Integrating Property Rights Approach and Urban Redevelopment in Transitional Economy

Since 1993, HCMC urban center has been seeing bloom in high-rise building, together with the change in property rights. When the private property rights is officially recognized in real estate, urban land developments booms. This study aims to gain a better understanding on the relation between the privatization of property rights process and HCMC real estate development with combined qualitative and quantitative approaches. Three case studies will be used for relating, analyzing and querying non-graphical data to see why and how this property rights reform can contribute to a deeper transition toward urban land. The result show that rapid center transformation since 1993 has been significantly facilitated by the formal institution of land development right. The decentralization land use right unlocks the potential value of the land in the central city; therefore the government needs to pay more attention to the right of the existing land users during the gradual transition. However, the apprehensive institution of land development right induces swift land redevelopment. These results have implications for policies aiming at alleviating prodigal urban land in Vietnam. Then my analysis suggests that private land ownership is the goal for further institution change.