Metropolitan system of Vietnam is enjoying rapid development, which meets the demand of socio-economic development and asserts the role of urban in the industrialization and modernization cause of the country. According to Mr. Nguyen Hong Quan, the Minister of Construction Ministry, urban development is a dispensable part of technical infrastructure management and development including lighting. With the function of managing urban technical infrastructure, the Ministry of Construction has investigated and issued some standards and norms in terms of economy and technique involving in urban lighting. At the same time, provinces and functional Ministries have paid proper attention to urban lighting system.
Currently, all urban areas in Vietnam have lighting system with different levels. The first rank urban like Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong, Da Nang, etc. have 95 – 100% of main roads lighted, the second and third rank urban such as Viet Tri, Thai Nguyen, Nam Dinh, Thanh Hoa, Vinh, Quy Nhon, Nha Trang, Buon Ma Thuot and so on have 90%. The fourth and fifth rank urban areas just focus on lighting the main streets and highways. The development speed of lighting system is increasing annually with Hanoi on the top with 20%/year. Many roads of trans-hamlets and trans-communes are also allocated lighting system to serve population’s consumption.
Although lighting has become a vital need in life, there have been only 8-10 cities planning the public lighting systems. The lack of synchronic plan between public lighting and other infrastructure projects has led to overlapping construction, which does not meet the common requirements of technique, security and urban good-looking.
In the Committee, Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Nguyen Sinh Hung emphasized that as a crucial element if technical infrastructure, urban lighting system must lay the foundation for modern metropolitan areas. Therefore, there should be long-run plan which is energy-saving and suitable with urban architecture. Especially, the lighting system in urban areas must contribute to the life condition improvement for the population.
Mai Phương