Phu My Hung developments were impressive. The corporation works to motivate the development around Ho Chi Minh City by creating urban expansions with the construction of centers for education, business, residence, etc. Today, we learned about the corporation’s future plans and about its current projects. They have plans to improve on infrastructure by adding a highway and to continue expanding their constructions to further transform Ho Chi Minh into a more urban city. We took a tour around the Phu My Hung developments. We saw mostly big and beautiful houses and apartments. It was hard not to notice that all Phu My Hung residence building are exclusively for the wealthy. One of the UEF students said that only big business owners and famous actors or singers usually live in these luxurious homes. There is a distinct gap between the wealthy and the poor in Ho Chi Minh. There seems to be no middle ground. The Vietnamese people that live in the areas that we have visited before today live modestly, for most of them cannot afford something nearly as luxurious as the Phu My Hung homes. They get by with low salaries or by owning small businesses, that mostly rely on business from tourists.

The acquisition of housing process in Vietnam is a little different from that of the United States. The government has stricter regulations, for an example, the buyer must be investing in economic activities. Also, buyers are only allowed to acquire the structure built on the property and the remains of the land have to be leased to the government. The buying process consists of a series of lease contracts because the government doesn’t allow buyers to own 100% of any property.

In terms of environmentalism, the corporation fulfills certain expectations. They work on factors like waste management and clean water regulations, but the corporation does not particularly go out of its way for improving on these environmental controls.

Today has been a great learning experience, inside and outside of the classroom. I am starting to get a better understanding of how the progression of development influences Vietnam. I am looking forward to tomorrow’s site visit at Glass Egg!