This study compares the experience of urban planning and development in peri-urban areas affected by flooding in three Vietnamese cities: Hue, Da Nang and Can Tho. In each case, the study examined the causes of specific flood events, and the role that urban planning and development played in contributing to the floods.

This report uses a problem-driven political economy approach to analyse how the leadership of three mid-sized cities in Vietnam, Can Tho, Quy Nhon and Da Nang, are trying to pursue their urban growth ambitions under conditions of increasing awareness of climate change risks.

As urban populations grow and climate exposure increases, more cities are introducing formal planning processes to adapt to climate change. The adoption of a conceptual framework for climate resilience offers the prospect of measuring changes in resilience through the development of indicators at the local level.

This publication discusses the activities and findings from the second phase of the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN), a program supported by the Rockefeller Foundation. Changes in climatic conditions represent one of the greatest challenges facing humanity over coming decades.

This paper was prepared as background to the workshop in SEA, held in Hanoi, Vietnam from January 19 to 21, 2009. The paper is intended to identify key development issues relating to land and water management in the less developed countries of the Himalayan and SEA regions, and how these are likely to be affected by long-term climate change.