A ‘creative urban space’ to be developed in an area spanning three districts in Ho Chi Minh City will be the core of the Vietnamese metropolis’ strategy to participate in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the municipal Party chief said Friday.

Developing a ‘smart city’ is one of the key plans of the pilot scheme whereby Ho Chi Minh City is given special mechanisms for its development, as stipulated by Resolution 54 taking effect earlier this year.

Speaking at a meeting on Friday, Nguyen Thien Nhan, secretary of the municipal Party Committee, said Ho Chi Minh City authorities will focus on implementing seven breakthrough projects and a plan to develop a ‘creative urban area,’ along with the ‘smart city’ project.

The creative urban hub will cover District 2, District 9 and Thu Duc District in eastern Ho Chi Minh City, and plays the core role in the city’s strategy to embrace the Fourth Industrial Revolution, according to Nhan.

The three districts are chosen as District 9 is home to the Saigon Hi-tech Park, one of the leading of its kind in Vietnam, while Thu Duc District is where the city’s ‘university village’ is located.

The ‘university village’ consists of 12 universities and colleges, with 1,500 PhD holders and more than 70,000 students.

In the meantime, a new financial center has been planned to be formed in District 2, completing the ‘creative urban hub’ for Ho Chi Minh City.

Nhan said the city will invite tender for the consultancy and designing of the creative hub.

The Resolution 54 was adopted by lawmaking National Assembly in November 2017. The special mechanisms mean Ho Chi Minh City authorities can make decisions on issues currently within the authority of the prime minister.

Ho Chi Minh City authorities have since exerted effort to realize its plan to become a smart city, such as speeding up its administrative reform, highlighted by the e-governance system.

E-governance is the application of information and communication technology for providing government-to-citizen and government-to-business services, exchange of information and communication transactions.

Tran Vinh Tuyen, deputy chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City administration and leader of the city’s administrative reform initiative, requested earlier this week that municipal departments and sectors develop mobile apps to better serve the public, instead of relying on websites.