Vietnam, Singapore, Japan, And Malaysia Set A New Standard In Metro Infrastructure By Integrating Retail, Services, And Tourism Amenities To Create Lively Urban Transit Environments

Saturday, August 2, 2025

Vietnam is group to toggle shape its metro stations into vibrant commercialized and tourer hubs by drafting inspiration from nan successful models of Singapore, Japan, and Malaysia. This eager inaugural intends to merge retail, dining, and basal services wrong Metro Line 1 stations, enhancing rider convenience while creating caller gross streams to support municipality development. By turning transit points into move destinations, Vietnam hopes to boost economical growth, amended nan wide recreation experience, and group a caller modular for modern, multifunctional nationalist proscription crossed Southeast Asia.

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade has precocious introduced a pioneering aviator connection to connection basal equipment and services astatine stations on Metro Line 1, which runs from Ben Thanh to Suoi Tien. This inaugural intends to unlock caller commercialized opportunities wrong nan metro web while importantly improving convenience for passengers. The Department submitted a general connection to nan Urban Railway One Member Limited Liability Company No. 1 (HURC1), encouraging nan institution to thoroughly measure and merge nan aviator scheme into nan city’s ongoing Project for Utilizing Urban Railway Infrastructure Assets. Following this, nan scheme will beryllium presented to nan Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee for approval, which would pave nan measurement for implementation. This improvement comes aft nan Department evaluated a proposal from nan Ho Chi Minh City Union of Trade Cooperatives made successful May, highlighting nan value of fast, accessible shopping options to stimulate nan section unit economy.

The projected scheme rests connected a beardown instauration of applicable demand. Data from HURC1 indicates that from January 21 to June 30, Metro Line 1 served astir 10 cardinal passengers, generating revenues exceeding VND 91 billion. This translates to an mean regular ridership of complete 59,000 people. The metro serves arsenic a captious transit artery successful Ho Chi Minh City—a quickly increasing metropolis pinch dense populations and important postulation congestion. For residents, nan metro is an basal intends of commuting to work, school, and different regular activities. Moreover, it has besides go an charismatic action for home visitors eager to acquisition a modern mode of proscription successful Vietnam’s largest city. However, contempt its popularity, nan stations presently deficiency capable commercialized services, leaving galore first-time metro users disappointed owed to nan absence of convenient shopping and basal services wrong nan position premises.

Addressing this spread could toggle shape nan metro acquisition for residents and visitors alike. Providing unit outlets and basal services astatine nan 14 stations connected Metro Line 1 would meet nan contiguous needs of passengers, offering them opportunities to shop, dine, and entree various services without leaving nan station. This conception aligns pinch world champion practices wherever metro systems are not simply transit points but vibrant commercialized hubs that enrich municipality life.

Ho Chi Minh City could return cues from Singapore’s successful metro commercialized strategy. In Singapore, metro stations are designed arsenic bustling user centers, wherever unit and work businesses importantly lend to nan transit authority’s revenue. The Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (SMRT) reported non-ticket revenues—including unit income and advertising—amounting to SGD 274 cardinal (approximately USD 213 million) successful nan fiscal twelvemonth 2024. This fig represented astir 24.6% of SMRT’s full income and marked an 18% summation compared to nan erstwhile year. Between 2021 and 2024, nan non-ticket gross conception grew astatine an mean yearly complaint adjacent to 10%. A striking illustration of this occurrence is nan Staytion unit halfway astatine Dhoby Ghaut station, which attracted 30% much visitors by integrating coworking spaces, clinics, and flea markets alongside accepted unit stores. This multifunctional attack has made nan position a celebrated destination successful its ain right, extending beyond specified transit use.

Similarly, Japan offers different compelling example. According to reports from JR East, 1 of Japan’s largest metro operators, non-ticket gross from metro lines successful 2023 was astir USD 8.14 billion, accounting for 28.5% of nan company’s full revenue. Key stations for illustration Tokyo and Shinjuku contributed astir USD 4.57 cardinal done unit and work offerings alone. These figures item nan immense imaginable of station-based commerce to bolster nationalist transit systems financially. In Malaysia, metro stations person besides embraced divers commercialized ventures, generating astir USD 83 cardinal successful 2023 from existent estate, advertising, and various unit services. Malaysian stations connection vending machines, mini supermarkets, hairsbreadth salons, rate speech counters, parcel transportation services, and merchandise acquisition zones, illustrating nan wide array of business models that tin beryllium integrated into metro infrastructure.

The benefits of processing commerce wrong metro stations widen beyond rider convenience and accrued revenues. For section governments, these ventures create further backing streams done abstraction leasing, advertizing contracts, inferior fees, and nan optimized usage of underground areas. This supplementary income tin beryllium channeled into reducing nan operating costs of nan metro system, thereby alleviating nan financial unit connected nationalist budgets. With enhanced financial resources, authorities are amended positioned to put successful improving nan metro’s quality, expanding routes, upgrading facilities, and enhancing wide personification experience.

Furthermore, nan integration of unit and work accommodation wrong metro stations contributes importantly to municipality development. As transit networks grow and modernize, they thin to summation nan surrounding onshore values and pull further investment. Stations that connection a broad scope of services thief commuters prevention valuable clip by allowing them to shop, eat, and grip regular tasks—such arsenic mobile telephone top-ups, ATM withdrawals, and parcel shipments—directly astatine nan transit points without nan request for detours. This convenience encourages greater metro usage and supports nan city’s goals for sustainable municipality mobility.

From a business perspective, metro position commerce opens a ample regular customer guidelines to enterprises. Retailers specified arsenic convenience stores, java shops, banks, and pharmacies use from precocious ft traffic, which tin thief summation income and boost marque visibility successful premier municipality locations. These services lend to a much move and charismatic position environment, creating a consciousness of vibrancy and modernity that improves nan wide cognition of nationalist transit.

Vietnam is transforming its metro stations into bustling commercialized and tourer hubs by adopting successful strategies from Singapore, Japan, and Malaysia. This inaugural intends to heighten rider convenience and thrust municipality maturation done integrated unit and services.

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade’s aviator connection to present basal unit and work outlets astatine Metro Line 1 stations is simply a timely and strategical initiative. It responds to nan increasing request for convenient, integrated municipality proscription while leveraging commercialized opportunities to support nan metro strategy financially. By learning from successful world models successful Singapore, Japan, and Malaysia, Ho Chi Minh City tin toggle shape its metro stations into lively hubs that not only facilitate businesslike recreation but besides enrich nan municipality acquisition for millions of passengers each year.