The Da Nang City People's Committee recently issued a plan to tighten urban order management, primarily prohibiting the use of sidewalks for business activities. Placing mobile signs, billboards, ornamental potted plants, decorative statues, or other items on sidewalks and roadways is strictly forbidden.

Sidewalks on Le Duan Street, a specialized commercial street in the city center, are often encroached upon for business, with motorbikes blocking the entire pathway. Photo: Nguyen Dong

The city will dismantle illegal makeshift markets. Motorbikes and bicycles on sidewalks must be neatly arranged and aligned. Stopping, parking, and picking up or dropping off passengers must occur in designated areas, without obstructing traffic. The city will prohibit hanging, pasting, or painting advertisements on utility poles, signal posts, trees, and other infrastructure.

The plan aims for 100% of communes and wards to ensure clear sidewalks, a clean environment, and tidy landscapes. Residents are encouraged to change old habits, improve their quality of life, and enhance the urban appearance to attract tourists and boost tourism and service activities.

To ensure the plan's feasibility, the city proposes marking sidewalk boundaries based on width. Accordingly: sidewalks less than 4 m wide will designate 1,5 m next to residential homes for pedestrians, with the remaining section (if suitable) for motorbikes; sidewalks from 4 m to less than 6 m wide will allocate about 2 m next to the curb for motorbikes, with the rest for pedestrians; and sidewalks 6 m or wider will designate about 3,5 m next to the curb for motorbikes, with the rest for pedestrians.

If the pedestrian sidewalk is obstructed by infrastructure (trees, transformers, utility poles), the city allows flexible adjustment of the demarcation lines for the pedestrian area, ensuring a continuous and convenient pathway.

Sidewalks on Ong Ich Khiem Street, from Le Duan to Hung Vuong, are often encroached upon for business, leaving no space for pedestrians, photographed on the afternoon of 22/3. Photo: Nguyen Dong

Sidewalks on Ong Ich Khiem Street, from Le Duan to Hung Vuong, are often encroached upon for business, leaving no space for pedestrians, photographed on the afternoon of 22/3. Photo: Nguyen Dong

Sidewalks on Ong Ich Khiem Street, from Le Duan to Hung Vuong, are often encroached upon for business, leaving no space for pedestrians, photographed on the afternoon of 22/3. Photo: Nguyen Dong

The campaign to restore sidewalk order will be implemented synchronously according to a specific roadmap, completing in Quarter I/2026. From mid-March to 31/3, the city will focus on public awareness and encouraging residents to voluntarily remove violations. Communes and wards will organize "launching ceremonies," review and paint sidewalk demarcation lines, and reorganize signage systems and trash collection points.

During giai doan 2 (until 30/4), the city will conduct comprehensive inspections and address violations. Units will mobilize maximum resources and vehicles to thoroughly handle intentional violations. In giai doan 3, units will maintain regular patrols and inspections to prevent and combat re-encroachment, ensuring sustainable urban order.

This plan directly impacts thousands of street-front businesses, small traders in spontaneous market areas, and residents accustomed to using sidewalks as personal living spaces.

A section of the Le Loi Street sidewalk used for parking oto, photographed on the morning of 28/1. Photo: Nguyen Dong

To avoid abandoning efforts halfway, Da Nang is implementing "six clear principles": clear personnel, clear tasks, clear timelines, clear responsibilities, clear outcomes, and clear authorities. The city will promote technology application, using data from the Intelligent Operation Center (IOC) and the 1022 Call Center to receive feedback and enforce penalties.

The chairpersons of the People's Committees of communes and wards must bear full responsibility before the City People's Committee if sidewalk encroachment violations persist without thorough resolution measures. The city will also strictly deal with officials who are not decisive enough or who interfere with the enforcement process by functional forces.

Nguyen Dong