For the first time, there is a legal street food area.

The sidewalks of Nguyen Van Chiem Street (next to the Youth Cultural Center) and Bach Tung Diep Park are being piloted as a managed street vendor model.

On the afternoon of March 20th, reporting to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee on the sidewalk business plan, Chairman of District 1 People's Committee Tran The Thuan stated that after two months of implementing the campaign to restore urban order, many positive changes have been observed.

The district is entering a phase of sustainably maintaining order on the sidewalks, with the most important aspect being the reorganization of the lives of workers.

For businesses located on the street, District 1 is conducting awareness campaigns and taking strict action against repeat offenders. "The biggest concern is for street vendors, whose income from selling on the sidewalks is their livelihood. Therefore, the district is coordinating with relevant departments to propose the construction of a Street Vendor model," Mr. Thuan said.

Perspective view of the street vendor area on the sidewalk according to the plan of the District 1 People's Committee.

District 1 proposed three pilot areas: Nguyen Van Chiem Street (40m long, allocated for 20 businesses operating from 6 to 9 am and 11 am to 1 pm); Bach Tung Diep Park (30m long, allocated for 15 businesses operating from 6 to 9 am); and Chu Manh Trinh Street (120m long, allocated for 35 businesses).

The district will not charge fees and will organize training on food safety and hygiene, sales skills, and waste sorting at source for business households. These households mainly sell food, and are encouraged to prepare food at home. In addition, the district is reviewing other streets with sidewalks wider than 3 meters to allocate business areas for the poor.

Tables and chairs will be provided by the sponsor according to a standardized design to ensure aesthetics, and will be concentrated in one area for guests to use together, maximizing the use of space.

After hearing the report from District 1, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Tran Vinh Tuyen only agreed to the pilot program in one area.Nguyen Van Chiem Street and Bach Tung Diep Park. If the results are good, we will expand further.Specifically on Nguyen Van Chiem street, only takeaway orders are allowed to increase the number of businesses, giving buyers more choices.

According to Mr. Tuyen, sidewalk businesses are only temporary; in the long run, sidewalks are for traffic. In the current context, the city must accept this transitional form, allocating a portion of the sidewalk for businesses.

"Street food is a unique feature of the city. We can select vendors with established brands to operate in designated business areas," Mr. Tuyen said, emphasizing that reforming sidewalks is a necessary task, but it must also address the livelihoods of the people.

Regarding the plan to create a pedestrian street in the Bui Vien Western Quarter, Mr. Tuyen suggested that District 1 and relevant departments should try to implement it before April 30th. The district needs to educate residents so they understand that having a pedestrian street will significantly increase the income of households.

Mr. Tuyen suggested that traffic could be suspended on the evenings of the two weekend days to allow pedestrian access. The Department of Transportation would put up signs and disseminate the information so that everyone in the area would be aware.

"The authorities need to contribute more ideas to make this street more vibrant. There should be street art activities such as violin and flamenco performances to replace the noise that only serves a few people," suggested the Vice Chairman of the City People's Committee.

According to VNE