Urbanization, which is almost completednow in developed countries and even in Latin America, is nowproceeding in much of Asia at an unprecedented rate. Many ofthe countries in the region have up to half their populationnow living urban lifestyles and increasingly also living inurban regions. The forms that urbanization is taking in thedeveloping countries, however, are problematic. Towns andcities that were never planned to have large populations aresuffering from overloaded infrastructure. Development of thefringes is proceeding with little or no planning, resultingin even worse problems. Scattered developments, graduallyincreasing in density, are producing intense land-useconflicts and environmental pollution. Once development hasoccurred, these areas are difficult to service withefficient infrastructure. This paper builds on a study thatwas carried out with the aim of providing an ecologicallysound planning method to overcome some of these problems andpromote the sustainability of urban development, especiallyin new urban development areas. The method was then appliedto an extensive area south of the existing center of HaiPhong city in Vietnam that has been suffering from randomdevelopment in recent years. The objective was to provide anecologically sensitive urban planning and design frameworkfor the further development of this area. An outline planwas produced and then a number of planning mechanisms werepresented that should help the authorities to implement theplan. This is, furthermore, seen as a model with potentialapplication to fringe areas of other cities in Vietnam and,suitably adapted, to cities in other countries of the EastAsia region. Lessons from this exercise as summarized inrecommendations at the end of the paper.
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