A key component of the enormous ING City satellite city south of Phnom Penh – Samdech Techo Hun Sen Boulevard – is nearing completion.

The 60 metre-wide and 9.4km-long road – which will run through the city linking Phnom Penh at Street 271 to Takhmao and providing an alternative to the congested National Highway 2 – is set to be completed in December.

It will also provide access to ING City – previously known as AZ City – which is being constructed on land reclaimed from the Boeung Tompun wetlands. The city will also be crossed by two other major arterial roads.

Meas Viriya, the vice director of Technical Department of ING Holdings, told the Post that the bitumen surface of the $51 million road would be laid in December and it would be in use before the Khmer New Year.

A senior ING Holdings executive, who asked not to be identified, said the master plan of the satellite city had been adopted by the Phnom Penh municipality.

He said the satellite city development was a long-term investment intended to turn the area into a modern city.

“With the satellite city development, I don’t focus immediately on gaining profit,” he said. “While developing the area, I want to protect the environment and value the residents’ lifestyle.”

Under the 2014-20 master plan, ING City is to be developed in four stages. The first stage covering 571 hectares will be divided into a commercial, government, building material, logistics, automotive, factory, aged care and residential districts.

There are also plans for a transport hub.

The entire project covers 2,572 hectares – including a 520 hectare water reservoir – and borders Chamkarmon, Meanchey, and Dongkor districts along with Kandal province’s Takhmao City.

Concerns have been raised about the future of those currently living in and around Boeung Tompun, but the executive said that any residents requiring relocation would be compensated.

He said that 48 families living in the development area were being given homes on land of the same size and near to where they lived before.

Solutions would be found for other residents “step by step”, he said.

“If they want money, the company will compensate them according to the current market price, but if they want the compensation as a new home, they get the same land size as before with an interational standard house,” he said. “The company policy is to make people satisfied,” he added.

He said developers included Future Gate from Japan, who plan to erect four or six high-rise buildings in the satellite city.

Companies already invested include the International School of Phnom Penh, which has established a new $40 million campus at the satellite city.

ISPP director Barry Sutherland said the location had great potential.

“Although we were satisfied with our Boeung Keng Kang location and have a good relation with the landlord, it is good to own our own land and building,” he said.

Beng Hong Socheat Khemro, director-general at the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction, said other cities such as Singapore had created business hubs to reduce traffic congestions and it was government policy to do the same with Phnom Penh

“Creating satellite cities around Phnom Penh is the right way to go,” he said. “The ING City development owner should cooperate with satellite city development experts and find more information about their clients’ lifestyle, and this city will

be successful.”

Century 21 Cambodia chief executive Kevin Goos said he supported the creation of the satellite city to meet residential demand and boost economic growth.

“The satellite ING City development is an interesting project since the location is at the south of Phnom Penh, and land size is large, but the successful factors are that the developer has a clear master plan and infrastructure system, and careful study about their clients,” he said.

Ross Wheble, the country manager at Knight Frank, said: “At approximately 2,600 hectares, it is obviously a very long-term project but, if executed as planned, I think it will be very positive for the city of Phnom Penh.”

“Due to the sheer scale of the project, it will effectively be a city within a city and will need to comprise a mix of all types of uses and components, including hard and soft infrastructure – schools, hospitals, universities, public amenities, fire and police departments et cetera,” he said.