Vietnamese cities suffer from lack of parking space

People in Da Nang recently wrote to the Ministry of Construction to make clear plans for parking lots when skyscrapers are built, saying it is a recurrent issue in cities that severely impacts traffic.

A ministry spokesperson said land used to build parking lots is below the prescribed rate for urban construction in all Vietnam's major cities.

In Hanoi, data from the Department of Transport revealed that there are around 6.9 million vehicles (cars and motorbikes), not to mention vehicles from other localities coming in and out of the city every day. The capital city has more than 90 hectares of parking space, which only meet 10% of demand.

HCMC, which has over 850,000 cars and 7.8 million motorbikes, lacks parking space especially for cars in the downtown area. Its parking system is only 20% of what was envisaged for 2020, which was 1,200 hectares.

The shortage of space is due to land acquisition issues, especially in downtown areas, according to the ministry.

Policies related to investment, pricing and costs do not encourage the development of parking space, the ministry admitted.