A bird’s eye view of the Thu Thiem New Urban Area in District 2, HCMC. The HCMC government has written to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism asking for feedback on the construction of Ho Chi Minh Square in the Thu Thiem new urban area. (Photo: Thanh Hoa)
The projected square will be developed as a venue to serve major political events and cultural exchange activities and will highlight HCMC’s role as a cultural hub uniting traditional characteristics with modern ones, the municipal government said.
Since 1975, the city has yet to construct any major political or cultural structure associated with the growth of the city, the HCMC government said.
As such, the city is planning to speed up the construction of the central square and a riverside park covering a total of 27 hectares of land and accommodating up to 430,000 visitors for cultural festivals and up to 230,000 people for political events.
In addition, the city proposed the square be named after the late president Ho Chi Minh.
The square is expected to bring together HCMC residents and southerners in an expression of gratitude to Uncle Ho.
The square is designed to host three features: the national flag tower, Uncle Ho’s stilt house and Uncle Ho’s fishpond. They are closely associated with memories of Uncle Ho.
The 30.4-meter flag tower will stand at the center of the park, and the fishpond and stilt house will be built in Commemorative Area B.
It has taken the city over one year to prepare for and study the construction of the projected square, city officials said.
The municipal government proposed the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism arrange a meeting on July 5 so that the city can present the project in detail.
