Improving urban and rural planning systems.
The law contains 37 articles, including 35 amendments and additions; 1 article replacing a wording; and 1 article repealing points, clauses and articles of Law No. 47/2024/QH15.
The Basic Law adopts and develops regulations that have been applied stably, effectively and without practical problems; at the same time, it legalizes arrangements for delimitation of responsibilities and authorities according to the two-tier local government organization and continues the decentralization of power, simplifying processes and procedures, thereby contributing to improving the investment and business environment.
The amendments and additions to the regulations aim to ensure the uniformity and consistency of the legal system; continue to review and ensure the suitability of the two-tier local government structure; and continue to address and resolve difficulties and deficiencies that arise in practice.
A notable aspect of the law is the amendment and addition of Article 4 on urban classification and urban systems of Law No. 47/2024/QH15. Accordingly, urban areas are classified according to their role, location and socio-economic development conditions, their degree of urbanization, the level of development of social infrastructure, technical infrastructure, digital infrastructure, spatial organization, architectural landscape and characteristic elements.
The city classification forms the basis for organizing and structuring the urban system according to criteria and standards and serves as the basis for controlling urban development as a whole and for each individual city. The law requires the government to submit city classification regulations to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly based on the socio-economic development of each period to ensure climate-responsive, green, smart, modern and sustainable urban development.
Urban systems are governed by master plans for urban and rural systems, provincial plans or urban development plans that cover both urban and new urban areas.
The amended law adds relevant content to ensure consistency and uniformity with related laws and clearly defines the urban and rural planning system.
In particular, Article 3 on the urban and rural planning system is amended and supplemented to clarify its relationship with the national planning system and to ensure consistency and synchronization with laws such as the Revised Planning Law 2025, the Law on the Organization of Local Self-Government 2025 and the Revised Land Law 2025… At the same time, the regulations on the urban and rural planning system are compatible with the two-tier organization of local self-government.
Accordingly, urban and rural planning is spatial and territorial planning, which includes the following types of planning: urban planning for cities, provincial cities, cities within cities, special urban areas and new urban areas; rural planning for municipalities and non-urban special areas; Planning functional zones for functional zones; planning underground space for cities; and planning specialized technical infrastructure for cities.
Land use planning is carried out for cities, provincial cities, newly planned cities, new cities within provinces, municipalities, economic zones, national tourism zones and special zones. For cities within cities and new cities within cities, land use planning is only required when mandated by the government.
Development plans are prepared for: areas within approved urban development plans, economic zone development plans or national tourism zone development plans, with a scale, administrative requirements and development needs determined by the government; Functional areas that are neither economic zones nor national tourism zones and do not fall under the cases referred to in Article 5(a), with a scale, management requirements and development needs determined by the Government; and special zones not covered by the cases referred to in Article 4. Development plans are also required for areas in which a tender process is necessary to select investors for land use projects in accordance with the provisions of property law.
The law also stipulates that urban planning takes place on three levels (general – zoning – detailed planning). For cities under provincial administration and functional areas such as national economic zones and tourism zones, two levels (general – detailed planning) are created. For other areas subject to provincial planning, either two levels (zoning – detailed planning) or one level (detailed planning) are created.
The law also amends and supplements paragraph 2, article 15 to clearly define the basis for determining urban and rural planning levels.
Definition of responsibilities and authorities
With regard to the organization of urban and rural planning, the new law provides that the responsibility for organizing urban and rural planning assigned to the Prime Minister by the Ministry of Construction in accordance with Article 17(1)(b) of the Law on Urban and Rural Planning will be delegated and decentralized to the provincial people’s committees for implementation.
At the same time, paragraph 1(a) of Article 17, which concerns the competence of the Ministry of Construction to organize the preparation of general urban development plans for new cities with a planning area extending to the administrative boundaries of two or more provinces, is hereby repealed.
Thus, the task of planning organization within the Ministry of Construction was delegated, decentralized or abolished; the Ministry of Construction is no longer responsible for organizing urban and rural planning.
Regarding the organization of urban and rural planning assessment, according to the new provisions of the Law, the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Construction, as specified in Article 38(1) of the Urban and Rural Planning Law, for the assessment of the overall planning of national tourism areas is delegated and decentralized to specialized urban and rural planning authorities under the Provincial People’s Committee.
The Ministry of Construction’s responsibility for evaluating detailed plans for national defense and security projects in accordance with Article 38(1) of the Law on Urban and Rural Planning is subject to state secrecy and is delegated to specialized agencies with urban and rural planning functions under the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Public Security.
Regarding the approval of urban and rural plans, the new law provides that the Prime Minister has the power to approve: planning tasks, general urban plans and general urban development plans for newly established cities; general urban development plans in provinces where economic zones are located entirely within the planning area; and general plans for economic zones.
The Provincial People’s Committee has the authority to approve the following: general urban planning within the province, general planning for new urban areas within cities, general planning for townships, general planning for special zones and general planning for national tourist areas.
The Minister of Defense and the Minister of Public Security regulate the responsibilities for organizing the preparation, assessment and approval of planning tasks and detailed plans for defense and security projects requiring state secrets…
The law also clarifies various aspects of decentralization and delegation of authority, such as: Article 17 clarifies that the agencies and organizations established by the Prime Minister that are not directly under the Provincial People’s Committee are responsible for organizing the planning tasks and planning these functional areas; for areas within functional zones, the provincial People’s Committee assigns responsibility for organizing planning between the agency or organization in charge of managing the functional area and the municipal People’s Committee.
The Regulations are amended to clarify the planning organization responsibilities in Article 17, the assessment responsibilities in Article 38 and the approval power in Article 41. In particular, in cases where plans affect two or more municipal-level administrative units, the responsibility for preparation and approval lies with the Provincial People’s Committee; Plans within the administrative boundaries of a single municipality rest with the municipal people’s committee.
The law reduced and simplified administrative procedures to ensure the proactive role of provincial people’s committees in allocating responsibilities between functional area administrative authorities and municipal-level people’s committees (Paragraph 2 and Paragraph 3a, Article 17; Paragraph 4, Article 41).
For cities, after approval of the land use plan, sub-area plans for urban development areas are drawn up (general urban development plans are drawn up, if necessary, in accordance with government guidelines); the regulations on planning topics in Articles 3 and 5 aim to reduce the number of plans to be drawn up.
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