20-Minute to Health-Oriented City: The Case of Ho Chi Minh City

Building a 20-minute city is a desire but a big challenge for any city in the car-booming era. When the city became a metropolis, commuting choices narrowed when travel distance increased while alternative means of public transport were limited. The cost of pollution and congestion due to car transformation urge city authority to act; however, it seems that different vectors of growth such as mobility choices and property development could hardly match the planning schemes, resource for infrastructure development, and governing capacity. This article discusses alternative solutions to build a 20-minute city in the existing development pattern in Ho Chi Minh City in the context of resource limitation. Using an analytical framework to explore possibility to avoid car in the existing urban form, population and service density, land use changes and urban growth pattern, the authors argue how E-bike could increase the accessibility to jobs, housing, and service as well as reduce pollution and expenses for both households and city authorities. The discussion implicated a strategy to enable health-oriented city by developing service-oriented zones where green mobility, integrated planning, and new urban design to be supported by an innovative and inclusive governing model.