The National Assembly has approved a national land use plan for the period of 2011-2015, which sets land use planning targets to be met by 2020.

Villas remain unoccupied in many urban areas

By 2020, urban land fund will reach 202,000 hectares.

The NA’s Standing Committee requested that the Government scrutinise vacant urban areas and villas, as well as prioritise housing for low-income citizens.

This requests came after it was brought to public attention that several urban areas and villas lie abandoned, while others are used primarily for homes that are well outside of the range of the majority of people, despite a huge demand for housing among low to average-income families.

The NA also agreed to reserve 26.732 billion hectares of agricultural land, including 3.812 billion hectares of land for rice cultivation.

In order to realise the target, the NA requested the Government to increase its investment in rice cultivation, processing and sales in localities with large rice crops. They will also  apply measures to lower production cost and heighten the incomes of farmers.

The country’s land fund for industrial parks is estimated to reach 130,000 hectares by 2015, and 200,000 hectares by 2020.

A total of 1.578 billion hectares of land will be reserved for infrastructure development by 2020, of which 82,000 hectares will serve educational institutions and 10,000 hectares for medical services.