Real estate consultancy notes key factors for developers to consider for sustainable integrated developments.

Looking at recent projects launched in Vietnam, according to JLL Vietnam, it can be seen that integrated large-scale projects continue to dominate the residential markets in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and satellite provinces.

This trend has become more obvious as numerous new residential developments carry the word “city” in their names, including Swan City, Empire City, Celadon City, Aqua City, and so on.

JLL identified the “city within the city” residential concept, commonly referred to as large-scale integrated developments, as an upcoming trend in a previous blog two years ago. This urban form has grown in popularity as developers seek to attract buyers with holistic, well-planned communities within a city for those who wish to avoid the chaos created by rapid urbanization and lagging infrastructure in shared facilities.

Nowadays developers taking part in city planning have to carefully understand the fundamentals of city planning in order to create sustainable value for their large-scale projects.

Developer considerations for sustainable integrated development

JLL reveals some factors that developers should take into consideration for their sustainable integrated developments. The first is planning traffic and transport infrastructure, which is crucial for large-scale developments.

With growing motor car ownership in Vietnam, congested roads and lack of parking space will spur demand for functioning traffic solutions. Sufficient parking, integrated access to surrounding roads, and public transport will become key selling points that will enhance the development’s value.

Secondly, as the size of developments grows, sensible space planning for various functions and building scales has become a challenge for developers. To achieve convenient, functional and diverse quality public spaces, careful consideration of city planning aspects is mandatory.

Lively street frontage, plazas, sidewalks, and a scaled building arrangement will lead to sustainable and sought-after neighbourhoods, thus ensuring sustained value. Careful phasing should be considered to ensure the sense of completion of each component of each neighbourhood. A good example of this was seen in the Phu My Hung NUA project, where “green” walls were used to separate completed buildings from those under construction.

Thirdly, developers must create and maintain public facilities. One key attraction for large-scale projects is the public facilities within the development. Facilities such as public parks and sports stadiums help attract buyers but can be costly to maintain down the road.

Therefore, developers should raise awareness among buyers regarding potential maintenance costs and how it would be in their interest to fund these costs to safeguard the value of their properties.

The fourth is teaming neighbourhoods with shared facilities. For projects that benefit from existing public facilities, it is critical for developers to differentiate their developments’ internal facilities and create a sense of identity for their projects. A key method would be to harmonize the ratio between the number of users and shared facilities including pools, gyms, and children’s playgrounds to ensure the long-term value of the development.

Finally, a diverse and inclusive living environment is necessary. The beauty of any large-scale development is the ability to offer a diverse range of housing types to various groups of potential buyers. While each building should be custom-designed for a specific group, the overall living environment should still be in harmony.