•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
On the morning of April 18, the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Council (term XI, 2026–2031) held its second session (a special session) to consider and decide on several important matters related to key projects in the locality. Among them, the City’s People’s Council approved a policy to transfer the investment form of the Symphony, Music and Dance Hall project from public investment to conducting research under the public-private partnership (PPP) method.
The Symphony, Music and Dance Hall project has completed a design competition, and the results were announced. The city has disbursed nearly 3.9 billion VND for investment preparation.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, some investors have shown interest and proposed implementing the political-administrative center and a green park around the central lake in Thủ Thiêm under a Build-Transfer (BT) contract type. The City Party Committee has agreed in principle to this approach.
As part of the plan to adjust the planning to proceed with the project, the city will swap the location of the hall project from the Ba Son area to a site adjacent to the political-administrative center. The land previously planned for the hall will be repurposed into a green park, square, and a project funded by the investor.
The People’s Committee said stopping the public-investment policy for the Symphony, Music and Dance Hall project is necessary to ensure consistency with the approved master plan, comply with legal regulations, and avoid project duplication. This is also intended to serve as a basis to implement the political-administrative center project following the direction of the City Party Committee.
The Symphony, Music and Dance Hall project was approved for investment policy by the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Council in 2018 (Resolution No. 19 dated 8/10/2018). The project is planned in the Thu Thiem New Urban Area, with total investment of more than 1,500 billion VND from the city budget, to be executed in 2018–2022.
By 2021, relevant units proposed increasing the project’s capital to 2,000 billion VND and adjusting the implementation period to 2018–2024. In 2022, after the impact of Covid-19, the city decided to suspend the project.
In early 2025, the City People’s Committee submitted to the Ministry of Construction the architectural planning indicators for the hall, including proposals to adjust the area and building density on the 24,000 m2 land to ensure the hall has 1,700 seats.
In addition to the hall, the site includes other key facilities such as the central square; an exhibition and convention center; a planning exhibition center; a museum; and public spaces.
Recently, the City People’s Committee carried out a local adjustment of the Thủ Thiêm district master plan with a total area of 128.5 ha. The adjustment is intended to arrange and accommodate other major works in the Thu Thiem New Urban Area, including the concert hall.
Premium gym chains are entering a “golden era” that is ending or already in decline, as rising operating costs collide with shifting consumer preferences toward more flexible, community-based ways to exercise. Long-term memberships are shrinking, margins are pressured by higher rents and facility expenses, and competition from smaller, more personalized…
