Urbanisation planning is very important for all 10 countries in Asean to benefit people through the development and growth of major cities in the region, said one local conglomerate in the real estate sector.

Alex Lau, the Director of Phnom Penh City Center (PPCC) development in central Phnom Penh, said at the 11th conference on Asean-China People to People Friendship meeting that urban planning to maximise the benefits of development for all the citizens of Asean’s growing cities was a priority.

“In order for the infrastructure projects linked to the Belt and Road Initiative to succeed, and to ensure the economic growth for the countries they pass through, there is a need for proper land management and urban planning,” he said.

“The higher the synergy, the higher the standard of living consumers and residents would enjoy. This is what we, Phnom Penh City Center, strive to do at the heart of the capital city of Cambodia,” he added.

PPCC is an award-winning 111-hectare mixed use development in central Phnom Penh. With office, residential and entertainment projects being seamlessly combined with a strong environmental focus, it is set to become the new heart of Phnom Penh.

PPCC’s upcoming Residence90 residential project and Eden Garden entertainment venue are intended to cater to all Phnom Penh residents.

By 2025, the new PPCC district will be home to more than 56,000 residents and more than 190,000 daily visitors.

According to a report by the World Bank released in 2015 on “East Asia’s Changing Urban Landscape”, Cambodia’s spatial growth was one of the highest in Asia.

The 180-page study compiled data on urban populations across East Asia with the aim of providing governments with a better idea of the scale of growth that is transforming their cities.

The World Bank study found that Cambodia’s average rate of urban expansion was second only to that of Laos. It noted, however, that the population density in Cambodia is significantly higher than in Laos, with 8,600 people per square kilometer versus 3,200 people per square kilometer, respectively.

Driving the Kingdom’s growth is the rapid urbanisation of Phnom Penh, the only urban area in the country with a population greater than 100,000. The capital grew to 160 square kilometres in 2010, from about 110 square kilometres in 2000.

The capital has one of the smallest but fastest-growing urban populations in the region, growing at 4.4 percent a year from 920,000 in 2000 to 1.4 million in 2010, the report noted.

“Cambodia was actually the second fastest growing country in East Asia, according the study. And Phnom Penh, outside of China, was one of the fastest growing urban areas,” said Abhaas Jha, a practice manager at the World Bank.

Since 2000, the government has issued construction permits to 37,637 projects, the equivalent to 93.56 million square metres, bringing in approximately $32.62 billion in investment capital, according to data from the Ministry of Land Management, Urban and Planning.

The report also pointed out that construction investment in the first six months of 2017 reached $4.94 billion, compared with $3.87 billion over the same period last year, an increase of 27.44 percent.

With the total value of approved investment, there were construction permits for 1,523 projects, equal to 7,284,675 square metres, compared with 1,183 projects with a total construction area of 10,512,261 square metres in the same period last year.

For high-rise buildings and borey investments, in the first six months of 2017, there were 14 satellite city locations and 43 high-rise buildings of more than five floors.

Source: Khmertime