AT the southern edge of Ho Chi Minh City lies Can Gio, a 75,000-hectare biosphere reserve that is the largest mangrove restoration zone in Vietnam and one of Southeast Asia’s most significant natural carbon sinks.
Recognized in 2000 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization as Vietnam’s first World Biosphere Reserve, Can Gio’s dense mangrove forests absorb and store vast quantities of carbon dioxide. It features a rich ecosystem of terrestrial plants, animals and aquatic species, thriving in a vast delta region, while functioning as living infrastructure against storm surges, coastal erosion and saline intrusion.
Given the importance of the nature reserve, any urban intervention here, whether a road, a building or an entire settlement, is constrained by this living boundary condition. That was the design challenge facing Vinhomes, developer of Green Paradise and the real estate subsidiary of Vingroup, one of Vietnam’s largest private conglomerates with interests in property, retail, energy and electric vehicles.
The Manila Times visited Can Gio last December, when VinGroup broke ground on Green Paradise six months earlier. In an online press conference, the Vinhomes master planning team stated the strategy: to treat the mangrove belt as fixed infrastructure rather than territory to expand into. This means building in engineered parcels of land are built around the carbon sink, not over it.
Mangroves store carbon at significantly higher rates per hectare than most terrestrial forests. Disturbance can release accumulated emissions and weaken coastal protection.
The spatial response establishes a layered edge. The preserved mangrove zone forms the first ecological perimeter. Sea-reclaimed land, built according to flood and hydrological models, serves as a secondary defensive band. Within the development footprint, lagoons and retention basins regulate tidal variation and manage stormwater. Water becomes structural rather than ornamental.
In tropical climates, distributed water bodies reduce heat accumulation through evaporative cooling. Green corridors linked to these systems lower surface temperatures and reduce building cooling demand. The objective is to maintain the carbon sink while shaping a climate-responsive urban geometry.
Construction began on April 19, 2025. The development spans approximately 2,870 hectares and is planned to accommodate an estimated population of about 230,000 residents once fully realized. At full build-out, the township will extend across more than 121 kilometers of shoreline, including approximately 53 kilometers of public beachfront. The scale positions the project among the largest coastal urban districts in Vietnam.
Delivery is structured in phases, with completion expected to extend into the early 2030s as infrastructure and environmental systems come online. While specific deadlines have not been publicly detailed, the size of the site and its dependencies suggest a multiyear construction horizon toward 2030 and beyond.
The township is being positioned as an ecotech marine city, with ambitions to pursue Breeam (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) Communities certification and align with ISO 37122 smart city benchmarks. These standards emphasize environmental performance, resilience, digital management systems and integrated infrastructure.
Electrified rail
In December 2025, ground was broken for the Ben Thanh-Can Gio high-speed metro. The railway, targeted for completion by 2030, introduces a second structuring element to the district. Designed for speeds of up to 350 kilometers per hour, the line is expected to reduce travel time to approximately 13 minutes between central Ho Chi Minh City and Can Gio.
For planners and architects, electrified rail is not only a transport solution but a density instrument. Transit nodes enable vertical mixed-use clusters within walkable radii. Lower reliance on private vehicles reduces parking demand and land consumption while limiting transport-related emissions.
Compact clusters shorten utility corridors and reduce road surface area. In spatial terms, transport determines block scale, which in turn influences long-term energy demand. Aligning the district with electric rail from inception alters its emissions trajectory by organizing growth around transit rather than highways.
Projected visitor volumes of up to 40 million annually at maturity support district-scale environmental systems. Centralized cooling networks reduce electricity consumption compared with stand-alone systems. Shared infrastructure lowers mechanical redundancy, while smart grid integration enables load balancing and renewable inputs.
Waste systems designed at district scale can reduce methane emissions while reclaiming energy. Clustering health care, commercial and residential uses within walkable distances limits cross-district travel and reduces operational carbon.
The plan also incorporates large-scale landscape and recreational components, including an 800-hectare saltwater lagoon and a 7-hectare Blue Waves Theater, alongside marina facilities and leisure zones. These programmatic elements are integrated within a broader water management and coastal resilience strategy.
The development has outlined commitments to a 100-percent renewable energy supply within the township and a net-zero emissions mobility system. If implemented as described, these measures would align operational performance with the preserved carbon sink and electrified transport framework.
Remittance inflows to Ho Chi Minh City are projected at about $10.3 billion in 2025, with national remittances averaging roughly $17 to $18 billion annually over the past decade. A growing share of this capital is moving toward infrastructure-linked real estate.
For long-term investors, coastal projects are increasingly evaluated through climate-adjusted risk. Exposure to sea-level rise, flood frequency and infrastructure resilience affects asset durability and financing costs. Developments supported by engineered coastal defenses, electrified transport and district-scale energy systems present a different risk profile from conventional waterfront expansion.
