New towns transform Vietnamese real estate

By Grant McCool

HO CHI MINH CITY (Reuters) - A new city has risen out of a swamp south of the winding Saigon River, part of a real estate boom that is reshaping lifestyles in developing Vietnam and enriching some speculators.

The smooth roads, condominiums, apartments, offices, convenience stores and restaurants of Phu My Hung (Saigon South) are a far cry from congested, squalid streets and housing in much of Vietnam's largest city of about 8 million people.

Saigon South was chosen by the Communist Party government as a model for new towns across the Southeast Asian country, whose emerging market economy is growing at more than 8 percent a year, prime time for property developers and investors.

"The schools, the shopping, security and everything are very convenient and very different from where I grew up," said Le Uy Linh, 32, who bought a villa in Phu My Hung three years ago.

She was born and raised in District 5 of the city, which most people still call Saigon.

Linh is director of an investment firm and other companies. She and her husband, a doctor, have two children. They are typical of the young professionals the "new towns" want to attract.

Plans called for the streets to be a certain width, for a certain mix of greenery and a mix of tenants, Vietnamese and foreigners who work in the city.

In the style of South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore or the Philippines, plans for a plethora of "new towns" outside of crowded cities are replete with spacious housing and schools, businesses, golf courses, movie theatres and concert halls.