Over in Phu My Hung, things have really gotten crazy. I am talking about the completion of the new highway which runs through the residential area, which must be at least four lanes each way. Roughly a year ago I took pictures of the area from around March last year which you can see here.
Comparing to today's finished project:
It is hard to show the sheer ridiculousness of the new road system through pictures. Here you can see half of the highway running in front of skygarden apartments. It is quite simply a big ruddy mess. For the residents down here now who may wish to cross one side of PMH to the other, it now means negotiating 10 or 12 lanes of road, with of course no provisions set out for pedestrians. Really a couple of pedestrian foot bridges are desperately needed, and the fact that they didn't incorporate these features when the highway was constructed is, for me, mind numbingly unintelligent -- but also typical. The planning just looks so random and hurried - a shame.
This was taken a year ago. It is the Saigon Paragon.
And today:
Adjacent to the Paragon, the Saigon Convention center is now under construction, and looks like it will be a good modern space.
The Panorama, a riverside PMH apartment complex, one year ago:
Today - nearly ready.
Over on the highway linking D7 and D4 and beyond to D1, big plans are taking shape.
This was taken a year ago. It is the Saigon Paragon.
And today:
Adjacent to the Paragon, the Saigon Convention center is now under construction, and looks like it will be a good modern space.
The Panorama, a riverside PMH apartment complex, one year ago:
Today - nearly ready.
Over on the highway linking D7 and D4 and beyond to D1, big plans are taking shape.
District 5 in the distance.
Plans for a Police University on the site :
Back into town, a bridge now connects Thu Thiem to Binh Thanh district, creating an alternative route onto Highway One (other than the Saigon Bridge) and meaning motorbikes no longer have to queue and wait for the ferry across the river. Rather than join in with backslapping of the local media over the opening of this bridge, I feel it put things rather in perspective about Vietnam. Despite the 'incredible growth of 8% per year', we can see that this most useful and basic of infrastructure is still just arriving. The city really does have awful links, especially in this D2/D7 area in the south and east of the city.
The new bridge:
The bridge arrives in Thu Thiem on a typically narrow thoroughfare so it is still no good for heavy traffic. It will eventually link up with the east/west highway currently being built along the canal through D5, into D1, through the tunnel under the river (of which I have heard very little recently) and then into Thu Thiem eventually arriving at H1 some 2/3kms beyond the Saigon bridge. I am hoping this will eventually mean the end of articulated lorries trundling down Ton Duc Thang, which I envisage as a semi-pedestriansed modern river front in the future. Really, the river should be more of a centerpiece, as it is in any city, and once the old ports further along it's banks are cleared as they inevitably will be, we have potential for some nice outdoor restaurants/cafes lining the river. So much potential!
So in the old days, I'd finish working in PMH and drive over to D2 to play football - a minimum of 45 minutes. Not a million miles, but when you understand that it could actually be a journey of 15/20 minutes with the right infrastructure in place, you get frustrated. Apparently the bridge needed has had 'contractual' and 'bureaucratic' problems for many years. A very tired old story, one which represents the biggest obstacle to useful development -- because friends, acres of high end apartments and extortionate office space is only useful to the few. However, by 2009, this new journey should be ready to test drive, finally giving a link between the developments in Phu My Hung (which are spreading east) and the developments and apartment blocks in Anh Phu, D2 (which are spreading west). With decent transport links it is likely the two areas will continue to grow together, and what with the government plans for the rest of D2 (Thu Thiem), we could see a new urban center on the other side of the river. I am hoping this will happen and the burden will be lifted on what will become known as the 'old city'.
Now dominating the skyline of the city from many angles, the Saigon Pearl is nearly finished. In Binh Thanh district, it is right on the river and well placed - equidistance between the highway and the city center. The street it is built however, as residents of The Manor will attest to, floods horribly during the rains (which always makes me laugh as the slogan of the Manor is 'The best address in Vietnam'). Here is the Pearl, the Manor in the background. You can see the villas/townhouses built below the towering apartment blocks.
The new bridge:
The bridge arrives in Thu Thiem on a typically narrow thoroughfare so it is still no good for heavy traffic. It will eventually link up with the east/west highway currently being built along the canal through D5, into D1, through the tunnel under the river (of which I have heard very little recently) and then into Thu Thiem eventually arriving at H1 some 2/3kms beyond the Saigon bridge. I am hoping this will eventually mean the end of articulated lorries trundling down Ton Duc Thang, which I envisage as a semi-pedestriansed modern river front in the future. Really, the river should be more of a centerpiece, as it is in any city, and once the old ports further along it's banks are cleared as they inevitably will be, we have potential for some nice outdoor restaurants/cafes lining the river. So much potential!
So in the old days, I'd finish working in PMH and drive over to D2 to play football - a minimum of 45 minutes. Not a million miles, but when you understand that it could actually be a journey of 15/20 minutes with the right infrastructure in place, you get frustrated. Apparently the bridge needed has had 'contractual' and 'bureaucratic' problems for many years. A very tired old story, one which represents the biggest obstacle to useful development -- because friends, acres of high end apartments and extortionate office space is only useful to the few. However, by 2009, this new journey should be ready to test drive, finally giving a link between the developments in Phu My Hung (which are spreading east) and the developments and apartment blocks in Anh Phu, D2 (which are spreading west). With decent transport links it is likely the two areas will continue to grow together, and what with the government plans for the rest of D2 (Thu Thiem), we could see a new urban center on the other side of the river. I am hoping this will happen and the burden will be lifted on what will become known as the 'old city'.
Now dominating the skyline of the city from many angles, the Saigon Pearl is nearly finished. In Binh Thanh district, it is right on the river and well placed - equidistance between the highway and the city center. The street it is built however, as residents of The Manor will attest to, floods horribly during the rains (which always makes me laugh as the slogan of the Manor is 'The best address in Vietnam'). Here is the Pearl, the Manor in the background. You can see the villas/townhouses built below the towering apartment blocks.
And from Ton Duc Thang in D1.
And close up:
In the town center, Times Square on Nguyen has finally begun construction phase, as my friend Chris often tells (he lives basically on top of the site and often they work at night). Saigon Happiness Square, Nguyen Van Cu:
And back where we started, Sailing tower on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai / Pasteur.
I am, of course, just skimming the surface, but that's a round up of what's going up. Amidst all the madness, the traffic, the people dressed in orange who sweep the dust a further two feet up the road, all I can do is share the sentiments of the giant billboard awaiting arrivals leaving the fantastic new international terminal at Tan Son Nhat :
And close up:
In the town center, Times Square on Nguyen has finally begun construction phase, as my friend Chris often tells (he lives basically on top of the site and often they work at night). Saigon Happiness Square, Nguyen Van Cu:
And back where we started, Sailing tower on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai / Pasteur.
I am, of course, just skimming the surface, but that's a round up of what's going up. Amidst all the madness, the traffic, the people dressed in orange who sweep the dust a further two feet up the road, all I can do is share the sentiments of the giant billboard awaiting arrivals leaving the fantastic new international terminal at Tan Son Nhat :
4 comments:
Wow, the sprawl of this concrete jungle leaves me dizzy!
Your right about that road layout on the NVL highway, it actually put us off buying a plot of land on the Conic estate further down the highway. The road itself is very impressive but we didn't like the way we have to cut across the trucks to do u-turn back into town. That bridge to Thu Thiem is great, I go over that just for the hell of it but the junction on the BT site is a bit tricky at the moment.
i fell in love with vietnam 4 years ago when i visited for the first time as a viet kieu who knew nothing of his culture and going back two months ago was a definite confirmation of it.
but all of a sudden my feelings have shifted gears for some reason and i wish vietnam could somehow become as happy as singapore is. i'm tired of thinking about my fellow vietnamese wallowing in poverty while corrupt government officials bathe in ill-gotten wealth. it's just sick.
i have some relatives who are so unbelievably, unreasonably wealthy that i am absolutely flabbergasted when i hear of the types of expenditures they have. of course they greet me with unending, genuine hospitality as it is part of their culture, but it leaves my mind boggled when i think about how they ended up the way they are and whether or not their wealth was stolen. do they know anything about charity when we bring up the subject? not really.
you're absolutely right about the infrastructure, man. huge ass lanes completely unsafe for pedestrians, it does really look and feel reckless and amateur. maybe i'll just come back when the subway system is in.
the old French-inspired terraced buildings, sidewalks and boulevards are lovely. Unfortunately, they can't support the city's ever-growing density and traffic volume. So I guess a cure for the insane civil engineering now taking place would be extensive subway-rail networks, a la Tokyo, Singapore.
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