ISCM – UEH CONTRIBUTES A SMART LIVEABLE PORT CITY GOVERNANCE FRAMEWORK APPROACH TO TAN PHUOC’S FUTURE DEVELOPMENT

On August 21, 2026, at the seminar “Building Tan Phuoc Smart Port City – A Core of the Cai Mep Ha Free Trade Zone within Ho Chi Minh City’s Southern Growth Pole,” jointly organized by the Tan Phuoc Ward People’s Committee and the Southern Institute for Spatial Planning, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tu Anh Trinh , Director of the Institute of Smart City and Management (ISCM), University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH), contributed perspectives on smart port city governance and its implications for Tan Phuoc’s future development.

The seminar brought together local authorities, policymakers, researchers, and experts to discuss how Tan Phuoc could transform its port, industrial, and logistics advantages into the foundations of a smart, green, liveable, and competitive port city.

Overview of the conference on Tan Phuoc Smart Port City

From Smart Port to Smart Port City: technology must work with governance

In her presentation, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tu Anh Trinh approached Tan Phuoc’s future not merely as an infrastructure or technology challenge, but through the broader perspective of Smart Port City governance.

A Smart Port City should extend beyond the digitalization of port operations or the deployment of individual technological systems. Instead, it requires an integrated relationship between spatial planning, infrastructure, data and technology, and governance, enabling local authorities to understand urban transformations, evaluate alternative development scenarios, and make better-informed decisions. Data therefore becomes a strategic resource. Its value lies not simply in collection or visualization, but in the capacity to share and integrate information and ultimately translate it into evidence for policymaking. From this perspective, a Digital Twin should not be reduced to a three-dimensional visualization of the city. Its greater potential lies in becoming a decision-support system — a “brain” connecting real-world data with simulations and alternative development scenarios to support local governments in evaluating future choices.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tu Anh Trinh, Director of ISCM – UEH, presenting at the conference

Identity and people at the heart of a Smart Port City

Alongside technology and data governance, ISCM’s contribution highlighted an element that can easily be overlooked in smart city development: local identity.

Every city has its own environmental conditions, development history, socio-economic structure, and local resources. A Smart Port City model therefore cannot simply be copied from another city. Identifying Tan Phuoc’s distinctive characteristics and competitive advantages should become an essential foundation for creating a development model of its own. Equally important is the principle of human-centered development. The port should serve as an engine for urban development and local livelihoods rather than operate as an economic system disconnected from surrounding communities. The ultimate objective of a Smart Port City is therefore not limited to increasing port efficiency or attracting investment, but should also include employment, services, quality living environments, and new opportunities for local residents. This perspective aligns with a key conclusion of the seminar: a city can be considered successful only when its residents genuinely benefit from urban development projects and policies.

Co-creation: connecting academic knowledge with real-world experimentation

Another key concept highlighted in the presentation was multi-stakeholder co-creation.

Contemporary urban challenges are increasingly too complex to be addressed by government, businesses, or researchers independently. Smart Port City development requires collaboration among government, universities, businesses, experts, and communities, with each stakeholder contributing different capabilities and resources. Within such an ecosystem, the role of universities is also evolving. Beyond education and knowledge transfer, universities can become knowledge partners for local governments, contributing to research, policy development, solution design, experimentation, and evaluation. Approaches such as Policy Sandboxes, Living Labs, and Field Labs were discussed as potential mechanisms through which new policies, technologies, and urban solutions could be tested, monitored, and evaluated in real-world environments before being implemented at scale. This approach is particularly relevant for rapidly transforming areas such as Tan Phuoc, where decisions made today may have long-term implications for urban structures, economic development, the environment, and local communities.

Local authorities, experts, and research institutions at the conference

ISCM – UEH: connecting knowledge with local development

ISCM – UEH’s participation in the seminar reflects a broader commitment to connecting academic research with real-world urban development challenges.

Through its Smart Port City governance perspective, ISCM contributes an integrated approach that brings spatial planning, technology, data, policy, and people into a common governance framework. Rather than searching for a Smart Port City model to replicate, local governments need to progressively build their own governance and innovation capacities based on local conditions and identity. This perspective also reflects ISCM’s broader research and educational philosophy: a Smart City is not simply about technology, but about how technology, design, planning, and governance can work together to create public value and improve quality of life. The local government’s willingness to collaborate with businesses and educational institutions in research and experimentation also creates opportunities for ideas emerging from the seminar to evolve into practical initiatives. Through these contributions, ISCM – UEH seeks to bring university knowledge closer to urban policymaking and development practice, accompanying local governments in the long-term process of building Tan Phuoc into a smarter, greener, more liveable port city that generates meaningful value for its communities.

News and photos by: ISCM

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