The network of parks and walking gardens are taking their shape across Da Nang in accordance with planning, thereby contributing to increasing urban green areas for the sake of environment as well as gradually meeting local residents’ needs for physical training and improving their spiritual life.

People walking at the March 29 Park, Da Nang Photo: KIM LIEN

In November 2023, a walking garden park combined with public parking lot at land A2 Nguyen Van Linh, street, invested by the Hai Chau District People's Committee, was put into use. Every early morning or evening, Ms. Le Thi Khanh, a resident in Nam Duong Ward comes to this park for physical exercise.

Previously, she could only exercise and jog early in the morning because there was little traffic on the road, but now she can go to the park anytime. On weekends, holidays, and Tet, music nights, cultural performances and very exciting cultural activities also take place here.

According to Vice Chairman of Hai Chau District People's Committee Nguyen Van Duy, with the central area being densely populated, most of the district's area is used for residential and commercial purposes.

Since 2021, the city has approved planning and investment in 52 parks and walking gardens in residential areas. Parks and walking gardens in the district act as green cores in residential areas, contributing to air conditioning and improving the living environment.

Among them, the APEC Park stands out as a centre for organising cultural and sports activities and welcoming a relatively large number of visitors every day.

However, the overall current status of parks and walking gardens in Hai Chau District does not meet the daily needs of the people, and the land fund for parks and walking gardens in some wards is still relatively limited mechanism.

In Son Tra District, there are currently 52 areas of land planned for parks and walking gardens with a total area of about 134,906m², of which 38 areas with an area of 69,379m² have been experiencing construction.

In addition, the district is home to the Son Tra Nature Reserve with an area of 4,439 hectares, along with public areas bordering the Han River and the sea, basically meeting the requirements of improving the spiritual and entertainment life of local residents and tourists.

People do physical exercise at the Thanh Nien (Youth) Park, Da Nang. Photo: TRAN TRUC

According to Vice Chairman of Son Tra District People's Committee Hoang Cong Thanh, most of the areas of parks and walking gardens in the district are small (less than 1 hectare) but have contributed to significantly improving living space for people in residential areas.

Many parks and walking gardens have been constructed with many strips of green and airy space, giving the city a new, spacious look, not only creating a fresh air environment and relaxing conditions but also bringing many socio-economic and urban aesthetic benefits.

In addition, these are ideal places for learning and education about nature, helping to raise awareness and encourage more practical actions taken by the community to protect the natural environment.

In a similar vein, Cam Le District houses 22 parks and walking gardens, thereby meeting the entertainment, exercise and sports needs of its dwellers, in accordance with planning and development orientations.

However, the residential areas in the area are currently very densely populated, with no land fund left to develop new parks and gardens and a shortage of public parks that are large enough and reasonably distributed to improve the climate and create ecological effects to serve the people.

The system of parks and walking gardens in the Hoa Xuan ecological urban area with 7 locations and the Phuoc Ly urban area with 5 locations has not yet received attention and investment, so the environmental landscape is not beautiful as expected.

According to an assessment from the Da Nang Department of Construction, the city has made significant progress in developing green spaces through investing in new parks and walking gardens. Districts have organised planning and implement construction investment procedures for a total of 243 parks and walking gardens throughout the city.

In addition, large-scale parks are the city’s impressive architectural highlights, becoming familiar addresses for organising cultural - political - social events in the area.

However, the land fund in existing urban areas is very limited, not enough to plan large-scale green parks and walking gardens and allocate them reasonably to serve the people, meeting the target of the city’s public greenery criteria.

In addition, currently, current legal documents only guide the management of urban trees. There are no documents guiding the management of parks and walking gardens, so concerned agencies are still confused in implementing projects.

In the coming time, the Da Nang Department of Construction will continue to synchronously deploy solutions, and at the same time make recommendations and suggestions to competent agencies to effectively implement planning, investment, and the use of parks and walking gardens in local residential areas.

Reporting by TRAN TRUC – Translating by A.THU