Future Southeast Asia News #266

Largest urban parks in Southeast Asia, Tan Cang station review on the HCMC Metro, Changi Airport T5 breaks ground, and the audacious Vietnam high-speed railway proposal.

Author

James Clark
May 21, 2025

The Future Southeast Asia Newsletter features transport and urban development news in Southeast Asia, edited by James Clark.

Future Southeast Asia articles

What are the largest urban parks in Southeast Asia? I couldn't find a list, so I made one.

I was hoping AI would be useful to make the list, but it only knows what the internet already knows, which isn't much. I have compiled this list through search results, personal knowledge of the region, and scrolling around on maps looking for green spots. I've no doubt missed some, so it is still a work in progress. I tried to find the biggest parks first, and I have been randomly adding smaller parks to the list.

The article lists the conditions that qualify an urban park, and I have discovered some grey areas that make ranking difficult. For example, some parks don't list lakes in the park in the total size (no wonder AI got confused). Some parks also have different quoted sizes from official sources, so this list is a general guide.

In what will surprise no one, Singapore has 5 top 10 spots.

(Cover photo is Gardens by the Bay in Singapore.)

A review of the pedestrian access and interchange infrastructure of Tan Cang Station on Line 1 of the HCMC Metro, and avoiding the interchange mistakes of the Hanoi Metro.

Recent articles

Da Lat (Central Highlands of Vietnam), featuring a new international hotel, the greenhouse problem, the old Governor’s Palace, build too big and ask for permission later, an old military airport that would make a great park, international flights, and the proposed railway restoration.

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News

🇰🇭 Cambodia

"The uncertainty surrounding the future of Phnom Penh International Airport has been resolved, with Prime Minister Hun Manet confirming that neither he nor former Prime Minister Hun Sen ever planned to sell the airport to private companies. Instead, it will remain state property and serve the public interest. "

"Move comes despite bilateral tariff and aid funding tensions."

• Cambodia proposes Japanese SEZ investment [The Phnom Penh Post]

🇮🇩 Indonesia

• Jakarta: 149 skyscrapers by 2025 [Independent Observer]

🇱🇦 Laos

"Vientiane still aims for graduation from least developed country status by 2026."

🇲🇾 Malaysia

 🇲🇲 Myanmar

🇵🇭 Philippines

"The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has terminated its contract with the construction and engineering consulting firms responsible for building the Unified Grand Central Station, a key project meant to link Metro Manila’s rail lines and ease commuter travel."

🇸🇬 Singapore

• All hail the landlord [Peak Magazine]

"The city’s retail closures aren’t anomalies; they’re logical outcomes of an economy built solely on profit maximisation."

"Whether it's dying cinema theatres or vanishing heritage trades, we feel the same cultural yearning for the past. And this is only likely to increase, with change the only constant in Singapore."

🇹🇭 Thailand

"The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) has given the green light to a 12 billion baht budget for the compulsory purchase of land needed for the second phase of the high-speed railway being built in collaboration with China."

"Progress on terminal a hopeful sign as 4.4 billion baht worth of upgrades continue."

🇻🇳 Vietnam

"VinSpeed High-Speed Rail Investment and Development JSC, a newly established company under Vietnam’s richest billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong, officially announced on Wednesday its registration to invest in the North–South high-speed railway project, with a proposed total investment of over US$60 billion."

"A 20km metro extension from Ho Chi Minh City to Trang Bom is now open for investment as Dong Nai looks to boost regional transport."

"Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Tuesday gave in-principle approval to the establishment of Sun PhuQuoc Airways (SPA) by Sun Group, one of Vietnam’s top real estate developers."

Con Dao is a remote and relatively undeveloped island group. I will watch for more news about this.

Poulo Condor Côn Đảo

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