Expanding space and upgrading urban standards for 6 towns in Nghe An

Merging and expanding urban planning of 6 towns

According to the Project on administrative unit arrangement of the province, in the period of 2023 - 2025, Nghe An has 94 commune-level administrative units to be arranged; of which 16 units are arranged and merged between urban and town areas and rural units.

The arrangement and merger of communes into towns is calculated based on the units subject to arrangement in the period of 2023 - 2025 when the natural area is less than 20% and the population size is less than 300% of the standard (stipulated in Resolution No. 35, dated July 12, 2023 of the National Assembly Standing Committee); at the same time, the geographical location, history, culture and development of adjacent administrative units with similarities are studied.

On the other hand, the arrangement and merger of communes into towns aims to adjust and meet the planning requirements for expanding administrative space and urban development of towns according to the general planning of the province.

Specifically, Cau Giat town (Quynh Luu district) will incorporate the entire natural area and population of Quynh Hong commune, along with part of village 1, Quynh Hung commune and part of village 7, Quynh Ba commune. After the arrangement, Cau Giat town will have a natural area of ​​2.89 km2, increasing to 7.89 km2 and a population of 11,655 people to 21,886 people.

Similarly, Con Cuong town (Con Cuong district) merged the entire natural area and population of Bong Khe commune and Tien Thanh village, Chi Khe commune to take the new name of Tra Lan town. After the arrangement, Tra Lan town's natural area increased from 1.87 km2 to 33.80 km2 and its population increased from 5,984 to 13,704.

Thanh Chuong town (Thanh Chuong district) merged the entire natural area and population of Thanh Dong and Thanh Linh communes and then reorganized and took the name Dung town. After the reorganization, Dung town's natural area increased from 6.54 km2 to 19.85 km2 and its population increased from 11,374 people to 23,672 people.

Dien Chau town (Dien Chau district) will merge the entire natural area and population of Dien Thanh commune into Dien Thanh town, with the natural area increasing after the merger, from 0.82 km2 to 6.50 km2 and the population from 7,468 people to 14,137 people (reaching a rate of 176.71%).

Anh Son town (Anh Son district) will have its administrative boundaries and population expanded on the basis of merging the entire natural area and population of Thach Son commune into Kim Nhan town. After the arrangement, the town will be expanded from 2.62 km2 to 7.92 km2 and the population from 6,248 to 9,908 people.

For Yen Thanh town (Yen Thanh district), the entire area and population of Hoa Thanh commune will be merged into Hoa Thanh town after the merger. At the same time, after the arrangement, Hoa Thanh town will expand its natural area from 2.61 km2 to 6.09 km2 and its population from 5,774 to 11,500.

Efforts to complete the procedures

Resolution No. 35, dated July 12, 2023 of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly stipulates that the dossier of the Project on the arrangement of district- and commune-level administrative units sent to the Central Government for appraisal, if there is content on the establishment, merger, or adjustment of urban administrative boundaries as towns, there must be an urban classification project for the town expected to be formed after the arrangement.

In order to have sufficient basis to develop urban classification projects for towns formed after the rearrangement (including town expansion and establishment of new towns), there must be an urban planning after the rearrangement and an urban development program approved by a competent authority according to the provisions of Resolution No. 1210, dated May 25, 2016 and amended and supplemented in Resolution No. 26, dated September 21, 2022 of the National Assembly Standing Committee.

Recently, the Department of Construction has focused on directing and guiding localities to carry out parallel procedures, including adjusting urban planning, establishing urban development programs (according to newly adjusted planning), and establishing a project to recognize the project to classify urban type V for the expanded town after the merger.

Comrade Trinh Van Nha - Deputy Secretary of the District Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Committee of Thanh Chuong district said: The advantage is that 2 communes merged into the town, in which Thanh Linh commune is building to meet the model new rural standards and Thanh Dong commune has achieved advanced new rural standards, so the level of development and urbanization rate is quite high.

Thanh Chuong District also proactively focused on directing and coordinating with relevant units in the assessment and scoring of urban quality, developing a classification project, through the Standing Committee, the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee, and the District People's Council to submit to the Department of Construction for appraisal quite early in March 2024 and is currently submitting to the People's Committee for approval.

Similarly, Hoa Thanh commune (Yen Thanh district) is located next to Yen Thanh town, so the level of development and urbanization is not too different from the town. Evidence through the scoring of general criteria for urban areas, the town after merging Hoa Thanh commune has reached over 90/100 points.

The development level of the communes expected to be merged into towns of 6 districts to expand administrative boundaries and urban space is not too different, so the procedures to merge communes into towns are being implemented quickly.

According to the report of the Department of Construction, by April 26, 2024, 5 localities had completed the contents and procedures at the district level and had been appraised by the Department of Construction and submitted to the People's Committee for approval of the project proposing recognition of urban areas reaching type V for 5 towns after merging communes for expansion: Con Cuong town; Dien Chau town; Thanh Chuong town; Yen Thanh town; Cau Giat town.

As for Anh Son town, the district has submitted to the District People's Council a project to propose recognizing Anh Son town (expansion) as meeting the criteria of a type V urban area, as a basis for submission to the Department of Construction for appraisal before submitting to the Provincial People's Committee for approval.

In addition to focusing on completing procedures to ensure timely implementation of the merger of commune-level administrative units in the 2023-2025 period in towns that have merged rural communes; the current requirement for localities is to continue carrying out planning procedures and establishing development programs to serve as a basis for focusing on investment in the construction of rural areas after the merger to both meet urban criteria and meet the quality and level of long-term urban development.