HCMC – HCMC is planning to allow the paid use of sidewalks for commercial purposes such as vending goods or parking if these business activities leave a space of at least 1.5 meters wide for pedestrians.

The plan is part of a draft replacing Decision 74, dated 2008, on the management and use of sidewalks. The Department of Transport has sent the draft to the districts and the HCMC Department of Justice for consideration.

The Department of Transport has supplemented multiple cases for the paid temporary use of sidewalks, including selling goods, providing services, supplying utilities for public transport, setting up advertising points, holding cultural events, offering parking services and storing construction materials.

The draft also includes three cases for the paid use of part of roadsides, such as organizing cultural events with paid parking services for eventgoers, storing household waste from environmental sanitation service providers and establishing paid parking slots.

Encroaching on sidewalks and parts of roads has been a challenge in HCMC for years. Street food stalls are encroaching on many sidewalks, leaving little space for pedestrians, the local media reported.