Saigon South, the largest new urban area in Vietnam got its start in the mid-1990s through a joint-venture between a Taiwanese development company and a city development agency. The Phu My Hung New City Centre in District 7 was chosen as the epicentre for the new project. After rather slow progress in the first few years, development took off with the start of the new millennium.
Michael Waibel, editor of the TP. Hồ Chí Minh: MEGA City photo book, first went to the site in September 2003 and returned on an annual basis. The photos he captured show the construction of physical infrastructure such as bridges and roads as well as the erection of residential housing, such as the Sky Garden Apartment blocks. At that time the landscape was checkered with vacant lots and greenery was in an infant stage, compared to its present state.
Some of the photos shown will be included in the planned November release of the second edition of TP. Hồ Chí Minh: MEGA City.
