Creating Sustainable and Friendly Urban Spaces in Viet Nam Through Effective Stakeholder Engagement

Urbanization presents opportunities for sustainable growth, but it can also exacerbate the impacts and dangers to the physical and spatial characteristics of urban areas and the socio-economic status of their residents. Fast urbanization in Viet Nam recently possibly induced unsustainable development. Furthermore, actors’ current understandings of a ‘sustainable city’ in Viet Nam remain fragmented. This article aims to clarify the context of friendly-sustainable urban development in Viet Nam by analyzing the practical activities of stakeholders. It analyses the role and influence of stakeholders in developing friendly-sustainable urban spaces and discusses their suggestions for improving regulations for creating such spaces. The research team used the European Reference Framework on Sustainable Cities, an online tool, to evaluate the extent of stakeholders’ engagement and their roles in developing sustainable urban space. The methods employed included desk-based research, key informant interviews, and questionnaires to understand better the context, policies, and strategic orientations of Viet Nam’s sustainable urban development that influence practical activities.