Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Abstract

Explosive population growth in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s largest city, has brought the population to more than 8 million people. This rapid growth has led to building in floodplains and the region’s most ecologically sensitive areas, as well as a strain on the city’s infrastructure. The climate change threats to Ho Chi Minh City include a rise in temperature and a heat island effect, potentially causing reduced air and water quality, increased flooding events and saltwater intrusion as a result of sea level rise, and changes in precipitation and river runoff. The impacts of these changes are a threat not only to Ho Chi Minh City residents, and in particular to the city’s vulnerable “floating population” of an estimated 2 million migrant workers, but also to the millions of people in the hinterland who depend on the city for resources. There are risks to the economy of Southeast Asia if Ho Chi Minh City and its large port are unable to function at its current capacity.