According to Hoang Huu Hanh, smart urban development and digital transformation are two parallel processes that support and reinforce each other, creating a synergistic momentum for urban growth. Smart cities provide an ideal environment for testing, deploying, and optimising digital transformation solutions, thereby generating practical outcomes. Meanwhile, digital transformation offers specific technologies and tools for the effective construction and operation of smart cities.
Tran Quoc Thai, Director General of the Urban Development Agency under the Ministry of Construction, shared the same view, emphasising that innovation serves as the driving force behind smart urban development. He noted that the recent restructuring of administrative units nationwide has opened entirely new spaces for urban and rural development. Many localities have established provinces and cities with regional-scale structures, forming a foundation for the development of large, multi-polar urban models with regional and national significance, playing a leading role in regional development and coordination.
According to Thai, Viet Nam should focus on six key tasks in promoting urban innovation and development in the coming time. These include: continuing to improve institutions and reviewing, supplementing the legal framework, mechanisms, and policies for urban development to ensure a consistent and transparent legal corridor; revising urban, rural, and construction planning towards synchronisation and modernity, linking infrastructure and socio-economic spatial development; building a national database on urban development to serve management, policy-making, and data-driven decision-making; strengthening international cooperation and mobilising diverse resources for sustainable urban growth; and enhancing urban management capacity at all levels, especially at the grassroots, to meet the demands of rapid urbanisation and digital transformation.
In the context of implementing Resolution No. 06-NQ/TW (2022) on sustainable urban system development towards 2030, with a vision to 2045, along with Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW on breakthroughs in science, technology and innovation, and the review of Decision No. 950/QĐ-BXD on smart cities, the Viet Nam Sustainable Urban Development Forum 2025 was held as an annual national event and a meaningful activity in celebration of Viet Nam Urban Day (November 8).
