HCMC lacks the parks its population requires
Definitely true, not enough parks in this city. Although it's much worse in Phnom Penh. When I first came to HCMC from Phnom Penh, the first thing that struck me was all the trees in parks in HCMC. And whenever I have friends visit from Phnom Penh, it's usually the first thing they mention as well.
Still, it is sad how much green spaces HCMC has lost. Every now and then, photos of Saigon from years ago will make their way onto Facebook, and everyone will marvel at how much green the city used to have.
An article recently appeared on Tuoi Tre News:
Colorized photos show Saigon’s green coverage 100 years ago
Look at this picture of Saigon in 1920. The Cathedral is still there nowadays, but all the trees have been turned into McDonalds and Dunkin Donuts.
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| https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/lifestyle/20200518/colorized-photos-show-saigons-green-coverage-100-years-ago/54633.html |
There was a similar thing going on when I lived in Phnom Penh. People would often post videos of Phnom Penh from the 1960s on Facebook or chat forums, and then lament about how the city has lost its beauty. (People say that in the 1960s, Phnom Penh used to be known as the Paris of South East Asia.)
(If you go to the comments section on this video, you can see a lot of Cambodian people lamenting about how beautiful the city used to be.)
It's a reminder of how beautiful cities can be transformed if city planners are not careful. Businesses and the shopping malls don't care about preserving the green spaces and urban beauty. If you let them just build wherever they want, then you'll lose these beautiful cities. As happened to Saigon and Phnom Penh
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