Building urban climate resilience in Vietnam and Bangladesh

Abstract

Urban areas will face increased risks as a result of climate change such as heat stress, storms and extreme precipitation, inland and coastal flooding, air pollution, water scarcity, sea-level rise, storm surges, and so on. By the year 2050 about 66% of the world’s population will reside in urban areas; much of the projected increase will take place in Asia and Africa. Recent studies confirm that the impacts of climate change are already being seen and felt in major Asian cities. To combat the impacts of climate change, Asian city governance needs to mainstream climate change resilient policies into urban planning. This chapter explores the challenge of enhancing climate resilience in two of the world’s most vulnerable coastal city regions – Dhaka, Bangladesh and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The chapter reviews the policies and governance structures of these cities, comparing the extent to which national and municipal governments could implement measures aimed at building climate resilience at the urban scale.