Green development in Vinh City: Inadequacies and concerns

(Baonghean.vn) -Up to now, Vinh city has been recognized as a type I urban area for 6 years. During that time, Vinh city has made efforts to improve green spaces in the area, creating a cool, friendly and civilized landscape. However, in reality, the problem of developing green areas in the city still has shortcomings and concerns.

In recent years, the Vinh City government has clearly stated its goal of striving to achieve 10-12m2 of green space per capita and in fact, although it has not yet met the set standards, for many consecutive years, Vinh City has maintained its position in the top 5 cities in the country in terms of green space coverage according to the Vietnam Green Tree Association. Even with statistics of 8.6 m2 of green space per person, Vinh City has surpassed Da Nang - a city famous for being an environmentally friendly urban area, which currently only reaches 5.27 m2 per person.

As a land favored by nature, Vinh City possesses rare “green values” such as the Hung Hoa mangrove forest belt, Quyet mountain park… Amidst the hustle and bustle of the city and the constant development of industrial parks, new urban areas and increasing population density, these natural “lungs” are truly priceless gifts, soothing the stressful movements of life and returning fresh air.

On the other hand, the attitude towards trees of many people has been significantly improved. Everyone is aware that urban life needs trees to regulate the air and provide mental therapy after stressful working hours. Mr. Phan Xuan Bao - Director of Vinh City Green Park Joint Stock Company said: “If in the past, planting new trees on the streets encountered many difficulties in care and protection, now, newly planted trees almost do not encounter any external impacts from humans that affect their development. The awareness of city residents towards urban trees has improved a lot, there are still cases of automatic cutting of canopy, pruning of branches and leaves... because of the mentality that large trees will cover a large area, making their house "dark", or the homeowner thinks that the tree is not suitable for that type of tree so they find a way to "destroy". In general, this rate exists but is very small."

Although there are positive signs in the development of green areas in the city, it cannot be denied that such development is associated with perennial problems that, to be thoroughly resolved, require the synchronous participation of all levels of government and positive awareness of the people.

In the Project for socio-economic development of Vinh city until 2020, in the spirit of Resolution 26/NQ-TW of the Politburo, the goal of achieving a green tree coverage of 18-20m2/person is clearly stated, ensuring beauty and civilization. In reality, this goal is still difficult to achieve, due to the obstacles and shortcomings in implementing new planting and replacement planting of trees. Most of the land area for green trees in the city has been used up, new planting is only carried out in the direction of expansion and replacement planting of trees that are not suitable for soil conditions, climate and urban aesthetics.

Vinh City Green Park Joint Stock Company has proposed and advised the City People's Committee on developing Vinh City into a green urban area, focusing on forming specialized streets of trees such as: so do cam, sao den, mango, dau rai, and hoang yen. Previously, these trees were mostly taken from the South, but in recent years, Vinh City Green Park Joint Stock Company has proactively produced the seeds. However, the implementation of specialized streets of trees to create aesthetic highlights and plan modern and effective ecological spaces has only been piloted on a few streets such as Nguyen Du, Nguyen Canh Hoan... with sao den trees; Ly Thuong Kiet Street with so do cam trees... In fact, up to 70% of the streets are still banyan, sycamore, cotton trees..., trees that easily break and fall during the rainy and stormy season, lose their leaves in winter, and their flowers and fruits do not achieve aesthetic effect.

Phan Boi Chau Street is mainly covered with banyan trees, cotton trees... not suitable for modern urban development.

Even Le Mao Street, famous for its rows of ancient Indian mahogany trees, does not meet the criteria for urban green trees, because the large, raised roots of Indian mahogany trees often affect the road surface and sidewalks. Meanwhile, the five types of trees in the development orientation of the Vinh City Socio-Economic Development Project to 2020 in the spirit of Resolution 26/NQ-TW of the Politburo basically meet the criteria for harmony with the environment and landscape.

Lenin Avenue is newly planned with black star trees.

According to Mr. Phan Xuan Bao - Director of Vinh City Green Park Joint Stock Company, the reason for the difficulty in implementing new planting and replacement of trees is primarily the lack of funding. In the past three years, the funding for tree care and development has only stopped at 12.5 billion VND! On the other hand, the area of ​​nurseries is also increasingly shrinking. There are currently 3 tree nurseries, 2 in Hung Phuc ward and 1 in the city gate area, but now, the actual area of ​​all 3 gardens is only about 5 hectares, the future is even more alarming because new urban projects are expanding. Meanwhile, to meet the development needs of urban green trees of type I, not to mention green urban areas, 40-45 hectares of nursery area are needed!

It is a fact that although the standard for the proportion of trees used in public areas must reach 18-20% of the total area, it currently only stops at 10%. Many new urban areas have modern designs but the land area for trees is too small. Even some businesses, state agencies, schools... find it difficult to meet the standard for the proportion of trees in their premises. Le Mao Kindergarten is a typical example. Difficulties in land funds mean that the school does not have enough area to meet the learning and living needs of preschool children - the age group that needs a large space to explore and play, not to mention planting trees to create an ecological landscape!

The above-mentioned shortcomings and difficulties come from objective and subjective causes. Therefore, in order for Vinh city to become a green city, worthy of being the center of the North Central region and a friendly destination on the Central heritage road, more attention and investment is needed for urban trees. In addition to the budget, socializing trees is also a direction worth considering. For new urban projects, industrial parks, etc., there needs to be a close commitment with investors on the ratio of trees to the total area, integrating ecological issues into other profitable projects. Along with that, doing a good job of caring for and protecting trees in the area, increasing propaganda, raising awareness among the community about the importance of trees to urban life. Only then can small green areas in the heart of the city be multiplied into green cities in the future./.

Phuong Chi