Can Tho City has many opportunities to apply digital technology solutions for urban management. Photo: Kim Anh.

Amidst the strong global trend of digitalization, the smart and sustainable urban model has become a strategic direction to improve the quality of life for citizens, optimize public administration, and ensure harmonious development between the economy, society, and environment. Can Tho City, as the central urban hub of the Mekong Delta region, is facing a great opportunity to apply digital technology solutions to urban management.

The Resolution of the Can Tho City Party Congress for the 2025-2030 term has set forth an important vision: By 2045, Can Tho City will become a livable city in Vietnam. Within this orientation, smart urban development is identified as one of the key tasks to improve governance quality, enhance the living environment, and create a distinctive urban space.

Recently, the People's Committee of Can Tho City issued a Decision approving the Strategy for developing a smart city associated with modern infrastructure, building a foundation for digital urban governance, and applying artificial intelligence in administration, management, and serving the people. The strategy will be implemented until 2030 with a dual orientation: digital transformation and green transformation, creating a foundation for sustainable urban growth.

A key highlight of this strategy is the perspective of placing citizens and businesses at the center of all digital infrastructure innovation activities. Can Tho will strongly promote the digitalization of administrative procedures; build a synchronously connected digital urban government platform; apply artificial intelligence in data management; increase the rate of online application processing, and move towards providing public services without limitations at any level of government.

In addition, Can Tho prioritizes socialization and public-private partnerships, calling on technology companies to participate in building data platforms, smart infrastructure, and developing new business models in smart cities.

From the perspective of urban management research, Mr. Do Le Phuc Tam - Institute of Smart Cities and Management, School of Technology and Design (University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City) argues that a smart city is not about applying as much technology as possible, but rather about applying "just enough" technology to effectively solve existing problems, within the available resources. The core remains sustainable development and improving the quality of life for its citizens.

Mr. Tam analyzed that the trend of smart cities worldwide has gone through three "generations". Generation 1.0 was around 2014, a period that mainly focused on technological infrastructure and data collection.

By the 2.0 generation (2015-2019), the government had proactively initiated strategies for developing smart cities.

Generation 3.0 (post-Covid-19) is a period of "explosion" in smart city strategies, with the emergence of the Living Lab model (living laboratory, urban laboratory). Citizens become the central focus and important partners with the government and businesses in developing urban strategies, from orientation and solution piloting to practical operation.

According to this expert, Can Tho City is on the right track by identifying its urban identity as the foundation for development. This helps the city shape its future urban image. For example, Can Tho could be a creative city, an ecological city, or an experiential city. Once the urban "brand" is defined, the development strategy will be clearer and create a unique identity for a livable city in the riverine region.

From a tourism economics perspective, Dr. Tran Huu Hiep, Vice President of the Mekong Delta Tourism Association, believes that building Can Tho into a livable city should not only rely on technology, infrastructure, or the night-time economy, but must also be approached from the cultural and spiritual life perspective of the local community.

According to Mr. Hiep, if the focus is solely on technology while neglecting the "soul" of the city, including culture, identity, and lifestyle, then smart cities will struggle to spread and operate effectively. He emphasized that Resolution 59-NQ/TW clearly defines "Can Tho City as an ecological , civilized, and modern city deeply rooted in the riverine culture of the Mekong Delta region, a core urban center of the region; with a high standard of living, both materially and spiritually, for its people."

Conversely, when indigenous cultural values ​​are digitized and incorporated into materials for smart tourism, cultural industries, education, or content creation, technology will become a lever for preserving and promoting the unique identity of Can Tho's waterways – something that makes it different and attractive.

Dr. Tran Huu Hiep suggested that Can Tho should view spiritual culture as a pillar of its smart urban development strategy; planning for more green spaces, community areas, pedestrian streets, and art experience spaces... At the same time, the city needs to build a set of indicators for a livable city based on culture, such as: the level of participation in community activities, the number of cultural events, or the spiritual satisfaction index of the people.