In Summary

  • Swinburne leads Australia-ASEAN Council Grant with Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
  • Workshop hosted by Ho Chi Minh City Department of Planning and Architecture
  • Supporting smart city approaches in Australia and Vietnam

Swinburne School of Design academics, Professor of Urban Design Marcus White, Associate Professor in Interaction Design Jeni Paay and lecturer in Interior Architecture Dr Quoc Phuong Dinh, participated in the recent Smart City Development: Experiences from Vietnam and Australia workshop.

Hosted by the Department of Planning and Architecture, Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, the workshop was opened by Ms Julianne Cowley, Australian Consul-General in Ho Chi Minh City. Mr Hoang Tung, Vice-Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Planning and Architecture made an opening speech.

The workshop was the first in a Knowledge Exchange for Smart City: Australia and Vietnam series supported by an Australia-ASEAN Council grant from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Swinburne, represented by Dr Quoc Phuong Dinh, leads the grant. The University of Melbourne, represented by Dr Hyungmin Kim, is an Australian partner institution. The project is supported by the Swinburne Smart Cities Institute and Centre for Design Innovation.

major high-rise buildings, Ho Chi Minh City CBD‌Major high-rise buildings, Ho Chi Minh City CBD, image by Quoc Phuong Dinh.

“The workshop attracted participants from government departments, urban planning and design industries, universities and research institutions for smart cities in Vietnam. Expert presentations and group workshops encouraged sharing of knowledge about the roles of local infrastructure, technology and community engagement and understanding about smart cities,” says Smart City workshop project coordinator, Dr Quoc Phuong Dinh, lecturer in Interior Architecture at the Swinburne School of Design.

Professor White and Associate Professor Paay shared their first-hand experiences in Designing with Temporal-Spatial Data for Smarter Cities and Experiences from Smart City Projects at Swinburne, and chaired group discussions about smart city development. They visited smart city sites in Ho Chi Minh City, including the new Centre for Management of Traffic Systems, the Saigon River Tunnel Network, FPT Software headquarters and the Landmark 81 building designed by British architectural firm, Atkins - the tallest building in Vietnam, recently completed with smart building facilities and services.

visiting the Centre for Management of Traffic System and Tunnel Network, Ho Chi Minh CityVisiting the Centre for Management of Traffic System and Tunnel Network, Ho Chi Minh City, image by Quoc Phuong Dinh.

“The Ho Chi Minh City workshop, and the Melbourne workshop planned for November at Swinburne, are supporting bilateral understanding of smart city approaches in Australia and Vietnam. The workshops and site visits encourage experts from Vietnam and Australia to share and exchange experiences and lessons learnt from current planning and policy approaches to smart cities in both countries,” says Dr Quoc Phuong Dinh.

at the Central for Management of Traffic System and Tunnel Network, Ho Chi Minh CityAt the Central for Management of Traffic System and Tunnel Network, Ho Chi Minh City, image by Quoc Phuong Dinh.

“The workshop was the first formal and professional activity highlighting ongoing collaboration between Swinburne and the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Planning and Architecture. Experiences and questions on smart city development presented in the workshop bring a mutual understanding of smart city projects currently undertaken at both institutions. This understanding will be furthered in the up-coming Melbourne workshop with potential collaborative projects in the near future,” says Dr Nguyen Thanh Nha, Director General, Ho Chi Minh City Department of Planning and Architecture.

Read more news on design at Swinburne