ABSTRACT
This chapter describes how the Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) megaregion is similar to a more global phenomenon of urbanization that focuses on internal sustainability, as well as the broader society-wide impacts of rapid urbanization. It outlines the background for urban development in HCMC, providing a brief combined historical, geographical and economic sketch. The chapter deals with an explanation of the urbanization that took place in HCMC, the consequences of these changes for the status of urban planning, and the response by the real estate sector. Urbanization is primarily the result of social, economic, and political developments, and depends on the growth of industrial enterprises and infrastructure within the city as well as in surrounding areas. Saigon was first recognized as an urban settlement during the period in which the Mekong Delta of contemporary Vietnam was considered part of the Cambodian kingdom, and called Prey Nokor. In the post-war period, urban planners have made many master plans for HCMC.
