The influence of tourism on the development of urban space: Comparison in Hanoi, Danang, and Ho Chi Minh City

Abstract

Abstract Tourism is not only a driving force behind the development of many urban areas in Vietnam, but also a cause of accelerating problems such as tourist overload and great pressure on infrastructure. The study’s purpose is to evaluate the impact that tourism has had on the development of metropolitan regions in Hanoi, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City, which are the three most popular tourist destinations in Vietnam. These effects are measured through two indicators: land consumption and land use efficiency (LUE). Research data are collected through two main sources: Vietnam General Statistics Office (with population and tourist data) and JAXA (with land use data). These data were collected and compared over two periods: 2010–2015 and 2015–2020. Research results have shown that consumption is increasing in all three localities, and all three cities are expanding spatially. In particular, the period 2015–2020 shows a higher level of land consumption than the period 2010–2015. However, LUE witnessed the opposite result when the period 2010–2015 showed more efficiency than the later period. Thus, all three urban areas tend to grow more if we count the amount of tourists as residents in that locality over time. This impedes future sustainable tourism development.