Cities bring together a diversity of sectors, international networks and cultural life. They are vehicles of cross-fertilization and have become the 21st century testing ground for innovation. The innovation economy has indeed rediscovered the potential of dense urban qualities: people are more closely connected and markets, finance and other enablers are also better accessible.

The HCMC East Innovation District Masterplan provides a robust framework for urban transformation that capitalizes on the built and the natural ecosystem. The Masterplan is underpinned by socio-economic and sustainability objectives that are an integral part of the spatial design. The proposal offers a holistic vision for the short and the long-term development of the East of Ho Chi Minh City, by building-on the success of Thu Thiem Central Business District development and further extending it to pave the way for the long-term restructuring and validation of the eastern territory.

The new model of innovation district shows its high appreciation of ‘cityness’—complexity, density, diversity of people and cultures, and a layering of the old and the new. Innovation does no longer just happen in separated laboratories, in isolated buildings, and in the middle of nowhere. Instead, it happens on streets, squares, shared spaces, cafes and common areas in mixed-use districts and buildings.