu Street is known as a place for food and nighttime entertainment.

In the past, during times with many customers, Hoang admitted to having placed tables outside despite not being allowed to. Therefore, when the city allowed the use of sidewalks for business, he immediately signed up and paid the fees.

Besides Hai Trieu, 10 other routes in District 1 also began allowing sidewalk use for rent as a trial starting Thursday: Hoang Sa, Mac Dinh Chi, Chu Manh Trinh, Le Thanh Ton, Phan Boi Chau, Phan Chu Trinh, Ham Nghi, Tran Hung Dao, Co Bac and Vo Van Kiet streets.

Within the first day of trial, 27 families had signed up.

District 1 says the rented areas will be situated adjacent to the houses, and motorbikes will be parked on the side adjacent to the streets. The middle parts of the sidewalks will be for pedestrians, and they must span at least 1.5 m in width.

People looking to rent sidewalk areas for business can provide their personal information, areas of usage, duration and purpose on an application. Once all criteria are met, local authorities can grant approval. For now, only house owners or their tenants can rent the sidewalks.

Nguyen Thanh Phat, head of the District 1 urban management department, said the trial renting of sidewalks was to increase effectiveness in their management.

Using applications for registration and fee collection will also promote transparency and convenience. The trial is expected to last until the end of September, and afterwards, evaluations will be made, so the model can be applied to other streets as well.

Previously in July last year, HCMC issued a new decision that allowed the use of sidewalks and part of the streets for certain cultural activities, parking and business.

The municipal People’s Council later issued a fee for different uses, and the policy took effect earlier this year.

Renting fees for parking purposes range between VND50,000-350,000 per square meter a month, while renting fees for other purposes range from VND20,000-100,000 per square meter.

Applicable sidewalks must span at least 3 m in width, leaving 1.5 m free for pedestrians.