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Fig 1: “Saigon South is an urban vision for Vietnam in the new millennium” (advertising text in brochure of PMH Corporation)
Fig 3: Plan of a residential quarter within the New City Center of Saigon South
in 1997. The Saigon South City as well and values security and comfort. US$, including all taxes and fees. Even
as - among others - the only foreign-in- As affluent citizens migrate from the old though PMH is now offering apartments
vested housing project currently licensed city centre to suburbia, a new division in instalments paid over periods of up
in Hanoi, the $2.1 billion Ciputra Hanoi of the city along class lines is rapidly to 15 years, the longest payment tenure
International City Project (managed by emerging (see Fig 5 & 6). These well- in Vietnam for apartments, this price is
an Indonesian-Vietnamese joint venture regulated suburbanization processes, still out of reach for most Vietnamese
company) are thus visual proof of Viet- which are a quite recent phenomenon (HONG 2004B: 19). As most real-estate
nam’s ambition to increase its integra- in Vietnam, will also have far-reaching operators and consultants expect the de-
tion into a economically and culturally consequences for the social geography of mand for luxury apartments and office
globalizing world. The visible outcome the metropolis. In this way, the develop- space to remain high for the next two or
is an internationally standardised, con- ment of Saigon South is contributing to three years, there seems to be no reason
sumer-oriented architecture (GOTSCH the increasing process of physical, func- why the property prices should decrease.
& PETEREK 2003: 1). Strangely, there tional and social segregation within the Furthermore, expectations for the overall
seems to be no current empirical data on municipality of Ho Chi Minh City. future economic welfare of Vietnam are
the target groups’ aspirations and prefer- very high and are a driving force of spec-
ences towards this kind of uniform ar- Real-estate and speculation boom ulation. Besides, investment in property
chitecture and the coherent new urban The ongoing segregation processes are is regarded as a safer method to invest
area concepts. seriously aggravated by the real-estate money than deposits at a bank.
and speculation boom currently engulf- As for Saigon South (and all other new
Increasing segregation ing Vietnam. Driven by a 7% economic urban areas of Vietnam), the property
Of course, all these new urban housing growth, acute housing shortage, strong boom is now providing much brighter
areas are destinations for the beneficiar- demand and speculation, property prices prospects for high rates of return than
ies of transition, and thus mainly serve in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi have before. At the moment, market prices
the high- and middle-income groups: increased four- or fivefold in the last can be twice or three times the real con-
The specific target population of Sai- years (SON 2003: 14). Prices of land in struction costs (BICH 2004: 19) There-
gon South City is composed of expatri- both cities are now among the highest fore, the speed of construction within
ates, Vietnam’s Nouveaux Riches, and, in the world. In 2003 alone, the prop- the New City Center has significantly
of course, the white-collar staff of the erty market in Ho Chi Minh City saw accelerated3.
surrounding Export Processing Zones a dramatic rise in both occupancy rates However, the property boom is increas-
(NGUYEN 2003: 15). This new stratum and rents (HONG 2004A). At the mo- ingly preventing access to the housing
of population is generally mobile, well ment, the cheapest apartments in Sai- markets for low-income groups, who
off, lives an upscale Western life style gon South cost approximately 50,000 still form the majority of Ho Chi Minh
Credits: Michael Waibel 2004
Fig 5: Appartments of middle classes‘ dreams Fig 6: One of the first Gated-Communities in Vietnam
Dr. Michael Waibel [mwaibel@gwdg.de] ist Wissenschaftlicher Assistent am Geographischen Institut der Universität
Göttingen und beschäftigt sich seit Jahren mit Vietnam.