Climate Change and Cities in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

Climate change is not simply an environmental problem but also an impacting development across the globe. It strongly impacts the Mekong Delta region in Vietnam. Like many other deltas in the world, the Mekong Delta has strong water-based characteristics, where the living environment is strongly influenced by water, and thus consequently suffers the worst impacts of climate change and sea-level rise according to different projections. Having important roles in the economic development, food security and natural ecology of Vietnam, this delta has been received plenty of international, national and local attentions to seek ways to insulate it from the impacts of climate change, to strengthen the roles, and to maximize its potentials. The research considers integrated relationships of three components (1) city scale, (2) city morphology and (3) impacts of climate change. This is to understand how different urban morphological classifications and scales/grades rationally affected by climate change, focusing on the flood and salinity impacts resulted by average projected future energy-related CO₂ emissions scenario. From those above analytical bases, the research proposes groups of climate change adaptabilities for the Mekong region and classified cities within, from spatial planning strategies, water management and more detailed structural and non-structural solutions.