On November 25th, 2022, HealthBridge Vietnam, the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) and the Administration of Technical Infrastructure (ATI) also known as the Ministry of Construction of Vietnam held a joint workshop in Da Nang called “Management & development, urban green infrastructure and sustainable development”. This workshop was implemented under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in Oct 2021 to build a partnership between HealthBridge, the ATI and the World Resource Institute which aims to foster the development of green, safe, and sustainable urban infrastructure in Vietnam.

The concept of "green infrastructure" is relatively new in urban management, in Vietnam. According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mai Thi Lien Huong, Director of the ATI, from the management perspective, the Vietnamese Government has recently started to integrate green infrastructure issues into legal documents such as the Law on Urban Planning, the Law on Construction, and the Law on Environmental Protection among others. The concept of green infrastructure is increasingly considered when planning regulations and standards for urban planning, construction, and technical infrastructure in cities.

At the workshop, HealthBridge’s urban expert, Dinh Dang Hai presented on “Synergy between Urban Mobility and Open Public Space for Greener Cities”. HealthBridge and ATI also made recommendations based on the result of a policy review research jointly implemented during 2022 to improve policies related to management and development of urban parks and green space.

HealthBridge Vietnam will continue to provide technical support to the World Resource Institute and support the ATI to develop green, safe and sustainable urban infrastructure across Vietnam such as bike lanes, parks and playgrounds.