The new target is for Hai Phong to raise its ratio of urban green space, which currently stands at only 5.5 square meters per person and fails to meet the standard set for a class-1 city, to 10-15 square meters per head.

Hai Phong is one of five class-1 cities in Vietnam centrally administered. The other four are Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, classified as ‘special class cities’, along with Da Nang and Can Tho.

A class-1 city must have a population of one million, or 500,000 if administered by a province or city, a population density of at least 2,000 per square kilometer and a non-farm-labor ratio of more than 65 percent, and 85 percent in its inner area. It also has to meet certain infrastructure and architecture requirements. There are 22 such cities in Vietnam.

To realize the new target, the city said it would make sure each ward across the inner-city would have a park spanning 5,000-10,000 square meters.

With a total area of 1,527 square kilometers, including 1,208 square kilometers of mainland and the rest islands, and a population of 2.2 million, the city has seven downtown districts aside from six outlying and two island districts.

In order to realize the green space target, the city would make use of all available land first before using land managed by private firms that have either suspended operation or have projects that are not operated in line with the city’s planning, the city’s Party chief Le Van Thanh said.

If truly necessary, the city could even negotiate to use local household land and offer them suitable compensation along with a place for resettlement, he said.