Decree No. 269/2025/NĐ-CP on Smart City Development

DECREE
On the development of smart cities

Pursuant to the Law on Government Organization No. 63/2025/QH15;

Pursuant to the Law on Local Administration Organization No. 72/2025/QH15;

Pursuant to the Urban and Rural Planning Law No. 47/2024/QH15;

Pursuant to the Construction Law No. 50/2014/QH13; the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of the Construction Law No. 62/2020/QH14;

Article 1. Amending and supplementing certain Points and Clauses of Article 1

Pursuant to the Digital Industry Law No. 71/2025/QH15;

Pursuant to Resolution No. 193/2025/QH15 of the National Assembly on piloting certain special mechanisms and policies to create breakthroughs in the development of science, technology, innovation, and national digital transformation;

The Government issues this Decree on the development of smart cities.

At the proposal of the Minister of Construction;

Article 1. This Decree stipulates general provisions, orientations, projects, plans for the development of smart cities and urban planning, standards, technical regulations, interoperability, and information security of smart cities, the development of digital infrastructure and technical infrastructure of smart cities, the development of innovation infrastructure and controlled testing, the development of smart buildings, smart urban areas, and services, management and operation of smart cities, resources and investment in the development of smart cities, implementation organization.

PART I
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation and Applicability

Article 2. This Decree applies to cities, provinces, urban areas within cities and provinces, agencies, organizations, and individuals related to the development of smart cities.

Article 3. Content of organizing the development of smart cities

Article 2. Interpretation of Terms

In this Decree, the following terms are understood as follows:

1. The development content of smart cities is integrated synchronously with the content of science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation at all levels.

2. Basic content of organizing the development of smart cities:

a) Establishing a Provincial Steering Committee for Smart City Development concurrently with setting up and operating mechanisms for mobilization, dialogue, cooperation, attraction, and creating maximum favorable conditions for economic sectors to participate in investment and development of smart cities;

b) Organizing the preparation and approval of provincial smart city development projects;

c) Determining sectoral plans including tasks related to smart city planning, building digital platform infrastructure, ensuring safety and security, building smart city technical infrastructure, and other tasks proactively implemented by the State;

d) Determining local plans including tasks to be carried out by the province in communes, townships, or villages, or tasks to be independently carried out by communes;

đ) Preparing component projects (if any);

e) Implementing tasks, solutions, and projects for smart city development as determined in the smart city development project and plan;

g) Establishing and operating a provincial smart city monitoring and control system (township or provincial level) and commune-level system (if any);

h) Evaluating and recognizing the maturity level of smart cities; evaluating and certifying smart urban areas;

i) Regularly reviewing, adjusting, and updating smart city development projects and plans.

3. The specific content of organizing the development of smart cities shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of this Decree and meet the general requirements stipulated in Article 4 of this Decree.

đ) Develop component proposals (if any);

e) Organize the implementation of tasks, solutions, and smart city development projects identified in the smart city development proposal and plan;

g) Establish and operate the provincial-level (district or provincial) and communal-level smart city monitoring and management system (if any);

h) Evaluate and recognize the maturity level of smart cities; evaluate and certify smart urban areas;

i) Periodically review, adjust, and update the smart city development proposal and plan;

3. The specific content of organizing the development of smart cities shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of this Decree and meet the general requirements stipulated in Article 4 of this Decree.

Article 4. General Requirements for Smart City Development

1. Compliance with Legal Regulations and Alignment with National Orientation. All activities related to smart city development must comply with legal regulations, be consistent, and promote the implementation of national strategies, plans, and programs concerning science, technology, innovation, digital transformation, urban development at the national, regional, and local levels.

2. People-Centric Smart City Development. Smart city development activities must focus on improving the quality of life, optimizing services and utilities for residents, and creating conditions for residents to participate in the management, operation, and monitoring of smart city development. The digital infrastructure and services of smart cities must prioritize digital equity and reduce the digital divide.

3. Data-Driven Development and Operation of Smart Cities. Smart city development and operation must be based on urban data as core resources. Urban smart data must be managed throughout its lifecycle, ensuring connectivity, sharing, security, and serving as the basis for decision-making.

4. Ensuring Information Security and Interactivity. Smart city development must meet principles of information security, protect organizational and individual information, and ensure interactivity and prevent technological lock-in. It must also address national sovereignty protection in cyberspace and ensure national defense and security.

5. Comprehensive Integration, Flexible Deployment, and Adaptability. The deployment of smart city development must involve synchronized, multi-sector collaboration, emphasizing both technological and non-technological solutions; applying modern, integrated technologies that ensure technological neutrality, scalability, interoperability across multiple platforms, and synchronous interaction among smart cities; adapting to the unique characteristics of each city and the varying levels of development within urban areas; implementing through phased approaches, prioritized zones, and pilot projects to draw lessons before scaling up, facilitating innovation, technology, service, and policy testing before widespread application.

6. Sustainable Development and Diverse Resource Mobilization. Smart city development must harmonize quality, intelligence, connectivity, efficiency, and sustainability goals. It must minimize environmental impacts from technology, optimize energy for data centers, promote circular data economies, mobilize and effectively utilize all legitimate resources from the state, businesses, society, and communities, and promote public-private cooperation in smart city development.

Chapter II

GUIDELINES, PROJECTS, AND PLANS FOR SMART CITY DEVELOPMENT

SMART CITY DEVELOPMENT GUIDELINES AND URBAN PLANNING

Section 1

GUIDELINES, PROJECTS, AND DEVELOPMENT PLANS FOR SMART CITIES

Article 5. Guidelines for Smart City Development

1. National guidelines for smart city development must align with the Party's policies on urban development, science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation; comply with state laws and be consistent with national economic and social development strategies, plans, and policies for industries and regions; and meet the requirements set forth in Article 4 of this Decree.

2. The content of national guidelines for smart city development must clearly define objectives, viewpoints, tasks, and key measures; priority areas for smart city development such as healthcare, environmental management, wastewater, waste, water supply, transportation, and other sectors requiring focused implementation at different stages; models tailored to urban development characteristics; national-level pilot zones, projects, mechanisms, and management models; timelines and implementation mechanisms, including performance evaluation indicators.

3. The Ministry of Construction shall lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, and relevant ministries and sectors, along with consulting experts, to submit to the Prime Minister for approval the national guidelines for smart city development for each five-year period and ten-year vision, and adjust and update them when significant changes occur in technology, national policies, or international trends.

4. Provincial People's Committees shall review and integrate provincial guidelines for smart city development in line with the province's action plan to implement national breakthrough policies on science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation.

Article 6. Smart City Development Plan for Provinces and Cities

1. The provincial People's Committee shall organize the establishment, approval, and implementation of the smart city development plan for the locality, ensuring consistency with the national orientation for smart city development as stipulated in Article 4 of this Decree.

2. The contents of the smart city development plan for provinces and cities must meet the following basic requirements:

a) Analyze and assess the current status, clearly identify issues, challenges, and requirements that need to be addressed in both short-term and long-term perspectives; cross-sector integrated management issues;

b) Clearly define the vision, general objectives, specific objectives, and expected maturity levels to be achieved at each stage;

c) Clearly define tasks, solutions, implementation timelines, and outputs including groups of tasks to be implemented throughout the province or city, and selected priority tasks to fulfill the requirements specified in Article 4 of this Decree;

Propose tasks, solutions, and prioritized project lists according to fields, regions, and stages, including projects funded by state budget, socialized investment solicitation projects, public-private partnership projects, service leasing areas, and controlled experimental application zones with investment incentives;

d) Identify contents requiring integration with digital transformation programs, urban development programs, and related programs of the locality to ensure synchronization and avoid overlap and waste;

Identify component plans (if any) and specific planning tasks to implement the plan by sector, field, region, including smart city development plans for subordinate administrative units when necessary, tasks to be carried out by the provincial level on the communal level, inter-ward-districts, or tasks to be self-implemented by the commune level;

đ) Develop a data governance model for the city, evaluate impacts on personal data;

e) Develop a financial sustainability plan, which must forecast and plan resource balancing for both investment costs and operational, maintenance, and upgrade costs over the long term;

g) Determine the organizational model for implementation, responsibilities of departments, sectors, and relevant parties, coordination mechanisms;

h) Comprehensive impact assessment report;

i) Develop monitoring, reporting mechanisms, establish a set of performance and impact evaluation indicators, tracking procedures, and regular publication of results;

3. The smart city development plan for provinces and cities is a component of the overall program on science and technology development, innovation, and digital transformation of the province or city.

Article 7. Establishment, Approval, and Adjustment of the Smart City Development Plan for Provinces and Cities

1. Provincial People's Committee:

a) Assign the competent agency under its direct supervision to take the lead, coordinate with relevant departments and sectors, mobilize domestic and international consultants and experts, either to newly establish or review and update the existing smart city development plan for centrally governed provinces and cities, ensuring compliance with the requirements stipulated in Article 6 of this Decree;

b) Approve and adjust the smart city development plan. Adjustments to the plan shall be made when there are significant changes in the economic and social development orientation of the locality, smart city development orientation and laws, requirements from authorized bodies, and actual conditions of smart city development in the locality;

c) Specify the dossier, approval procedure, and adjustment procedure for the plan; decide on the process of soliciting opinions, determine the specific time frame and form to ensure broad participation of relevant agencies, organizations, experts, and community members; the procedure for soliciting opinions from the Provincial Steering Committee for Smart City Development before approving the plan;

d) Direct the development of a smart city development plan by sector, field, and region after the smart city development plan has been approved;

2. The provincial People's Committee shall direct the review of provincial-level programs and plans on science and technology development, innovation, and digital transformation, ensuring consistency and avoiding overlap among programs, plans, and meeting the goals of smart city development;

3. After approval, the smart city development plan for provinces and cities must be publicly disclosed on the provincial electronic information portal and the National Smart City Information Portal.

Article 8. Smart Urban Development Plan for Regional Areas

1. The smart urban development plan for regional areas shall be established for communes and villages expected to form cities or special zones meeting the criteria for city classification according to the content of the provincial or municipal smart urban development project, or when communes and villages have the need approved by the Provincial People's Committee.

2. The smart urban development plan for regional areas must meet the following basic requirements:

a) Comply with the general requirements for smart urban development stipulated in Article 4 of this Decree;

b) Be consistent with the approved provincial smart urban development project; clearly define the objectives, tasks, implementation measures to be carried out synchronously according to the provincial smart urban development project and specific contents based on local characteristics;

c) Clearly define the tasks, solutions, timeframes, products, resources, responsibilities, authorities related, communication plans and community awareness enhancement, and operational mechanisms, supervision, coordination, cooperation among subjects, businesses, institutes, schools, and residents in implementing the plan;

d) Contents requiring support from the provincial level in terms of technology, budget, human resources, and other aspects during the implementation process.

3. The Provincial People's Committee shall base on the level of urban development and specific conditions to assign the provincial specialized agency or the Commune People's Committee to organize the establishment, issuance, and adjustment of the smart urban development plan for regional areas after obtaining the consensus opinion of the provincial steering committee for smart urban development.

Article 9. Costs for Establishing Guidelines, Projects, and Plans for Smart Urban Development at the Provincial and Municipal Levels

1. Guidelines, projects, and plans for smart urban development at the provincial and municipal levels shall be established from local government budgets allocated according to laws on state budget management or legitimate funding sources from domestic and foreign organizations and individuals.

2. The costs for establishing guidelines, projects, and plans shall be determined through budget estimates or based on data about the costs of establishing guidelines, projects, and plans for smart urban development that have been implemented.

3. In cases where consultancy services are hired, the consultancy service budget estimate includes all necessary costs anticipated to complete the hired consultancy service, including expert fees, management costs, related expenses, pre-tax income, and contingency costs.

4. The costs for establishing guidelines, projects for smart urban development at the provincial and centrally-administered municipal levels, and plans for smart urban development must be publicly disclosed, transparent, and comply with laws on state budget management and investment management.

Section 2

SMART URBAN PLANNING

Article 10. Provisions on Establishing Smart Urban Planning

1. Smart Urban Planning

a) Based on the guidelines and projects for smart urban development, when establishing or adjusting urban planning levels, they must comply with the contents and requirements stipulated in this Decree to ensure the construction, management, and development of smart cities;

b) The content of smart urban planning is integrated when establishing urban planning or adjusted and supplemented based on approved urban planning. The goals and requirements for developing smart cities defined in the smart urban development project serve as the basis and foundation for adjusting urban planning.

2. Urban planning work must establish and operate an urban information model (CIM) to serve multi-dimensional impact assessment, analysis, decision-making support, planning implementation management, urban development, and gradually integrate into digital urban replicas.

Article 11. Requirements for Smart City Planning

1. General planning and specialized technical infrastructure planning for centrally-administered cities, in addition to complying with laws on urban and rural planning, need to set directions and integrate appropriate smart solutions based on the type of planning, including the following contents:

a) Clarify the vision and overall development goals for smart cities that align with the orientation in the smart city development project;

b) Determine the framework for smart city orientation; supplement smart city solutions in spatial organization, architectural landscape, land use, social infrastructure, technical infrastructure, and other necessary contents, while supporting the establishment of digital infrastructure and innovative infrastructure;

c) Propose priority areas for piloting smart solutions according to each stage of planning and the level of maturity of smart cities that need to be achieved. In cases where cities do not establish district planning, general planning needs to propose priority areas for piloting construction and development of smart cities.

2. District planning needs to integrate smart solutions including the following contents:

a) Elaborate on the contents and smart city planning solutions directed at the general urban planning and specialized technical infrastructure planning for centrally-administered cities;

b) Determine technical indicators for managing and developing smart cities within the scope of planning;

c) Determine priority areas and pilot areas for constructing and developing smart cities.

3. Detailed planning needs to integrate smart solutions including the following contents:

a) Determine the location, scale of land use, and technical requirements for smart technical infrastructure networks; support solutions for establishing digital infrastructure and innovative infrastructure as directed and determined in higher-level planning;

b) Propose feasible smart technology solutions in management, operation, and provision of urban infrastructure services;

c) Determine the location, scale, and specific technical requirements for the smart urban infrastructure system;

d) Propose specific technical indicators and technology solutions related to smart cities applicable to prioritized investment and construction projects.

4. The smart city planning dossier shall be implemented in accordance with the guidelines of the Minister of Construction regarding urban and rural planning dossiers.

Chapter III
SMART CITY STANDARDS, INTEROPERABILITY AND INFORMATION SECURITY

Section 1
STANDARDS, REGULATIONS AND INTEROPERABILITY

Article 12. National Technical Standards System, Smart City Standards

1. The national technical standards system and smart city standards serve as the basis for ensuring consistency, synchronization, and connectivity of smart city systems, platforms, and services nationwide.

2. The national technical standards system and smart city standards must be designed to promote interoperability from the outset, minimize technological lock-in risks, and encourage the application of widely recognized international standards.

3. The Ministry of Science and Technology shall take the lead, coordinate with the Ministry of Construction and relevant ministries and sectors to develop, announce, and organize the implementation of the roadmap for issuing and applying the national standard and technical regulation system for smart cities; guide localities in applying suitable international standards, issue local standards within their authority in accordance with local conditions.

Article 13. Framework for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Architecture to Develop Smart Cities

1. The national framework for ICT architecture to develop smart cities must integrate with digital government infrastructure to ensure non-fragmentation in deployment, referencing, and compliance requirements for internationally recognized open standards on:

a) Interoperability of smart city platforms;

b) Reference architecture for the Internet of Things (IoT);

c) Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and common data models;

d) Ensuring information security, safety, and scalability.

2. Localities when developing provincial-level ICT architecture for smart city development must ensure compliance and compatibility with the national framework for ICT architecture to develop smart cities, focusing on requirements for open APIs, common data models, quality control mechanisms, traceability, and scalability to promote an innovation ecosystem.

3. Proposals, projects, systems, platforms, and applications for smart cities that utilize state funds must comply with the national framework for ICT architecture to develop smart cities and relevant technical standards.

4. The Ministry of Science and Technology shall take the lead, coordinate with the Ministry of Construction to establish, issue, and guide the implementation of the national framework for ICT architecture to develop smart cities; coordinate with related agencies to build and operate monitoring systems to periodically or randomly inspect compliance with the national framework for ICT architecture to develop smart cities, national technical standards and regulations for smart city development; recommend management measures based on monitoring and evaluation results.

Article 14. Interoperability of Smart City Platform Systems and Applications

1. All proposals, projects, information technology systems, digital platforms, and smart city applications utilizing state funds must be designed according to principles ensuring interoperability, providing open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), and complying with national data standards. It is encouraged to apply these principles to systems using other sources of funding.

2. The Ministry of Science and Technology shall issue technical regulations and guidelines for testing and evaluating interoperability, and publish appropriate implementation roadmaps to ensure feasibility and uniformity nationwide.

Section 2
INFORMATION SECURITY AND CYBERSECURITY

Article 15. Principles for Ensuring Information Security and Cybersecurity

1. Information security, protection of personal data in smart cities must be integrated from the design phase ("Security by Design") and follow a "zero-trust" security model throughout the lifecycle of systems, digital platforms, and smart city services; continuous risk management, supply chain technology management, and compliance with technical standards and regulations.

2. Ensuring cybersecurity, information security, network security, and protecting state secrets, and personal data in smart cities must comply with laws on cybersecurity, laws on information security, laws on protecting state secrets, laws on protecting personal data, and related legal provisions.

Article 16. Classification and Protection of Data, Information Systems

1. Data in smart city systems must be classified according to the provisions of laws on data and laws on personal data protection.

2. Smart city information systems must be determined at the appropriate level of information security according to regulations; the system managers implement corresponding protective measures including backup, recovery, and risk assessment for information security and safety, and other necessary measures as prescribed.

3. Smart city projects and services that involve processing personal data or using artificial intelligence, big data must conduct impact assessments according to the provisions of laws on data, personal data protection laws, and other relevant laws.

Article 17. Responsibility for Ensuring Information Security and Safety

1. Provincial People's Committee:

a) Organize the implementation of comprehensive measures to ensure the security and safety of smart city information and mechanisms for coordination in emergency situations and incidents as prescribed by law;

b) Bear full responsibility for the security and safety of information for smart city systems within their management scope;

c) Organize the implementation of training and enhancing basic knowledge about cybersecurity for management and technical staff;

d) Specify the responsibilities of management agencies for important works in the area to regularly assess risks of information security and safety;

đ) Develop scenarios, procedures for responding and inter-agency coordination mechanisms, organize drills for network incidents and operational incidents.

2. The Ministry of Public Security:

a) Take the lead in guiding, reviewing, inspecting, and supervising the security and safety of smart city information;

b) Take the lead in coordinating with relevant ministries and sectors to periodically or urgently monitor compliance with requirements for information security and safety of smart cities; propose management measures based on monitoring results.

3. The Ministry of National Defense guides, inspects, and supervises cryptographic matters.

Chapter IV
DEVELOPMENT OF DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND SMART CITY TECH INFRASTRUCTURE

Section 1
DEVELOPMENT OF SMART CITY DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE

Article 18. Digital Platforms and Infrastructure of Smart Cities

1. Digital infrastructure of smart cities includes telecommunications infrastructure, Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure, data infrastructure, and shared digital platforms.

2. The construction and development of digital platforms and urban databases must prioritize the use of cloud computing platforms as directed by the Government (Cloud-First) to ensure flexibility, optimize resources, and comply with technical standards and norms.

3. Shared digital platforms of smart cities must be developed in an open architecture, providing open application programming interfaces (APIs) to allow organizations, businesses, and individuals to connect, exploit data, and develop new applications and services.

4. The development of digital infrastructure must adhere to the principle of fair and inclusive deployment, prioritizing areas with difficulties to narrow the digital divide and ensure that all citizens have access and benefit.

Article 19. Construction and Management of Urban Smart City Databases

1. The construction, management, and processing of smart city data must fully comply with the provisions of laws on ensuring information security and safety, data, and personal data protection.

2. Local shared urban smart city databases must be connected and share data bidirectionally with national integrated databases and other national databases. The provincial data management agency has the responsibility to organize the provision of consolidated data sets according to the requirements of higher-level state agencies, while exploiting original data sets from national databases to serve management work and the development of smart city services locally. Connections and sharing must comply with technical standards, architectures, and data connection and sharing models issued by competent authorities.

3. Provincial People's Committees are responsible for directing the construction, integration, and operation of local shared urban smart city databases, clearly assigning responsibilities and authorities to a specialized agency to act as the data management agency.

4. The agency specified in Clause 3 of this Article performs the role of managing data for local shared databases, responsible for issuing data quality rules, monitoring updates, and managing the lifecycle of these data assets.

5. The State encourages the development of a transparent, safe data economy that complies with legal provisions on data.

Article 20. Responsibility for Providing Platform Data for Smart Cities

1. Organizations and individuals when implementing investment, construction, business, and operation activities of projects and services that have significant impacts on infrastructure and urban life shall be responsible for establishing and providing non-personal platform data sets in accordance with regulations to competent state agencies, serving the goal of building shared databases for cities and the nation.

2. Investment and construction projects must comply with regulations on applying building information modeling (BIM) as stipulated by laws on construction. After completion, the project sponsor must hand over the completed BIM model to the local state management agency on construction for integration into the database on planning, construction, and urban infrastructure.

3. Ministries and sectors shall issue lists of other types of platform data and specific regulations on scale, subjects, technical standards, and procedures for data provision in their respective fields of management.

4. The State shall adopt policies to support and encourage organizations and individuals in creating and standardizing data in accordance with this Article, including technical support, training, and other incentives as stipulated in Article 39 of this Decree.

Article 21. Information System for Managing Urban Development in Smart Cities

1. The People's Committee at the provincial level shall assign specialized agencies under its jurisdiction to establish and maintain, operate the information system for managing urban development in smart cities, ensuring the following principles:

a) Data and information must be updated regularly, fully, accurately, and promptly; ensuring synchronization and consistency from the central to provincial and communal levels in compliance with general principles of laws on data and laws on cybersecurity, cyber security, and personal data protection;

b) Transparency and convenience for searching, exploiting, and using by agencies, organizations, and individuals;

c) Information shall be managed uniformly nationwide according to centralized principles regarding technical standards, data structure, and technological platforms; while decentralizing and delegating management and updating of data among different levels; ensuring effective data integration and sharing capabilities between state management agencies and related organizations in accordance with the law;

d) Compliance with the Vietnam Digital Government Architecture Framework, the ICT Architecture for Smart City Development, and national technical standards and norms on data; applying unified urban information models and geographic information systems (GIS).

2. Basic functions of the information system for managing urban development in smart cities:

a) Building, updating, managing, exploiting, and using urban development data in a digital, integrated manner with databases on planning, land, population, construction activities, housing, and real estate markets; storing planning files, urban development investment project files, current urban infrastructure status, and related documents on digital platforms and GIS systems;

b) Providing search tools, information retrieval, and display through a unified, visual GIS system based on various criteria for urban planning and development;

c) Supporting the preparation, statistics, analysis, forecasting, warning, evaluation, and updating of data and information to effectively serve management, monitoring, supervision, and adjustment of urban planning and development activities;

d) Applying digital technology solutions and 3D city models to serve management, simulating traffic scenarios, urban flooding, and integrating with smart city monitoring and control center activities;

đ) Integrating with related public service systems and administrative procedures.

3. General requirements:

a) Data stored, managed, processed, and exchanged within the information system for managing urban development must apply open, uniform formats, ensuring compliance with national technical standards and norms; using unique identification codes for urban planning and development projects; applying a unified national coordinate system as prescribed to ensure effective data integration, connectivity, and sharing with related information systems;

b) Compliance with laws on cybersecurity, cyber security, and personal data protection; must be designed, constructed, and operated according to appropriate cybersecurity levels as prescribed by law. During operation, regular authentication, encryption, and data backup measures must be implemented to ensure recovery capability in case of incidents; strict access rights delegation and rigorous control must be organized to secure and protect information in all management, exploitation, and usage activities;

c) Ensuring connectivity and synchronized data linkage with the National Public Service Portal, electronic single-window system, construction permit system, urban development investment management system, government financial accounting system, housing registration system, land registration system, digital certificates, cadastral maps, and other specialized management information systems as prescribed by law, supporting the resolution of administrative procedures in a digital environment.

4. The Ministry of Construction shall provide guidance on urban development databases at the central level and supervise and inspect the establishment of urban development databases at the provincial level to serve smart city development.

Article 22. Digital twin of the city

1. The digital twin of the city is an advanced application that must be built on an integrated urban data platform, particularly geographic information system (GIS) data, building information modeling (BIM) data, and real-time sensor data.

2. The construction of the digital twin of the city must comply with national technical standards and relevant standards regarding data models and interoperability to ensure sustainability and scalability.

3. The Ministry of Science and Technology shall take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Construction to issue technical guidelines for the construction and application of the digital twin in urban development management, including integration with smart urban monitoring and operation centers and urban development management information systems.

Section 2
DEVELOPMENT OF SMART URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE

Article 23. General requirements for developing smart urban infrastructure

1. Developing smart urban infrastructure involves applying digital technology and innovative solutions in construction, upgrading, management, and operation to optimize resource utilization, protect the environment, improve service quality, and promote sustainable development.

2. Prioritize forms of development of smart urban infrastructure to address urgent issues specific to each city; capable of mobilizing social resources, flexible and scalable; prioritize green materials and technologies, reducing emissions. Encourage the development of smart energy infrastructure, management and operation models for power systems, lighting, heating, and gas supply.

3. The design of smart urban infrastructure systems must follow the principle of prioritizing open standards to ensure scalability and independence from a single technology or provider.

4. Organizations responsible for managing and operating urban infrastructure construction projects shall develop plans and timelines for the development of smart infrastructure; implement real-time data provision and sharing according to regulations.

Article 24. Fields of smart urban infrastructure

1. Infrastructure serving the management, monitoring, and operation of traffic in smart cities includes: adaptive traffic signal control systems; traffic flow management, monitoring, and analysis systems; electronic toll collection systems without stopping; intelligent bus station and parking lot management systems; infrastructure for smart green transportation means, charging stations, energy supply stations, self-driving vehicle infrastructure; multimodal transport infrastructure and interconnection; smart transfer hubs; platforms integrating various public transport modes to support users in planning, booking, and full journey electronic payment; other traffic-related infrastructure in smart cities.

2. Smart energy systems include: smart grids integrating smart energy management devices and technologies capable of monitoring and managing loads, integrating renewable energy sources, and real-time energy consumption measurement and monitoring systems.

3. Smart public lighting includes: using energy-efficient, high-performance lighting equipment equipped with sensors and network connectivity to automatically adjust brightness based on environmental conditions and traffic flow, centrally managed for monitoring and fault alerts.

4. Smart water supply and drainage include: water quality, pressure, and flow rate monitoring systems; water leakage and loss warning systems; flood warning and drainage system operation coordination systems; customer database and information systems, and other smart solutions and technologies.

5. Smart solid waste management includes: waste collection and transportation monitoring systems; optimized waste collection route systems; and advanced waste treatment technologies recovering energy.

Article 25. Requirements for Integration and Interconnection of Technical Infrastructure

1. The smart technical infrastructure system when newly invested in construction or upgraded to meet integrated urban infrastructure and interconnection requirements must satisfy the following requirements:

a) Must have the capability to connect and share real-time data with the Provincial Integrated Data Platform (LGSP) and the Smart Urban Monitoring and Control Center;

b) Must comply with common data models and technical standards for interoperability as prescribed;

c) Must provide open application programming interfaces (APIs) to allow integration with other systems.

2. The provincial People's Committee shall specify the responsibilities for providing, cycles, and quality standards of data for each technical infrastructure management agency.

3. Pilot investment applications of new and innovative models to develop smart technical infrastructure shall enjoy incentives and support as stipulated in Article 39 of this Decree.

4. Cities shall be connected and share data on technical infrastructure to serve the management of regional and inter-provincial technical infrastructure systems.

5. Requirements for integrating and interconnecting smart technical infrastructure systems of projects involving state secrets shall be specified by the competent ministry.

Chapter V

DEVELOPMENT OF INNOVATION AND EXPERIMENTATION WITH CONTROL

Article 26. Development of Infrastructure and Innovation Ecosystem

1. Develop an innovation ecosystem for smart cities based on a close collaboration model between the State, schools, research institutes, businesses, and communities.

2. Provincial People's Committees:

a) Shall be responsible for connecting and effectively utilizing the network of national and local innovation centers to form cooperation programs for developing smart cities, incubating startups, accelerating entrepreneurship, open innovation competitions, and connecting investment resources for smart city solutions;

b) Encourage the establishment and operation of creative cultural infrastructure including creative culture centers, digital libraries, digital exhibitions, contemporary performance spaces, interactive museums to co-create and validate smart city solutions in real-world contexts;

c) Issue regulations within their authority on integrating innovation into various fields of smart city infrastructure and services, financial mechanisms, and public-private partnerships to attract private and international investments in operating innovation centers and creative cultural infrastructure;

d) Coordinate the sharing of information and shared resources for the local innovation ecosystem and strengthen connections with national and international networks on innovation.

Article 27. General Provisions on Controlled Testing in Developing Smart Cities

1. A controlled testing mechanism shall be applied to test new technologies, services, and business models related to smart cities that are not yet regulated by law, based on laws on the digital technology industry, science and technology, and innovation, and the National Assembly's regulations on piloting special mechanisms and policies to break through the development of science and technology, innovation, and national digital transformation.

2. Smart city projects are encouraged to test technologies, products, and services according to the priority directions of the national strategy on science and technology, innovation, and digital transformation:

a) Technology testing: allowing the testing of breakthrough technologies such as artificial intelligence, unmanned vehicles in a controlled environment;

b) Business model testing: allowing the testing of new business models such as sharing economies, data-based services, or data platform commercialization;

c) Service testing: allowing the testing of new urban services, including proactive public services based on data analysis or multi-domain integrated applications.

3. Organizations and individuals participating in testing must have appropriate civil liability insurance commensurate with the scale and risk level of the testing activity.

4. Organizations and individuals may implement controlled testing for digital technology products and services serving the development of smart cities in accordance with laws on science, technology, and innovation and laws on the digital technology industry.

Chapter VI
DEVELOPMENT OF SMART BUILDINGS, URBAN AREAS, AND SERVICES, CONVENIENCES

Article 28. Application of information management systems for construction projects and cities in developing smart cities

1. Encourage businesses, organizations, and localities to apply building information modeling (BIM), city information modeling (CIM), and geographic information systems (GIS) in various stages of urban development.

2. Encourage organizations to implement pilot models integrating BIM, GIS, and the Internet of Things (IoT) applications to form digital replicas of cities serving the development of smart cities.

Article 29. Smart Buildings

1. A smart building is a construction project that applies advanced technology, solutions, management systems, and technical equipment during design, construction, and operation to meet the requirements stipulated in Clause 2 of this Article.

2. Smart buildings must satisfy the following basic requirements:

a) Meeting the requirements for environmentally friendly construction projects, energy efficiency, and climate change adaptation as prescribed by laws on construction and energy conservation and efficiency;

b) Possessing the capability to securely and seamlessly connect and share data with the common ecosystem of the city or smart urban area, and the Smart City Monitoring and Control Center;

c) Applying building information modeling (BIM) throughout the design, construction, and management operations phases;

d) Maintaining and ensuring a comfortable, secure, and safe living and working environment for users through smart building management systems (BMS);

đ) Ensuring information security, privacy protection, and personal data protection for users of the construction project.

Article 30. Smart Urban Areas and Technology Urban Areas

1. The State encourages investors to develop smart urban areas and technology urban areas.

2. Requirements for smart urban areas:

a) Meeting general requirements for urban areas as prescribed by law and specific requirements for smart urban development as stipulated in Article 4 of this Decree;

b) Meeting infrastructure readiness requirements for digital services, providing management solutions using information and communication technologies to collect, analyze, and integrate information for the provision of smart utilities and urban management;

c) Applying and maintaining solutions for energy conservation and efficiency, promptly warning of risks, and ensuring safety for residents;

d) Possessing the capability to securely and seamlessly connect and share data with the common ecosystem of the city;

đ) Implementing evaluations and certifications of smart urban areas according to regulations of the Ministry of Construction to independently and publicly assess compliance with the requirements stipulated in Clause 2 of this Article. The Ministry of Construction periodically reviews the certification of smart urban areas, issues guidelines for the evaluation framework of smart urban areas; the capacity framework of entities and organizations conducting evaluations and recognitions; and publicly announces evaluation and certification results.

3. Requirements for technology urban areas: In addition to meeting the requirements of smart urban areas, technology urban areas must focus on developing certain functions related to research and testing, production and product development, technology demonstrations, startup ecosystems, support for scientific and technological development, innovation, and digital transformation. The land area for residential purposes should not exceed 15% of the total land area with infrastructure in the technology urban area.

Article 31. Smart Urban Services and Amenities

1. Smart urban services and amenities must be designed with a user-centric approach, ensuring inclusivity, easy access, and usability for all groups, including the elderly, people with disabilities, and other vulnerable groups.

2. The application of artificial intelligence in public services that affect citizens' rights and interests must comply with principles of transparency, explainability, fairness, and human oversight as stipulated by law.

3. The State prioritizes and encourages research, development, and implementation of proactive public services personalized through data analysis to provide the best experience and most effective service to citizens and businesses; encourages the development of shared platforms, socialization, and public-private partnerships in investing in smart urban services and amenities.

4. The development of smart urban applications in environmental, waste collection and treatment, healthcare, education, urban security, cultural, tourism, entertainment, and other sectors shall be carried out according to current laws of each sector, guidelines prescribed by relevant ministries, and provisions of this Decree.

5. Organizations and management of smart urban logistics and cargo transportation apply technology to optimize cargo flows, reduce logistics costs, minimize impacts on traffic and the environment; encourage the construction of smart logistics centers, optimize delivery routes, implement intelligent delivery systems, and green energy-powered delivery vehicles.

6. Provincial smart city development plans must clearly define the list of basic and optional services prioritized for investment attraction and encouraged development at different stages.

Article 32. Integration of Applications and Services into the Smart Urban Ecosystem

1. Provincial People's Committees are responsible for developing open, shared platforms managed centrally and uniformly throughout the province, ready for integration by other systems to provide applications and services.

2. Provincial People's Committees issue regulations on management, operation, and integration of applications:

a) Clearly defining connection standards, interaction methods, data access and processing authority, and procedures for integrating third-party products and services;

b) Clearly delineating responsibilities of state agencies, businesses, and citizens in the development, provision, use, and feedback on services and amenities on shared platforms.

Chapter VII
MANAGEMENT AND OPERATION OF SMART CITIES

Article 33. Smart City Monitoring and Control Center

1. A smart city monitoring and control center is established at the provincial level to perform comprehensive, cross-sectoral supervision and control tasks of urban activities, suitable to specific conditions of each locality and may have branches.

2. Operations of the smart city monitoring and control center must be based on an integrated data platform, real-time connectivity with information systems of departments, and deep integration with the digital twin of the city.

3. Technical solutions for implementing the smart city monitoring and control center must ensure technological neutrality, readiness for integration of multiple business solutions, and future scalability; establish digital interaction channels and transparent data retrieval for citizen monitoring and evaluation.

4. The smart city monitoring and control center must have standard cross-sectoral operational scenarios; clearly define data thresholds triggering actions, coordination procedures, responsibilities of parties, and corresponding responses for regular, special, and emergency situations; directly connect to emergency response agencies.

5. Provincial People's Committees direct reviews of provincial smart city monitoring and control centers, upgrades, and integrations to ensure their functions and supervisory and control tasks.

6. The Ministry of Science and Technology guides models for implementing provincial smart city monitoring and control centers.

Article 34. Evaluation of Smart City Maturity Levels

1. The development of smart cities is classified and evaluated according to maturity levels, from the foundation-building level, system interconnection, to governance innovation and sustainable urban development, serving as a basis for reviewing, supplementing, and adjusting tasks and solutions for smart city development at each stage.

2. The Ministry of Construction shall take the lead in issuing the Index System and guidelines for evaluation criteria according to the maturity levels of smart cities; publicly announce the criteria, selection bases, and publish a list of units and organizations eligible to conduct evaluations, recognize, and periodically review compliance with conditions of these units and organizations.

3. Units and organizations recognizing smart city maturity levels:

a) Shall be responsible for the results of the evaluation and recognition;

b) Shall stipulate the components of the application dossier for evaluation and recognition; the steps for evaluating and recognizing smart city maturity levels;

c) Shall stipulate the costs for conducting evaluations and recognitions in accordance with the law;

d) Shall send the recognition results to the Ministry of Construction for monitoring and public announcement.

4. The Ministry of Construction shall organize the public announcement of the results of recognizing smart city maturity levels on the National Smart City Information Portal.

Article 35. Participation of Businesses and Citizens in Smart City Governance and Management

1. Businesses of all economic sectors are encouraged to participate in investing, researching, developing, and providing smart city products and services; cooperate with the government to implement pilot models.

2. Institutes, schools, research institutions shall participate in researching and proposing models and solutions; coordinate in training and enhancing human resources; participate in consulting and critiquing policies.

3. Citizens and communities have the right to be provided with information, contribute opinions, supervise, and benefit from the advantages of smart city development; they have the responsibility to use and provide feedback on the implementation level of service commitments, comply with regulations, and work together to build civilized urban communities.

Chapter VIII
RESOURCES AND INVESTMENT FOR SMART CITY DEVELOPMENT

Article 36. Mobilizing Capital for Smart City Development

1. Capital for smart city development is mobilized diversely from state budget, business capital, public-private partnership investment, and other lawful sources.

2. The State prioritizes allocating public investment funds for infrastructure projects, shared data, and large public interest projects that are difficult to recover capital.

Article 37. Principles for Determining Costs

1. The determination of costs and the organization of contractor selection shall be carried out in accordance with the laws on investment management, construction, bidding, and related specialized laws.

2. Costs for items, contents, scientific and technological products, innovative and digital transformation products that are complex and not included in the economic and technical normative lists issued by competent state agencies shall be determined based on market prices ensuring transparency and compliance with the cost determination principles specified in Clause 1 of this Article.

Article 38. Promoting Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Investment

1. The State encourages the implementation of smart city projects, particularly those involving the construction and operation of digital infrastructure, shared platforms, and smart city services through PPP methods in accordance with the law on public-private partnerships.

2. Encourages the application of flexible and creative PPP contracts, including but not limited to cooperation models for data sharing, platform operation, and provision of digital services, as well as long-term service leasing arrangements, with clear provisions regarding state ownership of data and revenue-sharing mechanisms from high-value-added data.

3. The State has mechanisms to support and create favorable conditions for PPP investors in the field of smart cities, including:

a) Providing and creating access to datasets managed by state agencies in accordance with the law for investors to research and develop new business models and services;

b) Prioritizing the use of state capital to invest in high-risk infrastructure components in comprehensive PPP projects.

4. For long-term information technology service contracts, contract terms must clearly specify that data ownership belongs to the state agency; the service provider is obligated to ensure the ability to extract and transfer all data to another platform when the contract ends, complying with established open data standards.

Article 39. Mechanism for Preferential Treatment and Support for Smart Urban Development

1. Organizations and individuals participating in activities related to smart urban development shall enjoy preferential policies and support at the highest level as prescribed by laws on science, technology, and innovation, and laws on digital industry.

2. The People's Committee of the province shall issue regulations on coordinated procedures to implement a single-window mechanism in reviewing and guiding organizations and individuals benefiting from preferential policies.

3. Encourage localities to formulate additional preferential policies and support from local budgets for startup projects, controlled experimental projects, and projects addressing urgent urban issues of the locality, in accordance with laws on digital industry and state budget laws.

4. Products, services, and models that have successfully completed controlled testing phases, evaluated as effective and scalable, shall be prioritized for consideration in public procurement activities or implemented under public-private partnership forms as prescribed by law.

Article 40. Development of Human Resources for Smart Urban Development

1. Developing high-quality human resources and enhancing digital awareness and skills for the entire society is a key and continuous task, which must align with general requirements for smart urban development as stipulated in Article 4 of this Decree.

2. Regarding the cadre and civil servant workforce:

a) Ministries, sectors, and localities, within their assigned functions and tasks, shall implement plans for regular training and capacity building on smart urban development, digital governance, data analysis, information security, innovative thinking, and other necessary skills;

b) The Provincial People's Councils, within their authority, shall prioritize budget allocation for training and capacity building as specified in point a of this clause;

c) The Ministry of Construction shall take the lead, in collaboration with the Ministry of Science and Technology and relevant ministries and sectors, to develop a framework program for training and capacity building on smart urban development.

3. Regarding citizens and businesses:

a) Local People's Committees at all levels shall organize and attract socialized resources and cooperation mechanisms to conduct programs promoting knowledge dissemination, raising awareness about the benefits, risks, and safe and effective use of smart urban services; prioritizing support for elderly people, persons with disabilities, and vulnerable groups to access digital infrastructure and services;

b) Develop digital communication tools, utilizing digital platforms and social networks, interactive platforms, organizing contests to foster a culture of innovation and creativity.

4. Development of specialized technical personnel:

a) The Provincial People's Committee shall develop training plans, collaborate with educational institutions, research institutes, and enterprises to develop priority human resource groups including policy management planners, technology professionals, service operation teams; forming a team of ICT architects, data center operators, digital city replica exploitation, big data analysis experts, ensuring the needs for deploying Smart Urban Command and Control Centers and key smart urban systems, meeting market demands and local smart urban development goals;

b) The Provincial People's Committee shall establish long-term mechanisms connecting the State, Schools, and Enterprises, diversifying funding sources for human resource development including designing scholarship programs, internships, joint research; encouraging the establishment of scholarship funds, research and innovation funds for the smart urban sector, aligning with each stage's development objectives of the locality.

5. The Provincial People's Committee shall set annual quantitative targets regarding the number of cadres trained and enhanced in digital skills, data analysis skills, and smart urban command and control center operations.

Article 41. International Cooperation for Smart City Development

1. Ministries, sectors, and localities shall promulgate regulations to encourage and promote international cooperation, information exchange, and technology transfer in smart city development; actively select and promote appropriate contents of cooperation in line with practical needs for smart city development at each stage, prioritizing the following groups of contents:

a) Technologies, standards, and specifications in smart city development;

b) Support for organizational resources to implement smart cities;

c) Improving institutional frameworks and legal provisions to encourage smart city development;

d) Advanced experiences and new trends in smart city development.

2. The Ministry of Construction shall participate in international cooperation activities on smart city development as prescribed.

3. Provincial People's Committees shall be responsible for and specify in detail the procedures for organizing the review, evaluation, and acceptance of international technology transfer models into local practices.

Chapter IX
IMPLEMENTATION

Article 42. Coordination Mechanism for Smart City Development

1. In cases where it is necessary to direct and implement national orientations for smart city development, the Prime Minister shall establish an Inter-Ministerial Organization to coordinate the activities of smart city development of provinces and cities and central ministries and sectors.

2. Provincial People's Committees shall decide to establish and define the functions, tasks, powers, and operational regulations of the Provincial Smart City Development Coordination Council, which is under the provincial authority in charge of science and technology development, innovation, and digital transformation, based on reorganizing this authority and other inter-ministerial organizations related to smart city development (if any); invite experts, business representatives, institutes, and schools to provide advisory services to the Coordination Council.

3. The Chairman of the Provincial Smart City Development Coordination Council shall assign the Department of Construction or another specialized provincial agency to serve as the permanent body of the Council; the permanent body of the Council shall stipulate the documentation for soliciting opinions, the time frame for reaching consensus on the organization, issuance, and adjustment of regional smart city development plans; decide on the establishment of expert teams to assist the Council.

4. The operating expenses of the Provincial Smart City Development Coordination Council shall be allocated within the annual budget estimates of agencies and units that dispatch officials to the Council.

Article 43. National Smart City Information Portal

1. The National Smart City Information Portal:

a) Serves as the central point for providing information, standards, specifications, and monitoring activities in smart city development; connects and shares information with other information systems to form a database on cities;

b) Integrates a dedicated section for developers, featuring the function of publishing a list of open application programming interfaces (APIs), open data, technical documents, and tools necessary to support the community in developing applications;

c) Provides online services, connecting seamlessly with other government information systems, including: registering for controlled trial programs; providing information and submitting registration forms for financial support programs related to science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation in smart cities; receiving public comments, suggestions, and contributions to smart city development activities;

d) Integrates a monitoring dashboard, publicly displaying and regularly updating key performance indicators (KPIs) in the national orientation for smart city development and the maturity level assessment results of smart cities in localities;

đ) Other functions serving state management of smart cities.

2. Smart city projects funded by state capital shall be required to register and publicly disclose project information, contractors, contract values, data models, and open APIs on the Information Portal.

3. The Ministry of Construction shall take the lead and coordinate with relevant ministries and sectors to manage and operate the Information Portal.

Article 44. Responsibilities of Ministries and Sectors

1. The Ministry of Construction is the lead agency responsible to the Government for state management over the development of smart cities; it shall take the lead in formulating national orientations for the development of smart cities; guide the integration of smart cities into planning and technical infrastructure; take the lead and guide standards and criteria for the development of smart cities within its authority.

2. The Ministry of Science and Technology is responsible to the Government for state management over science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation in smart cities; it shall take the lead in building systems of standards and criteria, ICT architectural frameworks; guide digital copies and controlled testing mechanisms.

3. The Ministry of Public Security is responsible for ensuring national security, social order and safety, cybersecurity, and data protection in the development of smart cities.

4. Other ministries and sectors within their functions and tasks have the responsibility to integrate contents related to the development of smart cities and coordinate with relevant agencies.

Article 45. Responsibilities of Local Authorities

1. Provincial People's Committee:

a) Bear overall responsibility for organizing and implementing the development of smart cities within their jurisdiction;

b) Develop, approve, and implement local smart city development programs, ensuring they align with national orientations and regulations stipulated in this Decree;

c) Review, inspect, and take measures to ensure compliance with technical standards, safety and information security regulations, and the implementation of responsibilities for providing interlinked data as prescribed.

2. People's Committees at all levels, within their authority, shall issue plans for the development of smart cities; direct the construction of shared infrastructure and databases and provision of smart services; organize pilot mechanisms and investment incentives within their jurisdiction.

Chapter X

IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

Article 46. Transitional Provisions

1. Smart city development programs and plans approved before the effective date of this Decree continue to be implemented. The competent authority shall review them, if necessary, adjust or establish new ones in accordance with the provisions of this Decree according to an appropriate timeline without affecting the progress and effectiveness of the already issued programs and plans.

2. Smart urban areas that have completed investment and construction before the effective date of this Decree are not required to obtain certification as smart urban areas as stipulated in this Decree.

Article 47. Effectiveness and Responsibility for Implementation

1. This Decree takes effect from the date of issuance.

2. Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of government-affiliated agencies, Chairpersons of provincial and centrally-administered city People's Committees, and related organizations and individuals are responsible for implementing this Decree.