Abstract
Abstract. The fast pace of urbanisation in Southeast Asia has undermined the sustainability of the social, economic and environmental infrastructure of many cities across the region. Urban resilience in Southeast Asian cities is being further impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. While cities and national governments across the region have developed policies, strategies and programs to re-orient their cities towards more sustainable and resilient development pathways, many cities continue to struggle with the uncontrolled nature of urban development and compounding impacts of crisis events. This article provides an overview of major trends and challenges with urbanisation in Southeast Asia, focusing in particular on Cambodia and Vietnam, as well as the regional, national and sub-national policies and strategies established to address these trends and challenges. Given the current policy implementation gaps and ongoing challenges of urbanisation in Cambodia and Vietnam, the article makes the case for trans-disciplinary research to understand the potential for strengthening urban governance capacities for urban sustainability transformations.
Highlights
Urbanisation has reshaped cities around the world over the last three decades, in the developing countries of Asia
Cities are the source of 75 per cent of global natural resources consumption and are responsible for 60 to 80 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions (United Nations Economic and Social Commission of the Asia-Pacific [UN-ESCAP], 2017)
The challenges associated with rapid urbanisation in Southeast Asia require urgent attention, as the window of opportunity to switch to a sustainable model of urban growth is fast closing (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD], 2016b)
Summary
Urbanisation has reshaped cities around the world over the last three decades, in the developing countries of Asia. This article focuses analysis on Cambodia and Vietnam as two countries in Southeast Asia that are facing similar challenges with urbanisation, urban resilience and urban sustainability, they are at different stages of economic development. To address this research gap, the article outlines a research agenda to investigate urban transformations in a changing Southeast Asian context Sustainability in this context relates to global political discourse around sustainable development, defined by the World Commission on Environment and Development (1987) as “humankind has the ability to make development sustainable – to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. Urban vulnerability is the level of coping capacity of urban residents and urban systems to various hazards, events and exposures felt in the city
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