From the Ground Up: How Vinhomes Is Building Cities to Global Smart-City Standards
HANOI, VIETNAM - Media OutReach Newswire - 20 August 2026 - As global investors increasingly evaluate cities through measurable resilience, governance and sustainability, Vinhomes is taking an uncommon approach, embedding internationally recognized smart-city standards into large-scale developments from day one.
Situated across 2,870 hectares, Vinhomes Green Paradise occupies one of Vietnam's most distinctive ecological settings, bordered by the Can Gio Sea and the UNESCO-recognized Can Gio Mangrove Biosphere Reserve.
Through landmark partnerships with global certification bodies, the company is seeking to demonstrate that future cities can be designed not only to be greener and smarter, but also to perform against internationally benchmarked metrics.
When Data Becomes the New Currency of Cities
In the global competition for capital, talent and innovation, cities are increasingly judged by their ability to generate measurable outcomes. Investors today want evidence that infrastructure is resilient, mobility is efficient, governance is transparent and environmental commitments translate into long-term economic value.
This transition is reshaping how cities are planned. According to the OECD, data governance has become a foundational element of smart-city development, while internationally standardized indicators such as ISO 37122 enable cities to measure performance consistently, benchmark against global peers and inform better policy and investment decisions1.
Meanwhile, the World Council on City Data (WCCD) says that ISO-standardized, independently verified and globally comparable city data enables cities to make better planning and investment decisions, benchmark performance against global peers, and attract investment through greater transparency and comparability2.
That helps explain why international standards such as ISO 37122 are attracting growing attention. Developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the framework establishes globally comparable indicators for evaluating smart-city performance across mobility, energy, environmental management, digital infrastructure, governance, public safety and innovation. ISO 37122 measures how effectively an urban system performs as an integrated whole.
For governments and developers alike, the implication is significant, future cities will increasingly be judged by what they can measure and verify.
Few developers have attempted to integrate those standards before a city is even built. Yet that is precisely the path Vinhomes is pursuing. Instead of treating certification as a post-construction credential, the company is embedding internationally recognized smart-city metrics into the planning process itself, a strategy that could place Vietnam among a new generation of countries helping redefine how future cities are conceived, governed and evaluated.
Embedding Global Standards from the Ground Up
On March 3, 2026, Vinhomes Green Paradise - Can Gio officially launched its Smart City Certification Project in partnership with Korea Management Association Consulting (KMAC), the WCCD and the Standardized Urban Metrics (SUM) initiative.
The collaboration aims to achieve the WCCD/SUM ISO 37122 Custom Smart City Certification, a customized framework derived from ISO 37122 and specifically developed for large-scale greenfield urban projects.
Under the partnership, KMAC provides strategic consulting and technical advisory services to align the project's development with internationally recognized indicators. WCCD and SUM are responsible for developing the customized indicator framework, supervising the assessment process and overseeing certification, with an Interim Certification targeted within 2026 before full certification in subsequent phases.
The approach reflects a broader evolution in urban development. Historically, many cities have sought certification only after major infrastructure systems were completed. Greenfield developments, however, offer a different opportunity: sustainability, digital governance and performance measurement can be integrated into planning from the outset rather than retrofitted later.
"This project symbolizes a landmark collaboration between Vietnam and Korea in advancing global smart city standards," said Mr. Chulse Oh, Head of AX Group at KMAC. "By combining Vinhomes' visionary urban development with KMAC's consulting expertise and WCCD/SUM's global certification framework, Vinhomes Green Paradise will become a model for data-driven governance, sustainability, and smart innovation."
Situated across 2,870 hectares, Vinhomes Green Paradise occupies one of Vietnam's most distinctive ecological settings, bordered by the Can Gio Sea and the UNESCO-recognized Can Gio Mangrove Biosphere Reserve spanning more than 75,000 hectares. The project features 121 kilometers of coastline while maintaining a construction density of just 16%, reflecting a development strategy that prioritizes environmental resilience alongside long-term urban growth.
Its ESG++ framework expands upon traditional Environmental, Social and Governance principles by adding two additional pillars - Regeneration and Climate Adaptation - placing ecosystem restoration alongside economic development.
Once fully operational, the development targets 100% clean electricity generated from offshore wind, solar power and battery storage systems. Transportation is envisioned as an entirely net-zero ecosystem supported by electric cars, buses, motorcycles, bicycles, boats and a high-speed railway connecting directly with central Ho Chi Minh City.
The project also places biodiversity at the center of its long-term strategy. A dedicated Forest Regeneration and Climate Adaptation Fund has been established to support research, ecological restoration and mangrove conservation, reinforcing Can Gio's role as a natural coastal defense system while strengthening climate resilience for future generations.
Dr. Patricia McCarney, President and CEO of WCCD and Director of SUM, believes the initiative reflects Vietnam's growing role in global urban innovation.
"Vietnam is emerging as one of the most promising leaders in smart and sustainable city development. The Vinhomes Green Paradise is a remarkable new development in Vietnam that deserves global recognition," she said. "We are honored to partner with Vinhomes and KMAC to ensure that Vinhomes Green Paradise achieves global recognition through our WCCD/SUM ISO 37122 Custom Certification."
Vinhomes Green Paradise has also become the first official participant in the "7 Wonders of the Future Cities" campaign initiated by New7Wonders, further reinforcing its aspiration to become a benchmark for AI-ready, data-driven and environmentally resilient urban development.
A Broader Vision for Vietnam's Next Generation of Cities
Less than two months after launching the Can Gio certification initiative, Vinhomes unveiled another flagship development that broadens the company's long-term urban vision.
On April 25, 2026, the developer officially introduced Vinhomes Global Gate Ha Long, a coastal mega-city spanning more than 6,200 hectares in Quang Ninh Province. Positioned as a "New Hanoi" beside the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ha Long Bay, the project is designed as a fully integrated urban ecosystem where residents can live, work, study, receive healthcare and enjoy world-class leisure amenities within a single destination.
More than 2,500 hectares are dedicated to green landscapes, water systems and mangrove forests, including 680 hectares of naturally filtered sea, approximately 200 kilometers of white-sand coastline and more than 660 hectares of Globe Ha Long Forest Park. Together, these natural assets form the foundation of an ESG++ ecosystem centered on regeneration, biodiversity and long-term environmental resilience.
Looking beyond today's internationally recognized benchmarks, the development is envisioned as the world's first ESG-oriented city progressing toward the emerging ISO 37125 standard for sustainable urban development.
If Green Paradise Can Gio demonstrates how internationally verified smart-city metrics can be embedded into a greenfield development, Global Gate Ha Long expands that concept into a broader model of human-centered urbanism.
Taken together, the two developments reveal an increasingly distinctive strategy. Rather than viewing international standards as external certifications to pursue after construction, Vinhomes is integrating them into the earliest stages of planning, governance and infrastructure design.
By building around those standards from the outset, Vinhomes is making the case that Vietnam can help shape the next chapter of global smart-city development, one where data, governance and environmental resilience become as important as architecture itself./.
Sources:
- https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/smart-city-data-governance_e57ce301-en/full-report/component-4.html
- https://www.dataforcities.org/about-wccd
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