Day two of Vietnam! Today’s notable activities included a development presentation of the Mekong Delta, a fantastic lunch at the Tokyo Deli, and an unforgettable tour and panel discussion with the Phu My Hung corporation.
I enjoyed the morning lecture on the development challenges that the Mekong Delta is facing in regards to climate change and the communication between the government and local farmers. The climate change will cause sea levels to rise, which will flood rice fields and unemploy farmers that have been there for generations. So the question is, how do they communicate this to farmers, and then get them to change their livelihood to respond to the environmental change. I would be willing to write a full report about this topic, but for your sake, I’ll say that it was a fascinating lecture and I learned a lot.
The Phu My Hung corporation is a city planning and development company that is has been instrumental in rebuilding South Saigon. Twenty-four years ago, they partnered with Japanese and American architects to put together a master plan to build a more livable eco-friendly city district. The tour and panel discussion were exciting because Phu My Hung is the first-ever Asian city built from a master plan. From what I have seen of the project, it has a variety of housing that is meant to accommodate people from all different walks of life. The significant difference between Phu My Hung and the rest of Ho Chi Min City is that the development of Phu My Hung was completely intentional and very controlled. Many different outside corporations collaborated to develop Phu My Hung into the pristine urban center that it is today. Because of the master architects planning, they were able to preserve the original plant life and waterways. They also planted many new trees to counteract the pollution that may have been caused by construction, which will leave an eco-friendly footprint for the future. After the discussion panel, we took a building tour which gave us the best view of Ho Chi Minh City, and I’m sure that everyone will use it as their cover photo for today’s blog. I have decided to share a picture of the amazing lunch that we had at Tokyo Deli!
That’s all for today, but tune in tomorrow to see my next exciting Vietnam update!