which control and promote the development of private
lands.
The urban planning framework consists of two
levels, i.e., general planning and detailed planning. Since
it presupposes that the public sector takes charge of
urban development as an investor, urban plans regulate
considerably detailed items necessary to achieve public
or socially important projects.
For such cities managed by the central government
as Hanoi City and Ho Chi Minh City, the urban planning
system provided by the Law on Construction requires
the formulation of four levels of plans: a general plan for
an entire city and another for its districts (divisions of a
city), as well as detailed plans on a scale of 1:2000 and
1:500.
A general plan includes development directions,
land uses, and locations of transportation and other large
urban infrastructures. Detailed plans cover building
criteria (use, FAR (floor area ratio), BCR (building
coverage ratio), and height) and other requirements
(facility locations, infrastructure systems, greenery,
urban design, etc.).
Major issues on the urban planning regime before
the Law on Urban Planning was enacted are summarized
below (GTZ, 2003; Ochi, 2010)1