Architects in Vietnam have unveiled an ambitious concept for a 'city inside a city.'

Plans for a lush new "city inside a city" in Vietnam have been presented by one of the UK's leading architecture companies. According to architects Foster + Partners, the new 290-acre (approximately half-square-mile) zone would be developed around a long "spine" of trees and flora in the country's largest metropolis, Ho Chi Minh City.

The project, dubbed "The Global City," consists of high- and low-rise residential structures, public housing, and villas, as well as schools, a retail center, and medical services. The community will be surrounded by two rivers and will consist of five distinct neighborhoods connected by a central park & boulevard as well as several pedestrian bridges.

Foster + Partners, according to Toby Blunt, a senior partner, inherited the broad masterplan but was charged with improving "its connection to nature, while strengthening pedestrian connectivity between the distinct districts," he wrote in an email.

According to Masterise Homes, a property developer also working on the district, the project would be completed in four years.


The number of green spaces in the concept, including parks, courtyards, and gardens, was highlighted in a news statement by Foster + Partners' studio head Gerard Evenden. "The design aims to strike a balance between wildlife and human well-being," he added, describing it as "a comprehensive, long-term strategy."
According to the press release, the district's design uses brick and timber to recall the architectural traditions in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon. From French colonial relics like the Saigon Opera House to concrete modernist residential complexes and contemporary skyline additions like the lotus flower-inspired Bitexco Tower, the southeastern metropolis is noted for its diverse blend of styles.

Foster + Partners is well known for buildings such as the Hearst Tower in New York and 30 St Mary Axe, often known as "The Gherkin," in London, which was both designed by famed British architect Norman Foster.

The firm's staff is now working on different planning initiatives meant to revive metropolitan areas or establish new sustainable communities in highly crowded cities, and "The Global City" is one of several futuristic masterplans that the business has produced in recent years. The projected renovation of Stockholm's core Slussen area is expected to be completed by 2025, while the huge South Sabah Al-Ahmad, a new metropolis in Kuwait that would contain an estimated 280,000 inhabitants, will open in 2040.

The architects also are working on a Townhouse project in Vietnam: the VietinBank Business Center, a two-tower complex located just outside of Hanoi in the country's north.