Ho Chi Minh City Proposes Maintaining All 168 Administrative Units

Ho Chi Minh City's People's Committee has proposed maintaining the current administrative divisions of its 168 wards, communes, and special zones. This move is aimed at ensuring the stability of the two-tier administrative model, which has been in operation for just over a year. The committee highlighted the importance of avoiding administrative disruption, as well as changes to personnel, assets, and administrative data that could result from merging or reorganizing these units. It also pointed out that residents and businesses could face significant burdens, such as updating numerous documents due to changes in addresses. Furthermore, maintaining the current stable status is deemed essential for areas with unique geographical, defense, or security characteristics. Out of the 168 current administrative units, 165 wards, communes, and special zones had requested to remain unchanged. Among these, 54 areas did not meet the criteria for either area or population. However, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee determined that these units, established after July 1, 2025, are exempt from the standard evaluations under Resolution 112 of the National Assembly Standing Committee, which takes effect in early 2026. Nevertheless, four communes (Long Hai, Binh Chanh, Ba Diem, and Hoc Mon) that do not meet the area standards are considering upgrading to wards, which would then require an area of at least 5.5 square kilometers. Moreover, given that the central government's study on a "core commune" model is expected to be completed in October 2026, Ho Chi Minh City believes it is prudent to await these new principles and criteria for a comprehensive evaluation. Meanwhile, proposals for three administrative units—Phuong Xom Chieu, Phuong Khanh Hoi, and Xa Long Son—to merge with adjacent areas were rejected due to insufficient consultation and consensus-building with the relevant localities. Ho Chi Minh City plans to focus on refining the two-tier administrative model, promoting decentralization, digitalization, administrative reform, and restructuring its civil service workforce to align with the scale, characteristics, and workload of each area during the 2026-2030 period. Following mergers with Binh Duong and Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Ho Chi Minh City spans nearly 6,800 square kilometers with a population of approximately 16 million, making it a special urban area, according to data from the Ho Chi Minh City Police on June 1. Among the 168 communal-level administrative units, Phu Gia is the largest at 192.83 square kilometers, and Di An ward has the largest population with over 227,800 people. Source: VnExpress