University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City – From a Sustainable University to the Core of Urban Innovation

02 Mar, 2026

Today’s universities can no longer stand outside the major challenges facing contemporary cities and societies. Climate change, growth model transformation, innovation, social inequality, and ecological degradation are posing complex problems that go beyond the capacity of any single discipline or institution. In this context, the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH) has chosen a transformative path: developing the University–City Innovation Hub model, where the university is not only a space for teaching and research, but also a knowledge infrastructure and co-creation platform for the sustainable development of cities and regions.

From a 50-year foundation to new development requirements

After nearly half a century of formation and development, UEH has affirmed its position as one of Vietnam’s key higher education institutions, with international academic credibility and a global partner network. UEH not only trains high-quality human resources for the country, but also increasingly contributes to applied research, policy consultation, and innovation.

In October 2023, the Prime Minister signed the decision to convert the Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics into a university. This was not only a legal milestone, but also set new requirements for the institution’s development model, governance, and social role in the context of globalization and sustainable development.

With the educational philosophy of “Academic Pioneering, Social Service, Innovation Promotion, and Sustainability Orientation,” UEH envisions becoming a multidisciplinary, sustainability-driven university, aiming to join the leading group of universities in Asia and gain global influence by 2045. Rather than pursuing growth in scale or rankings alone, UEH has chosen a development path based on social impact, where knowledge is validated through concrete contributions to sustainable development.

The world is entering a profound transformation phase in which economic, social, environmental, and technological issues are closely intertwined. These challenges cannot be solved by monodisciplinary thinking or within the scope of a single organization. In this context, higher education must move from the role of knowledge transmission to becoming an active agent of development, co-designing and testing new solutions with government, businesses, and communities.

From this requirement, UEH is gradually shifting from the model of a “sustainable university” to the role of coordinator of the urban–regional innovation ecosystem, based on inherited internal strength, accumulated experience, and expanded cooperation, rather than through abrupt or symbolic change.

The path of inheritance: from internal strength to broader impact

During the period 2021–2025, UEH focused on building a multidisciplinary and sustainable university foundation, strengthening autonomous governance, improving teaching and research quality, and implementing green initiatives on campus.

During the period 2026–2030, UEH expanded learning and research spaces beyond the classroom, operating the university as a sustainable learning city where people, technology, and communities interact in real-world settings.

From after 2030, UEH will gradually assume the role of core of the urban–regional innovation ecosystem, integrating knowledge, policy, technology, and environmental requirements into a unified operating model. The University–City Innovation Hub is formed as the result of a long-term, cumulative, and inherited development journey.

University–City Innovation Hub: The university as the foundation of the urban–regional innovation ecosystem

The University–City Innovation Hub is a new-generation university model in which UEH is positioned as the coordinating core of the urban–regional–global innovation ecosystem. The university not only produces knowledge, but also activates development transformation through connections among academia, policy, business, communities, and the natural environment.

In this model, UEH serves as the core of a creative, digital, green, and humane space, building bridges between:

Academia – economics – management – technology – entrepreneurship – culture – arts – urban development
Physical spaces (green-smart university campus, open library, living labs, etc.) and digital spaces (digital platforms, open data, intelligent analytical tools)
Employment-oriented education shifting towards co-creation and innovative entrepreneurship education, where learners become job creators, social innovators, and creative entrepreneurs

Five pillars of the university connected with the city

UEH’s University–City Innovation Hub operates on five strategic pillars: Teaching – Research – Operations – Governance – Community.
Teaching shifts toward smart, personalized, and lifelong learning, linked to both global and local contexts. Research develops from knowledge to impact, generating policy, solutions, and science-technology entrepreneurship. Campus operations become an urban-scale living lab for green solutions and circular economy initiatives. Governance is data-driven and platform-based, moving toward co-governance. Community is a space that nurtures culture, arts, and social innovation.

UEH City University Hub model (Source: UEH)

Multi-stakeholder cooperation and innovation-driving mechanisms

UEH’s model is built on the Quintuple Helix principle, emphasizing cooperation among the university, government, businesses, communities, and the natural environment. UEH plays a coordinating role, enabling stakeholders to co-design, test, and scale solutions in real-world contexts.

The innovation knowledge flywheel creates a continuous development cycle: learning experiences generate ideas; ideas are tested in living labs; results feed back into policy and local development; this in turn attracts more resources and continues to nurture education, research, and innovation.

The University–City Innovation Hub marks UEH’s strategic transition—from a multidisciplinary, sustainable university to an open urban innovation platform, where the university becomes knowledge infrastructure and the “coordination brain” for development. As the core connecting academia, policy, business, communities, and nature, UEH is helping shape a new approach to Vietnamese higher education: a university that does not stand outside development flows, but accompanies the city and society in creating a sustainable future.

News and photos: Department of Communications and Partnerships UEH

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