Private entities that are currently renting spaces in the park are to move out by April 30, 2019.
The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee recently announced that it will reclaim and upgrade September 23 Park with the hope of making it a more accessible and green public space, Zing reports. In a document sent to the Department of Planning and Investment, Department of Transportation, and the Department of Finance, the committee expressed its worry at the park's highly privatized condition and degraded infrastructures.
Last month, chairman of the city's People Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong made a request to the Department of Planning and Investment to stop renting spaces in the park and refrain from extending current leasing contracts with private entities. All private entities currently occupying the park's spaces have to relocate by the end of April next year.
"Parks are spaces for people to unwind after stressful work hours, not for businesses to profit," said the committee's chairman.
After relocation, the city will redesign and turn the park into a green pedestrian area. The People Committee has also assigned the Department of Planning and Architecture to finalize a plan before the third quarter of 2018. The cost for renovation will be covered by the city's budget.
[Photo by Le Quan via Zing]
