The drafting of the Special Urban Law aims to institutionalize the directives set out in Resolution 31-NQ/TW dated December 30, 2022 of the Politburo regarding the directions and tasks for the development of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) through 2030, with a vision to 2045. This represents an opportunity to transform political commitments into stable legal authority that cannot be revoked by sub-law documents. However, in order to truly “go beyond the framework of special mechanisms,” this draft law must address three fundamental legal issues. Defining the scope of “distinct authority” Resolution 66-NQ/TW dated April 30, 2025 of the Politburo reaffirms the principle that “localities decide, localities implement, and localities take responsibility.” To ensure this directive does not remain merely formal, the draft law must clearly distinguish between two models. Delegation is a mechanism whereby the central government grants authority on a temporary basis, which can be withdrawn at any time—this is the nature of Resolution 98/2023/QH15 on piloting specific mechanisms and policies for the development of HCMC, as well as the “conditional permission” mechanism under the 2025 Law on Organization of Local Government. Substantive decentralization, by contrast, establishes for localities “distinct authorities”—areas in which the central government no longer […]