Study on the mechanism of urban planning information exchange to enhance the community participation in urban detailed planning in Vietnam – towards sustainable development

This paper explores the extent of the current mechanism to access urban spatial planning information of community in urban detailed planning projects (UDPPs), the constraints on urban planning information accessibility in Vietnam context to challenge the community participation for sustainable development. The research is based on an analysis of the planning information sharing content found in four UDPPs in Vietnam and interviews with 20 key informants. The research identified that the urban spatial planning information for the community is limited and difficult to access, and the planning information exchange process is one-way flow, authority-controlled and non-transparent. Besides, the lack of human resources and technological application provide a challenging context for involving the community in UDPPs. The paper concludes by proposing several recommendations for improving the urban planning information exchange process and technological tools that should be applied to foster community participation in Vietnam's urban context, towards sustainable development.