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Research on Causes of Urban Sprawl and Solutions towards Sustainable Urban

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 NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY
Taiwan Studies Project

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
Climate Change and Sustainability Management
in Vietnam and Taiwan
ICCSM-2020

Hanoi, 28th October 2020

LABOUR - SOCIAL PUBLISHING HOUSE

 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
Climate Change and Sustainability Management
in Vietnam and Taiwan
ICCSM-2020

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4. Nguyen Linh Dan (PhD), Member
5. Nguyen Thuy Linh (MSc), Member
 Research on Causes of Urban Sprawl and Solutions
towards Sustainable Urban Development: Case Study in
Central Highlands of Vietnam
Nguyen Ninh Hai, Nguyen Minh Ky, Le Minh Son,
Nguyen Thi Lan Thuong, Nguyen Thi Thai Ha, Nguyen Tuan Anh*
Research Group on Natural Resources and Environment,
Nong Lam University of Ho Chi Minh City – Gia Lai Branch
Email: ngninhhai@hcmuaf.edu.vn, nmky@hcmuaf.edu.vn, *ngtuananh@hcmuaf.edu.vn

Abstract
Urban expansion is a global phenomenon. The study explored causes of urban sprawl and
solutions for promoting sustainable urban development in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, a
case study in Pleiku city in the context of rapid urbanization. The semi-quantitative and
qualitative research approaches were used to collect the data including the questionnaire, focus
group discussion (FGD), descriptive statistics and stakeholder analysis (SA) method. The
results illustrate that there were consistencies between the two groups (citizens and experts)
about the causes of urban sprawl including housing investment, lack of affordable housing, lack
of proper planning policies, weak land use planning, industrialization, increasing household’s
income. On the contrary, there was an inconsistency in the related causes to citizens ignore of
urban legislation; land hunger attitude; local cultural behavior. The study also proposed
appropriate solutions for sustainable urban development in the context of climate change,
towards "green cities for health".
Keywords: Central Highlands, green cities for health, sustainable urban development, urban
sprawl, stakeholder analysis.

1. Introduction
Urban sprawl is one of the hot problems in the cities nowadays. The term “sprawl” was first
used by Earle Draper of the Tennessee Valley Authority in the context of a national conference
of planners in 193 (Maier et al., 2006). The term of “urban sprawl” was first used in the opening
paragraph of an article by the sociologist William Whyte in Fortune magazine in 1958
(Wassmer, 2002a) with means more growth than the usual, its pressure on the borders, city will
face new major problems (Habibi & Asadi, 2011). There are countless causes leading to
phenomenon of urban sprawl. The previous studies have identified the driving forces in various
ways depending on different case studies such as the decentralization process after economic
reform (Bürgi et al., 2004; Chen & Ye, 2014). Economic growth creates more jobs, resulting in
higher wages or income. This leads to demand for space expansion (Brueckner, 2000; McGuire
& Sjoquist, 2003; Bhatta, 2010; Christiansen & Loftsgarden, 2011), as well as has direct effects
on the industrialization process, which results in the increasing demand for residential land use
due to more workers moving to the industrial zone to find affordable housing (Bhatta, 2010;
Christiansen & Loftsgarden, 2011), and land prices, property taxes and general living costs

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where have a tendency to be higher than in peri-urban areas. Additionally, according to Duckett
(2012) showed that, fragmentation in the urban was due to political, economic, and social
problems (Duckett, 2012). Newman & Kenworthy (1998) considered to urban sprawl trends
via the combined effect of changing lifestyles and the vast advance in personal mobility of
private automobile (Newman & Kenworthy, 1989). In terms of social and environmental
perspectives, structure of settlement for spacious living relying on access to car travel has
caused the urban sprawl. Furthermore, the lack of comprehensive plans for land use and lack
of government proper planning policies for areas outside the boundaries of cities have resulted
in slum and squatter areas (Jaradat et al., 2009), regarding as lack of urban planning (Dieleman
& Wegener, 2004).
Besides, Wassmer (2002b) illustrated that the construction of highways invested by the state,
and the relatively low private cost of using a car to work. Gregory (2006) demonstrated that the
characteristics of the urban development process is often associated with an unlimited outward
spread. Overall, the causes of urban sprawl can be summarized as presented causes including:
population growth, independence of decision, economic growth, industrialization, speculation,
expectations of land appreciation, land hunger attitude, legal disputes, physical geography,
development and property tax, living and property cost, lack of affordable housing, demand of
more living space, public regulation, transportation, road width, single-family home, nucleus
family, credit and capital market, government developmental policies, lack of proper planning
policies, failure to enforce planning policies, country-living desire, housing investment, and
large lot size (Harvey & Clark, 1965; Squires, 2002; Burchfield, 2006; Bhatta, 2010).
Vietnam is entering an important stage of urbanization, urban space and urban population have
increased rapidly (Cira, 2011), beyond the control of the government, causing several
consequences on land resources, imbalance of environmental ecosystems, disparity in
architectural space, depletion of cultural and historical architectural, and reduction of urban
land rapidly, which put great pressure on technical infrastructure. Since the 2000s, Vietnam's
urban areas have developed in three main trends: (i)- The trend of scaling up by the merging of
peri-urban areas, urbanized agricultural communes, almost these areas are shifting from
agriculture to services and handicraft production, the agricultural production part is declining;
(ii)- The trend of expanding urban space by investing in synchronous urban infrastructure,
building new modern urban areas creates favorable conditions for land to expand urban
development; and (iii)- The tendency to extent and encroach on the beaches to construct the
new urban areas, both as a means of increasing the urban area, facilitating the development of
new modern urban centers and an attractive new urban image. With its special geopolitical and
geo-economic position, Pleiku city is an important gateway in the northern economic corridor
of the Central Highland of Vietnam. Meanwhile, the process of economic development and
urbanization has caused many problems in urban land management and urban identity. This
poses an urgent problem to be addressed in the state management of urban land resources. Thus,
the research on urban sprawl causes and proposals for solutions towards sustainable urban
development are essential to provide appropriate solutions for effective management of urban
space, meeting the needs of economic, social and environmental sectors.

196
2. Research methodology
2.1. Study area
Figure 1: Map of Vietnam and studied area

Source: Pleiku Department of Natural Resources and Environment, 2019

Pleiku city of Gia Lai province is regards as a representative of small-scale urban areas, is
located in the North’s of Highland area of Vietnam (Fig. 1), between 13°50’00’’ to 14004’44’’
North, 107°49’30’’ to 108006’22’’ West. The study area covers 9 communes and 14 wards, which
together, cover an area of approximately 260 km2. The current population figure is estimated to
be 254.802 inhabitants, with an estimated annual growth rate of 1.4 percent (Pleiku Authorities,
2018). Pleiku city have been among the most economically dynamic cities in Gia Lai province
since the start of the economic reform in 1986. Socioeconomic development and rapid
urbanization have led to a significant transformation in the pattern of land cover (Hai et al., 2019).
2.2. Methodology
2.2.1. Secondary data collection methods
The secondary data were collected from local authorities within Pleiku city and Gia Lai
province, such as Land use status quo map (LUSM) from the Department of Natural Resource
and Environment (DONRE). Similarly, demographic, population and density data were
obtained from the People’s Community of Pleiku city (PCP) and Statistical Yearbook of 2005,
2010, 2015 and 2019. The documents showed the patterns of physical and socioeconomic
change of the municipal such as sectors of economy growth, infrastructures, transportation,
recreation, urban open, which collected from Department of Agricultural and Rural
development (DARD), Department of Plan and Invest (DPI), Department of Transportation
(DOT) and was aggregated by authors.
2.2.2. Primary data collection methods
The qualitative and semi-quantitative research approach was applied to collect data (Lotto,
1986; Kline, 2011). Firstly, the study employed literarture review to list the causes of urban

197
sprawl, and then FGD method are applied to two groups including expert group (n=5) to identify
causes of urban sprawl in the context of case study. In the next step, the questionnaire (n=40)
using Likert scaling (a scale of 1 to 5) are used, and then applied descriptive analysis to compare
the results of two groups. The problems are determined to give priorities to propose some
solutions based on FGD method. Finally, analyzing stakeholder involvement is essential to
clarify the roles of stakeholders in implementing solutions in practice.
Figure 2: Research framework

The number of participants was choose base on the study of Miles & Huberman (1994), around
40 respondents in homogeneous groups in five different sites (average 8 person per site) which
will be sufficient to create a viable data set to collect the data about the characteristic, causes
and consequences of urban sprawl on structure of Pleiku city. A brief profile of 40 volunteers
participated in the interview is provided to keep track of each participant.
2.2.3. Stakeholder analysis
A stakeholder is “any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of
the organization’s objectives” (Freeman, 1984). Stakeholders can be defined as actors having
an interest in the issue under consideration or being affected by the issue. In other word,
stakeholders who have or could have an active or passive influence on the decision-making and
implementation processes. They can include individuals, organizations, different individuals
within an organization, and networks of individuals and/or organizations (Suchman, 1995).
Stakeholder analysis is an approach or a tool for generating knowledge about actors –
individuals and organizations – so as to understand their behavior, intentions, interrelations and
interests; and for assessing the influence and resources they bring to bear on decision-making
or implementation processes (Varvasovszky, 2000). Stakeholder analysis allows managers to
identify the interests of different groups and find ways of harnessing the support of those in favour
or the activity, while managing the risks posed by stakeholders who are against it (DFID, 2003).
To clarifying the level of stakeholder involvement, stakeholder analysis method are applied
(n=35). The question using Likert scaling (a scale of 5) are surveyed to 35 respondents
(stakeholders) (Table 1). The arithmetic mean of stakeholders' score was used. The following
equations show how influence and interest indices for each stakeholder are calculated:

198
Where: Fi and Ii are the ith stakeholder's influence and interest indices respectively; Fij and Iij
are influence and interest amount that jth stakeholder assigns to ith stakeholder in their interviews
respectively; and, N is the total number of stakeholders.
Table 1: The numbers of stakeholders participating in stakeholder analysis (n=35)
Stakeholders N Stakeholders N
People’s Committee of Gia Lai Province 3 Department of Resources and Environment 3
Department of Construction 4 Experts and academic professionals 4
People’s Committee of Pleiku City 3 Other state agencies 2
Urban Management Office 3 Community 3
People’s Committee of Wards 3 Property companies and real estate agents 2

Gia Lai Association of Architects 3 Media 2

After analyzing the mean score for influence and interest atributes, scores of both attributes,
which are higher than 3, should be classified as definitive stakeholders, while those with one
attribute of higher than 3 are expectant stakeholders, while both attributes with scores of lower
3, are latent stakeholders. Corresponding to these 3 levels are co-working, co-thinking, and co-
knowing stakeholders (Stanghellini, 2010).
2.2.4. Statistical methods
The study used most of common descriptive statistic parameters such as mean, frequency and
standard deviation. Samples t-test was used to compare causes of urban sprawl between citizens
and experts with significance was p<0.05. The results are processed by software Excel 2013
and SPSS 13.0 with significance level of 5%.
3. Results and discussions
3.1. Causes of urban sprawl
Tables 2-5 show the causes of urban sprawl in Pleiku city by a survey from the citizens and
experts. The results illustrate that there were both homogeneity and differences between the
two groups in some causes of urban expansion. At the beginning of housing investment was the
weighty cause of the extension in Pleiku urban with the average values were 4.40 (SD=0.55)
and 4.55 (SD=0.71) of experts and citizens groups, respectively (Table 2). The samples t-test
indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between the measured housing
investment when compared with levels in the respondents (t=-2.849; p<0.05). The rate of
economic growth in Pleiku city has remarkable over the last two decades, which leads to
exponential increases in land and housing prices from after the comprehensive economic
reforms in the second half of the 1980s under Doi Moi policy (Forbes, 1995). Moreover, cause
of industrialization has mean =3.68 (SD=1.19) as for local inhabitants and mean=3.80
(SD=0.84) as for experts (t=0.784; p>0.05). From 2000 to 2019, Pleiku city increased 17.5
percentage of urbanization rate, from 62.25% to 79.75%, an average increase of 0.92
percentage/year. In which, in the 2000-2010 period, the urbanization rate increased by 8.5
percentage, an average increase of 0.85 percentage/year. In the period 2011 - 2019, the growth

199
 rate would reach 9.0 percentage, an average of 1.0 percentage of urbanization/year. Thus, in the
2011-2019 period, despite the economic difficulties, the urbanization rate is still higher than the
2000-2011 period. The current urbanization rate of the city is about 79.75 percent (Pleiku
Authorities, 2018). Economic causes of urban sprawl illustrated that, increasing household’s
income has minor effects on the trend of urban sprawl with the mean were 1.40 (SD=0.55) and
1.25 (SD=0.49) of two groups of experts and inhabitants respectively.
Table 2: Economic causes of urban sprawl in Pleiku city
Experts Citizens Samples t-test
Economic causes of urban
ID Std. Std.
sprawl Mean Mean t Sig.
Deviation Deviation
N1 Industrialization 3.80 0.84 3.68 1.19 0.784 0.477
Increasing household’s
N2 1.40 0.55 1.25 0.49 1.633 0.178
income
N3 Demand of more living space 2.00 1.22 1.53 0.82 2.738 0.044
N4 Housing investment 4.40 0.55 4.55 0.71 -2.849 0.042
N5 Land hunger attitude 1.40 0.53 3.80 0.79 -4.408 0.004
N6 Development and property tax 3.00 1.41 2.00 0.01 2.838 0.041
N7 Living and property cost 2.60 1.14 1.60 0.50 2.784 0.043
Source: Data analysis of SPSS 13.0
Causes of urban sprawl due to demographic changes in Pleiku city are shown in Table 3. Local
cultural behavior was the main dissimilar with mean value =3.73 (SD=1.78) of local citizens.
However, the experts showed that this reason was less importance with the mean of 3.40
(SD=1.14) by samples t-test (t=-2.868; p<0.05). In addition, increasing in household’s
formation showed an identical between two groups with mean =2.00 (SD=1.22) and 1.83
(SD=0.93) of experts and local citizens, respectively. However, there was no existence of the
statistically significant difference (p>0.05) between the two groups. Although, Pleiku urban
population in the period of 2000 - 2019 increased by 1.89% (in the period of 2000-2010 was
1.58% and 1.19% in the period of 2011-2019) (Gia Lai Province, 2017). However, household
formation was increased by 1.54%.
Table 3: Causes of urban sprawl due to demographic changes in Pleiku city
Experts Citizens Samples t-test
Causes relate to
ID Std. Std.
demographic changes Mean Mean t Sig.
Deviation Deviation
M1 Population growth 3.80 1.10 3.15 0.95 2.933 0.040
Increasing in household’s
M2 2.00 1.22 1.83 0.93 1.310 0.361
formation
M3 Local cultural behavior 3.40 1.14 3.73 1.18 -2.868 0.045
Source: Data analysis of SPSS 13.0
The samples t-test indicated that there were a statistically significant difference between the
measured causes of urban sprawl relate to planning, institution and policies in studied area
(p<0.05). Table 4 showed the lack of proper planning policies with mean =2.60 (SD=1.82) of

200
 expert group and mean =2.15 (SD=0.86) of inhabitants group may also cause urban sprawl by lack
of consistent planning policies (p<0.05). A city may be planned with exclusive zoning policies; this
means separation of residential, commercial, industrial, office, institutional, or other land uses. In
most cases, a mixed land-use policy is preferred to limit urban sprawl. Despite the central role of
the state in planning and management development, the management capacity of public sectors is
weak. A lack of sufficient trained personnel, reliable data for planning and economic and
infrastructure resources has led to the absence of strategic policy and a crisis management approach
to environmental infrastructure provision (Pelling, 2013). Besides, the lack of specialized planning,
urban technical infrastructure system has not yet led to the construction in some areas still
spontaneous; the land use planning and master planning has not been synchronized, the quality and
feasibility are limited, short visions of plans affect the investment in infrastructure system, leading
to the fragmented, inconsistent in the urban structure. The urban management capacity of officials
directly involved in urban management is still insufficient, especially in units of communes and
wards, resulting in the confusion in dealing with violations.
Table 4: Causes of urban sprawl relate to planning, institution and policies in Pleiku city
Experts Citizens Samples t-test
Causes of planning, institution
ID Std. Std.
and policies Mean Mean t Sig.
Deviation Deviation
P1 Weak land use planning 3.00 0.71 2.95 1.11 1.012 0.376
P2 Lack of affordable housing 4.20 1.30 3.63 0.95 2.938 0.039
P3 Lack of proper planning policies 2.60 1.82 2.15 0.86 2.749 0.048
P4 Failure to enforce planning policies 3.00 1.00 3.20 0.91 -1.826 0.142
Lack of coordination and
P5 2.00 1.22 2.28 0.82 -1.633 0.178
organization
P6 Legal disputes 2.60 0.89 2.18 0.90 3.674 0.021
Citizens ignore of urban
P7 4.60 0.55 1.80 0.69 5.099 0.002
legislation
Source: Data analysis of SPSS 13.0
Conceding lack of affordable housing received a consistent comment from two groups. As for
residents, the mean value was 3.63 (SD=0.95), the figure for experts has mean =4.20 (SD=1.30).
The results showed the assessing trend of the experts were greater than residents (t=2.938;
p<0.05) (Table 4). The property price in the areas in inner-city is too expensive compared with
the income of most of the local citizens. On the other hand, people who desire larger living
space gets attracted to this zone due to the reasonable price, which could lead to leapfrog
development (Sinha, 2018). Therefore, vulnerable groups such as young households can not
afford land and housing in inner-city. Although, Pleiku Government has efforts to supply the
housing program, which has the ambition to provide 733 of new land houses for the urban poor,
equivalent with 17.8 hectares, including infrastructure as roads, trees, etc. in Thang Loi ward
(Gia Lai Government, 2010). However, this policy was stopped due to administrators taking
advantage of the policy to "occupy" and then sell it to others at a higher price. And now, the
government is continuing to perform again through the program of Housing Plan Development
(Gia Lai Government, 2018).
In the case of weak land use planning due to non-implementation of the master plan has the
similar mean value in two groups of inhabitants and experts, the average values were 3.00

201
 (SD=0.71) and 2.95 (SD= 1.11), respectively. Despite the Land Law in 2003 and Urban
Planning Law in 2015 are the main tools for planning, monitoring and implementation the
contains of land use planning and master planning. However, the application process often
changes to approve or modify the initial plans. They are often stuck on the political level. Many
projects which were not proposed earlier in the land use plan and master plan have been
implemented in the city due to the politicians’ decisions. Therefore, uncoordinated and
unplanned developments have occurred in the city. The lack of planning tools, which combined
low capacity in government and high political influence related to public land allocation, leads
to ineffective oversight and law enforcement (Meyer, 2010).
Table 5: Physical causes of urban sprawl in Pleiku city
Experts Citizens Samples t-test
Physical causes of urban
ID Std. Std.
sprawl Mean Mean t Sig.
Deviation Deviation
T1 Housing lifestyle preference 2.40 0.55 1.85 0.66 2.838 0.043
T2 Large lot size (more space per person) 3.20 0.84 2.75 1.24 3.674 0.021
T3 Noise 2.60 0.89 1.85 0.36 1.921 0.062
T4 Unsafe 3.00 1.00 2.33 0.86 3.734 0.011
T5 Road accessibilities (road width) 2.80 1.30 1.75 0.44 1.603 0.118
T6 Lack of public transport 3.00 1.41 2.23 0.73 3.204 0.023
T7 Private car ownership 2.00 1.22 1.98 0.86 0.535 0.621
T8 Unsuitable physical terrain 2.80 0.84 1.75 0.44 1.020 0.354
Source: Data analysis of SPSS 13.0
Physical causes of urban sprawl in the typical studied area belongs to the Central Highlands
such as road accessibilities (T5), lack of public transport (T6), private car ownership (T7) are
illustrated in Table 5. The samples t-test used to compare the physical causes of urban sprawl
in Pleiku city are detailed shown in Table 5. Thus, despite remarkable records of the identities
between two groups, the rapid development of Pleiku city witness dissimilar in several reasons.
To begin with, the major difference is the citizens ignore of urban legislation causing. While
the expert group reflects that this is the underlying cause leading to urban development. On the
contrary, the public groups illustrate that it’s barely affected to urban expansion of Pleiku with
the low average value. Additionally, the variance comes from the reason of land hunger attitude
or land availability and low price. Although, the peoples consider that this is an important cause
leading to urban expansion in case of the Central Highlands. In this case, people can buy more
living space in the countryside than in the inner city by the low cost. The abundance provided
by land fund of agriculture greatly increased demanding and encourage urban sprawl (Hai et
al., 2019). Low farm prices provide an opportunity for farmers to sell land as it is much more
profitable in the long-term period than continuing to cultivate (Bhatta, 2010).
3.2. Stakeholder analysis and sustainable urban development solutions
3.2.1. Stakeholder analysis
Stakeholder analysis can positively or negatively influence decision-making processes or
actions. Stakeholders refer to organizations and individuals that influence or are affected by
certain decisions and actions (Freeman, 1984; Grimble & Wellard, 1997). Target groups can be

202
divided into groups according to their similar views, functions, tasks and positions on effective
land use management. In this study, the matrix considered the level of interest and influence
(low - medium - high), which were classified into 4 groups (Fig. 3). Furthermore, Table 6 shows
the involvement levels of stakeholders.
Table 6: The involvement levels of stakeholders
SH Influence Interest Classification Involvement
1 3.82 3.74 Definitive Co-working
2 3.31 4.05 Definitive Co-working
3 4.28 4.05 Definitive Co-thinking
4 4.48 4.51 Definitive Co-working
5 4.54 3.85 Definitive Co-working
6 1.77 4.20 Expectant Co-thinking
7 3.74 3.68 Definitive Co-working
8 2.11 3.57 Expectant Co-thinking
9 2.20 2.20 Latent Co-knowing
10 1.65 1.60 Latent Co-knowing
11 2.97 2.71 Latent Co-knowing
12 1.45 1.85 Latent Co-knowing
Stakeholders who are active involvement are People’s committee (Province, City and Wards
level), Department of Construction, Department of Natural and Resource, Urban Development
Office, and key agencies. They are considered as co-working stakeholders who should involve
actively in the policy-making process. Expectant stakeholders (co-thinking) are experts and
institutions, association of architects, state agencies should be consulted in order to gain useful
informations and opinions from various sources, which help improve the efficency management
of urban expansion. The appropriate level of involvement for the latent stakeholders is co-
knowing (media and communities).
Figure 3: Interest – Influence Matrix

203
From the interest-influence matrix, it can be seen that the medium level of influence group
(codes of 1,2,7) are the stakeholders that need to be actively consulted. These groups propose
policies related to urban development, so they need to participate cooperatively in proposing
the solution of urban development policy towards sustainability. Meanwhile, the high level of
influence and high interest group (codes of 3,4,5) plays a key role in implementing the
remaining solutions. Besides, there is a need for cooperation and concern with the group of
stakeholders (codes of 9,11). For the community, it is necessary to ensure providing related
information, transmission policies in accordance with urban planning. At the same time, it is
necessary to seriously implement the regulations of construction to ensure that people are not
built informally or illegally, increasing the level of urban expansion. For the group of
stakeholders (codes of 6, 8), relevant experts and associations need to be consulted policies and
plans, which helps to increase effectiveness of solutions in the actual situation.
3.2.2. Proposing solutions of urban management towards sustainability
Based on the causes of urban sprawl and stakeholder analysis showed that proposing sustainable
urban development policies in control urban sprawl, which help form urban boundaries to control
peri-urban areas and encourage construction in inner regions only. This solution groups are
responsible for the groups of stakeholders (codes of 1,2,7 and codes of 4,5) with the medium-high
level of Influence and Interest (Mean values >3) as shown Table 6. The encouraging policies
improve the living conditions of low-income households and provide subsidies to build social and
affordable housing. There are policies to support smart development strategies, which focus on
urban compact pattern and in-fill development in inner-city.
Figure 4: Influence of mixed use on the daily life

Adopting mixed use land pattern with high construction density to help increase the
performance of land use and take an advantage of existing infrastructure (Koster &
Rouwendal, 2012). This leads to rise social interaction and reduces walking distance,
encourages walking and cycling. Besides, this pattern creates more opportunities to choose
housing types, and create pedestrian neighborhoods and preserve the open space, agricultural
land, natural environment in the city. Therefore, the cooperation of communities and
stakeholders in urban development is better.

204
 Figure 5: Concept to preserve the traditional villages of the ethnic minorities

Source: People’s committee of Gia Lai Province, 2017

Preserving urban identity of minorities villages that have countless value, the proposed model
is to preserve - embellish the traditional village in the urban space (Ha, 2016). Also, the
transition space between traditional villages and other areas of the city is formed by a buffer
zone of 500-1,000 m by green belt, garden houses with a height of no more than 12 m.
Enhancing green infrastructure such as greenery, water surface, landscape space and
environment of the Central Highlands needs for the city, but also create an enabling
environment for convalescence, ecotourism, green urban areas, which helps improve the quality
of life and health for people. At the same time, this create good livelihoods for people, benefit
from natural exploitation as well as promote creativity.
In addition, strengthening the management and control of land use is an issue that needs to be
addressed, focusing on inspections, investment projects, strictly handling violations of housing
and residential land investment, agricultural land, which causes sprawling development due to
lack of technical infrastructure, social infrastructure and environmental landscape, lack of
connection between the urban center and the areas of sprawling development. Meanwhile,
communicating information to communities and estate agents should be performed regularly,
especially informing related urban development and policies to communities (code of 9) and
estate agents (code of 11) with the level of involvement of co-knowing. Thus, by that means
the prospective solutions of sustainable urban development in the context of climate change
and towards "green cities for health” in the future.
4. Conclusions
The results show that Pleiku city has been developing sporadically. Therefore, the city needs
urgent policies and complete urban development strategies to control unplanned urban
development. The new tools are needed to track urban sprawl and measure landscape features
and their distribution. The role of local government in urban residential areas is important in
planning to stimulate future sustainable urban development. Based on the research results, the
management of the urban expansion of Pleiku city is facing difficulties in policy
implementation due to its weak capacity in policy administration and implementation.
This study can be used as a recommendation for local authorities to help them sustainably
manage urbanization by considering all aspects of interdisciplinary development including
economic, social, environmental, and governance issues. In addition, there is a need to develop
more strategic tools to control the drivers of urban growth and mitigate the undesirable effects
as well as establish effective institutions supported by strict laws and regulations related to
urban development management. Meanwhile, the redistribution of urban populations is fully
considered to provide affordable housing and strengthen the sustainable development link

205
between urban and rural areas. During modifying the master plan, experts or academic
professional groups, developers and community groups should be consulted to update policies
and strategies to meet the new requirements. Therefore, planning controls need to pay attention
in development process, which is essential for managing problems related to urban
development. The results from the study have practical implications for the direction of
managing urban development, especially in urban sprawl in the Central Highlands of Vietnam.
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