On June 30, 2026, the Ministry of Construction issued Circular No. 46/2026/TT-BXD together with the National Technical Regulation QCVN 01:2026/BXD. The new regulation officially takes effect on January 1, 2027, replacing QCVN 01:2021/BXD, which has been used by the planning industry for nearly six years.
For developers preparing project pipelines for the 2026-2028 period, this is more than a routine technical update. The name of the regulation has changed, its scope has been expanded, and the planning approach has clearly shifted toward sustainability, climate resilience, and infrastructure capacity control. Interestingly, when the figures are compared directly, most of the controls on building bulk and development intensity remain unchanged. This article examines both layers – the changes in planning philosophy and the changes in numerical standards – from a designer’s perspective.
A Quick Look: The 3 Biggest Changes
- New name and expanded scope: from “Construction Planning” (2021) to “Urban and Rural Planning” (2026), bringing rural areas into a unified regulatory framework for the first time.
- Alignment with the new law: the 2026 regulation concretizes the 2024 Law on Urban and Rural Planning, replacing the previous legal framework on which the 2021 regulation was based.
- Higher standards for ecology and infrastructure: green corridors, drainage control, mandatory parking studies, underground space, and requirements not to exceed the capacity of shared infrastructure are now clearly incorporated into planning requirements.
1. From “Construction Planning” to “Urban and Rural Planning”
The most obvious change can be seen in the name itself. QCVN 01:2021/BXD is the regulation on Construction Planning. QCVN 01:2026/BXD is the regulation on Urban and Rural Planning.
This is more than a change in terminology. The 2026 version applies to all organizations and individuals involved in urban and rural planning activities throughout Vietnam, bringing rural areas and functional zones under the same regulatory framework as urban areas. As development increasingly expands toward suburban areas and satellite cities, a regulatory framework covering the entire urban-rural transition provides a clearer legal basis for large-scale suburban urban developments, rather than leaving them between separate regulatory systems.
2. New Legal Basis: Alignment with the Law on Urban and Rural Planning
QCVN 01:2021/BXD was issued under Circular No. 01/2021/TT-BXD and was based on the previous planning legal framework. QCVN 01:2026/BXD was introduced to concretize the 2024 Law on Urban and Rural Planning, which consolidates and replaces the previous system that separated urban planning from rural planning.
The practical implication for developers is that planning documents prepared under the new regulation will be more closely tied to the planning hierarchy and procedures established by the current law. Projects that are still in the planning stage should be reviewed carefully to avoid designing under the old framework and then having to revise the planning proposal after the new regulation takes effect.
3. New Planning Principles
A closer reading of the spatial organization requirements for general and detailed planning in the 2026 version reveals a number of provisions that have been upgraded or clarified compared with the previous regulation:
Green corridors and ecological buffer zones. General plans must establish and strictly maintain ecological buffer zones and green corridors between urban clusters to prevent uncontrolled urban sprawl. This provides a regional-scale tool for controlling development intensity and limiting the uncontrolled merging of urban areas.
Drainage and flood control. General plans must establish the overall ground elevation framework and primary drainage directions for the entire planning area. At the detailed planning level, site elevations must coordinate with adjacent existing areas and must not negatively alter natural drainage patterns. The regulation also allows the use of green buffer corridors to reduce environmental impacts and localized flooding. In the context of increasingly severe climate change and urban flooding, this should be viewed by developers as an opportunity to create value rather than merely as a regulatory constraint.
Parking studies become mandatory. Detailed planning must include a parking study covering demand calculations and the selection of parking solutions, whether at grade, above ground, or underground, across public, semi-public, and private spaces. For mixed-use developments and commercial centers, parking should be addressed from the planning stage rather than being dealt with later during technical design.
Underground space becomes a controlled planning parameter. The 2026 version identifies underground space as one of the quantitative technical parameters of detailed planning, alongside building coverage ratio, floor area ratio, building height, road boundary lines, and setbacks.
Urban design is integrated into detailed planning. Detailed plans must include urban design content, including the identification of dominant architectural forms, colors, and exterior materials to create visual consistency and local identity. This increases the role of design consultants from the early planning stage.
Priority given to energy efficiency. Street layouts and building clusters must respond appropriately to climate and terrain and prioritize energy-efficient solutions for areas with high concentrations of people, such as residential areas, schools, hospitals, public squares, and major roads.
Shared infrastructure capacity must not be exceeded. Detailed planning must comply with the population targets and technical infrastructure framework established by higher-level plans and must not overload shared infrastructure systems. This principle places tighter controls on increasing density or population beyond the actual capacity of existing infrastructure.
4. What About the Numbers? Which Standards Stay the Same and Which Change?
This is the section of greatest interest to many developers and consultants. When the key standards in the two regulations are compared directly, the picture is somewhat surprising: most numerical controls on building bulk remain virtually unchanged. The major changes are concentrated in green space requirements and floor area ratio provisions.
| Key Standard | Conclusion |
|---|---|
| Net building coverage ratio – detached houses | Completely unchanged |
| Net building coverage ratio – apartments and mixed-use apartment buildings | Completely unchanged |
| Gross building coverage ratio | Unchanged |
| Floor area ratio | Existing thresholds retained, with a new exception allowing up to 18 times |
| Public green space | Major change – the classification by urban type is removed and replaced by a common baseline |
| Average residential land area per person | Reclassified according to urban structure |
| Green planting ratio within a plot | Same levels, with the scope of application expanded |
4.1. Maximum Net Building Coverage Ratio – Detached Housing Plots
(QCVN 01:2021 Table 2.7 → QCVN 01:2026 Table 8)
| Plot area (m²/unit) | ≤ 90 | 100 | 200 | 300 | 500 | ≥ 1,000 |
| Maximum ratio – 2021 (%) | 100 | 90 | 70 | 60 | 50 | 40 |
| Maximum ratio – 2026 (%) | 100 | 90 | 70 | 60 | 50 | 40 |
Unchanged. The floor area ratio for detached housing plots must not exceed 7 times in either version.
4.2. Maximum Net Building Coverage Ratio – Apartments and Mixed-Use Apartment Buildings
(QCVN 01:2021 Table 2.8 → QCVN 01:2026 Table 9). Unit: %, based on building height and plot area. The values in the two versions are identical.
| Building height (m) | ≤ 3,000 m² | 10,000 m² | 18,000 m² | ≥ 35,000 m² |
| ≤ 16 | 75 | 65 | 63 | 60 |
| 19 | 75 | 60 | 58 | 55 |
| 22 | 75 | 57 | 55 | 52 |
| 25 | 75 | 53 | 51 | 48 |
| 28 | 75 | 50 | 48 | 45 |
| 31 | 75 | 48 | 46 | 43 |
| 34 | 75 | 46 | 44 | 41 |
| 37 | 75 | 44 | 42 | 39 |
| 40 | 75 | 43 | 41 | 38 |
| 43 | 75 | 42 | 40 | 37 |
| 46 | 75 | 41 | 39 | 36 |
| > 46 | 75 | 40 | 38 | 35 |
Unchanged. The table for service and mixed-use plots without residential functions (2026 Table 10, ranging from 80% to 40%-65%) also remains unchanged. Both versions allow interpolation between the two nearest values.
4.3. Floor Area Ratio (FAR)
| Case | QCVN 01:2021 | QCVN 01:2026 |
| Detached housing plot | ≤ 7 times | ≤ 7 times |
| Buildings 46 m or higher | ≤ 13 times | ≤ 13 times |
| High-rise buildings in areas encouraged for high-rise development | No provision | ≤ 18 times (subject to conditions) |
The key new provision is an exception for landmark buildings in areas where high-rise development is encouraged, allowing a FAR of up to 18 times, provided that all of the following conditions are met: the plot is at least 3.5 hectares, the net building coverage ratio does not exceed 35%, sufficient parking spaces and green areas are provided within the site, traffic, infrastructure, and population impacts are controlled, and the proposal complies with local regulations.
This creates new development potential for major high-rise projects, but it comes with strict technical safeguards.
4.4. Public Green Space – The Biggest Change
QCVN 01:2021 (Table 2.5) specifies minimum standards according to urban classification:
| Urban type | Minimum standard (m²/person) |
| Special | 7 |
| Type I and II | 6 |
| Type III and IV | 5 |
| Type V | 4 |
QCVN 01:2026 no longer classifies the requirement by urban type. Instead, it introduces a common baseline:
| Level | Minimum standard (m²/person) |
| Regional level (excluding residential units) | 5 – areas undergoing renovation or redevelopment may reduce this, but not below 3.5 |
| Residential unit level | 2 (unchanged from 2021) |
The implication for developers is significant: for special cities and Type I-II cities, the minimum regional-level public green space standard effectively decreases from 7 and 6 m²/person respectively to a common baseline of 5 m²/person. Areas undergoing redevelopment may reduce the figure further to 3.5 m²/person.
This provides greater flexibility for projects in dense urban cores where land is scarce. However, the 2 m²/person requirement at the residential unit level remains in place to ensure access to greenery close to residential areas.
The 2026 version also requires every new residential unit to have at least one park of ≥ 5,000 m² or two parks of ≥ 2,500 m² each.
4.5. Average Residential Land Area per Person for the Entire General Planning Area
QCVN 01:2021 (Table 2.1):
| Urban type | Average (m²/person) | Density (persons/ha) |
| Type I-II | 45-60 | 220-165 |
| Type III-IV | 50-80 | 200-125 |
| Type V | 70-100 | 145-100 |
QCVN 01:2026 (Table 3):
| Urban type | Average (m²/person) | Density (persons/ha) |
| Central areas of special and Type I cities | 45-60 | 220-165 |
| Type II | 50-70 | 200-145 |
| Type III | 60-100 | 165-100 |
The difference is that the 2026 version reorganizes the classification according to central and peripheral urban structures rather than grouping urban types together. It also no longer separately identifies Types IV and V, consistent with the expansion of the regulation to include rural planning.
The maximum upper limit under both versions remains 100 m²/person.
4.6. Maximum Gross Building Coverage Ratio
| Area type | QCVN 01:2021 | QCVN 01:2026 |
| Residential area / residential unit | 60% | 60% |
| Integrated tourism and resort area | 25% | 25% |
| Park area | 5% | 5% |
| Themed park area | 25% | 25% |
| Specialized green space and environmental protection area | ≤ 5% | ≤ 5% |
| Golf course | Included within specialized green space (≤ 5%) | 5% (separate category) |
Essentially unchanged, with golf courses separated into their own category.
4.7. Minimum Green Planting Ratio Within a Plot
(QCVN 01:2021 Table 2.11 → QCVN 01:2026 Table 11)
| Plot type | 2021 | 2026 |
| Apartment buildings, mixed-use apartment buildings, and service buildings 16 m or higher | 20% | 20% |
| Service, educational, healthcare, and cultural buildings | 30% | 30% |
| Industrial production and warehouse facilities | 20% | 20% |
The levels remain unchanged, while the categories and scope of application are expressed more broadly and clearly in the 2026 version.
5. What Should Developers Do Now?
The regulation takes effect on January 1, 2027, but the transition period is precisely when action should be taken:
- Don’t worry too much about building bulk, but review green space and FAR requirements. Since net and gross building coverage ratios remain unchanged, the overall massing of projects currently under development will largely remain valid. The main areas to review are regional-level public green space requirements and opportunities to increase FAR for landmark buildings.
- Review planning documents currently under preparation against the planning hierarchy established by the new law, particularly projects expected to be submitted for approval around the 2027 effective date.
- Incorporate drainage, green corridors, and parking into the planning concept from the beginning, rather than addressing them at later stages. This not only ensures regulatory compliance but can also improve quality of life and commercial value.
- Recalculate density and population based on actual infrastructure capacity, because the principle of not exceeding shared infrastructure capacity directly affects how development potential can be utilized.
- Treat green planning as a competitive advantage. As supply increases and the market becomes more selective, a project planned properly around sustainability will be more convincing both to reviewing authorities and prospective buyers.
Conclusion
QCVN 01:2026/BXD is not simply a change in the year stated in the regulation. In terms of planning philosophy, it represents a shift from “construction planning” toward integrated “urban and rural planning”, placing ecology, climate resilience, and infrastructure capacity control at the center of the planning process.
In terms of numerical standards, the regulation deliberately maintains stability in key building bulk controls to avoid disrupting the market, while adjusting public green space requirements and creating additional FAR potential for major high-rise developments.
For developers, understanding the new framework early and designing accordingly from the outset can significantly reduce future revision costs while creating projects with greater real value and long-term sustainability.
Luminar Architects supports developers in planning consultancy and design for large-scale real estate projects, with solutions updated to the latest regulatory and legal frameworks. Need to discuss your specific project? Contact our team.
References:
- Full text of QCVN 01:2026/BXD issued together with Circular No. 46/2026/TT-BXD by the Ministry of Construction (June 30, 2026) – figures cited directly from Tables 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, and 11.
- QCVN 01:2021/BXD issued together with Circular No. 01/2021/TT-BXD – figures cited from Tables 2.1, 2.5, 2.7, 2.8, and 2.11.
This article is intended as a general summary and analysis of regulatory information and does not replace consultation of the full regulation when preparing formal planning documents. For plots or building heights falling outside the values shown in the tables, both regulations allow interpolation.
