Appendix 1 Summary of CDS in Viet Nam

1. Ho Chi Minh City CDS (1998). Ho Chi Minh City was one of the first City Development Strategies undertaken in Vietnam. It was undertaken by a team of experts and it appears that the idea of the CDS originated in the donor community with possibly limited understandin by HCMC. There was little local decision-making and the Central Government (which was not involved directly in the CDS) was the decision-maker in virtually all instances. The absence of local authority forestalled most meaningful outcomes of the process and precluded any strategic planning. This highlighted the challenges of working with a large and complex (fragmented) government on the scale of HCMC. The only identifiable outcome was the creation and donor funding for an urban coordination center whose intent was to coordinate donor activity. The HCMC CDS has been described as one of the “most difficult” of the early CDSs.

2. Hai Phong CDS (1998, 2001-2). There have been two CDS activities conducted in Haiphong. . In 1998, the World Bank initiated an evaluation of City Development Options for the City as a pilot case study on urban and environment development for the country with a strong emphasis on economic development. The Project was initiated by the WB to “deepen the Bank’s understanding of urban development in Vietnam”- in context of “public sector reform and poverty alleviations”. Haiphong was identified by the National Government as the site for the pilot case study based on the City’s leading role amongst the cities attempting to “modernise”. The evaluation used the four key WB components of competitiveness, livability, bankability and good governance and was intended to keep the “Doi Moi”reforms applied at the local level by increasing efficiency in collective decisions, spending and management The evaluation of and strategy for Haiphong provided a major component (alongside an assessment and strategy for Ho Chi Minh City) for the WB’s approach to Growth, Poverty Reduction and Environmental Quality in Cities and Regions of Vietnam, completed in 2001. The WB’s assessments and strategies appear to have been, for the most part, the product of a team of consultants which prepared specialist papers, reviews and options, subsequently discussed with City Officials. When the 2001 CDS commenced there appeared to be little local institutional memory of the previous CDS.

The 2001 Haiphong CDS was jointly sponsored by the city and UNDP’s Administrative Reformation Project (VIE97/03). The project ran and was funded from March through December 2001 but was continued beyond this by the city. The CDS was under the direction of the Department of Planning and Investment and the Urban Management Coordination Council. A Task Force (also referred to as a Working Group) was assigned responsibility for conducting the CDS.

The Task Force was central to the Haiphong CDS and its fourteen members from different sectors and departments and met twice weekly during the critical 9 months of the project, on evenings and weekends. Although there was international assistance, the group was in charge of the CDS and essentially self-trained, exemplifying the learning by doing model. Three local staff members in the Haiphong government were selected as the national consultants for CDS and devoted approximately half of their working hours to CDS over the critical period.

The CDS assessment used participatory SWOT workshops, checklists, and weighting scale following the World Bank criteria for sustainable cities.

The consultation process involved 150 participants from 5 social or stakeholder groups consulted in 5 separate stakeholder workshops along stages of CDS process. Each consultation session also involved a training session for the participants.

Development strategies were formed in parallel with the definition of the vision. A first draft of CDS was set up by the working group, then reviewed through public consultation and stakeholders’ workshops with business people, officials, scientists, universities and retirees.

The task force of 14 Haiphong department officials managed and had ownership of the entire CDS process. The commitment and work of the Task Force and local consultants created in Haiphong government a strong understanding of CDS and how to take advantage of the tools and techniques. The members of the Task Force and the local consultants have moved up in city government and continue to use their knowledge.

Draft proposals constituting the CDS were completed in December 2001 and were finalized in a workshop in order to be approved by Haiphong Peoples Committee however there was a change in leadership in the Peoples Committee at this time and the proposals were never formally put before the Committee.

The CDS vision and goals were reflected in the socio-economic development plan and the priority projects of the Peoples Committee. Five major strategies mentioned in Haiphong CDS have been carried out in the socio economic development of Haiphong City. Haiphong officials extended and replicated CDS methods for developing strategies for Science and Technology Department, planning Doson Town in Haiphong and for socio-economic development strategies at district level. There were many initiatives from CDS put in the Decision of the Communist Party on development for 2001-2005 and 2006- 2010. Formal institutionalization, implementation, monitoring and evaluation were not carried out as in the work plan.

3. Da Nang CDS (2002-2003). The Da Nang CDS was carried out by an ADB Regional Technical Assistance team over a relatively short period of time with limited local input or engagement in the City. The report of the CDS indicates difficulties in proceeding with public consultation. There is no indication that any consultation beyond the Project Steering Group was held. The ADB report is indicative of an inability to complete the project as originally envisaged, a view that is consistent with participants in the donor community familiar with Da Nang.

However, the vision – making Da Nang a Class 1 city and a major center – has been achieved. Five priorities are established mostly reliant to infrastructure development, a path that Da Nang has followed successfully over the last five years. The mission and objectives and main targets give attention to poverty reduction which is carried through in the development strategies but not in the priority actions and implementation. The priority actions focus on physical infrastructure. The CDS does not include specific action plans or projects (or assign specific responsibility for implementation). Seventy-five percent of the projected implementation funding ($567 million) is projected to come from outside and undetermined sources. Da Nang officials have a civic memory of there having been a CDS for the city but do not articulate any ownership or recognition of the details or the prescriptions.

4. Dong Hoi CDS (2004-05). The Dong Hoi CDS was conducted over 15 months as part of the Swiss Agency for Cooperation and Development (SDC) funded Dong Hoi Urban Development Project. The CDS was one of many capacity building components that made up an institutional strengthening project.

The Dong Hoi CDS used a predefined methodology offered by the international consultant, the “Triple A Process” used in Yogyakarta, Indonesia (and other cities). The CDS process followed three major steps: Atlas, Agenda, and Application. The Atlas contains information compiled from available sources of data, maps, photographs, diagrams, tables on existing conditions and trends, and planning reports. The project completed a comprehensive text and graphic (GIS) atlas. The Agenda is the vision and strategies, development projects and feasibility assessments. The Agenda, was entwined in Vietnam’s multi-tier Socio-Economic Development Plans (SEDP) for the city and the province. The SEDP planning process that has a strong legal basis and institutionalized steps. The Agenda is heavily weighted toward infrastructure projects, consistent with the priorities in the SEDP. Dong Hoi is planning to upload the whole Atlas and Agenda onto the planned city website in their LAN system project. The Applicationstep, actual implementation, was not reached and the process of conducting the CDS is finished (though not in that sense completed).

The governmental structure of Dong Hoi as a Class III City required all decisions to be taken by or at a minimum approved in advance by the province. City level plans are subjugated to Province plans. Accepted practice in the Province at the time did not include public consultation that is not prescribed in law. Hence, the Dong Hoi CDS engaged in little consultation outside the official city structure. There was no formal identification of stakeholders outside of the city administrative structure.

The SWOT analysis that is one of the standard steps in CDS was conducted independently by each professional city department and not aggregated into a citywide assessment. A common vision for the city was not established; instead, each sector developed its own vision resulting in an array of 20 different visions.

The products of the Dong Hoi CDS – i.e., the strategies, plans and actions, are more fully integrated into the mainstream Socio-Economic Development Plan than is typical, demonstrating perhaps the most institutionalized outcome of CDS in Vietnam.

The Dong Hoi CDS process appears to have been strongly expert and consultant driven, with the city stakeholders more active in the Assessment, collecting data from existing sources, and less involved in the formation of the Agenda, preparing vision, strategy, and action plans.

4. Nam Dinh CDS (2004-06).The Nam Dinh CDS was conducted over two and a half years as part of the SDC funded Nam Dinh Urban Development Project (NDUDP). CDS was one of many capacity building components of a project focused on strengthening institutions. The lead agency for the CDS was the Project Management Unit of the NDUDP.

The Nam Dinh CDS was conceived as a capacity building process and was heavily focused on stakeholder consultation. Nam Dinh started by creating a city vision based on a consultative process; and then using the vision as a framework for the development of each other portion of the CDS. This contrasts with other approaches to the CDS model in which many Cities have collected the data and carried out the assessment first.

A wide range of stakeholders participated in the SWOT process and an outside consultant from the CIEM was engaged to assess the economic situation and opportunities for the city.

The Nam Dinh CDS is not an independent strategy; it built on existing policies and plans. The principal building blocks were derived from the Party policies, socio-economic plans, and spatial master plans at city Provincial and State levels. The Nam Dinh CDS has been supported by the resolution of the Party Congress of the City of Nam Dinh.

The responsibilities and flexibility of Class II cites are limited. Therefore, Nam Dinh’s CDS focuses on action plans that emphasize capacity building and enhancement of government capabilities, while avoiding a list of capital projects dependent on external funding. Nam Dinh used the CDS process to identify and develop capacity for the City to take on additional responsibilities consistent with increasing Central Government authorization for decentralization.

The Nam Dinh strategies for 2010 were developed through stakeholder interviews, deliberation by the Task Force, and input of senior officials through interview and committees. The strategies were prioritized using specific criteria based on urgency, authority of the city, feasibility, contribution to poverty reduction, and resources available. Strategies that supported increased decentralization were also favored. All strategies were limited to those within the city’s ability and resources to achieve.

The City departments responsible for implementation developed detailed action plans to address the priority strategies. Action plans were shortlisted by weighting those offering most capacity building and those that would help prepare Nam Dinh City to be assigned more responsibility by the Province. The leadership selected the final list of action plans for implementation and funding. Seven specific action plans have been given the highest priority by the Nam Dinh City leadership.

6. Ha Long and Can Tho CDS. The most recent CDSs were completed inCan Tho and Ha Longbetween April 2006 and May 2007, funded by Cities Alliance and administered by the World Bank. The CDSs were prepared in partnership with the Ministry of Construction (MoC), together with the governments with responsibility for the cities of Ha Long (Ha Long City and Quang Ninh Province) and Can Tho (Can Tho City).

The primary objective of these CDSs was to: “assist the provincial and city governments (People’s Committees) of Halong City/Quang Ninh Province and Can Tho to better manage development planning to achieve reduced urban poverty, increased economic growth and more inclusive and participatory process in planning”.

In both Cities the preparation of the CDS was facilitated by a Steering Committee Chaired by the Chairman or the Vice Chairman of the City Peoples’ Committee supported by a Project Management Unit. At the national level, the project had an Advisory Committee convened under Ministry of Construction (MoC) with representatives of MoC, MPI, provincial governments, city governments and the Association of Vietnamese Cities (ACVN), with a secretariat based in the MOC’s Planning and Architecture Department. The detailed work on both CDSs was undertaken by a team of national consultants from the National Institute of Urban and Rural Planning (NIURP) advised by an international consultant.

The CDSs in Can Tho and Ha Long have been prepared in two phases: the first phase focused on compiling and synthesising existing plans and policies for the cities as well as developing a process for stakeholder consultation. The reviews of plans and policies were used to conduct a ‘Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats’ (SWOT) analysis and to identify main themes to be included in the vision statement and for the focus of further more detailed assessments. There were six stages of consultation in both cities over the course of preparing the CDS with an additional specific consultation process in the two areas of each city with the largest number of poor households

Phase two was developed around analysis of six themes identified by each city to reflect its specific challenges and opportunities. This analysis was used to identify the key development objectives which then framed proposed investment priorities.

The final CDS was prepared after consultation on the thematic papers and the key objectives. The resulting CDSs for both Can Tho and Ha Long are made up of six “building blocks”: a City vision; a strategic overview; main themes and strategic objectives; investment priorities; action and implementation plans; and a monitoring and evaluation framework.