When Nha Trang’s airport was decommissioned, the proposed redevelopment of the old airport site presented a unique and extraordinary opportunity to create a modern and distinctive Downtown for the city of Nha Trang. The strategic location of the site— adjacent to the historic city center and to one of Vietnam’s most attractive crescent beaches—ensures that the new development strengthens and revitalizes Nha Trang as a major tourist and commercial center.

For a very long time, the airport site was a huge void at the heart of the center city—a tear of enormous proportions in the urban fabric of Nha Trang. The intent of this Master Plan for Nha Trang South End is to mend that fabric, and create a new and much stronger urban core that restores and revitalizes the Downtown of Nha Trang for the next one hundred years. The Master Plan for the redevelopment of the airport site contains a number of special qualities that result in the creation of a vital and enduring urban center. The Plan provides expansive new tourist facilities and services that attract increasing numbers of national and international visitors; establishes an urban environment that encourages transit use and pedestrian activity at the expense of automobile use; and places emphasis on the creation of a healthy, attractive, and sustainable environment for all future residents. The combination of these qualities establishes the Downtown district—Nha Trang South End—as one of the most innovative and forward-looking urban centers in Vietnam.