1

1 An overview of Vietnam Water-city typology by quantity of identification

2 elements and the adverse long-term effects by rising sea-level
3
4 Dai Duong LE a, SANO Kazushi b, Thanh Linh TRINH c
5
6 Dept. of Civil and Environmental Eng., Nagaoka University of Technology
a,b,c

7 (NUT) (1603-1 Kami-Tomioka-cho, Nagaoka, Niigata, 940-2188, Japan)

8 a
E-mail: daiduong.ql2@gmail.com
9 b
E-mail: sano@vos.nagaokaut.ac.jp
10 c
E-mail: thanhlinhtrinh263@gmail.com
11
12 Abstract: Those days, Vietnam water cities are in a state of flux. Nevertheless, it is
13 undeniable that our country being completely lacking in the quantity of identification
14 elements in order to classify and to allocate all water-cities through mapping. Therefore, this
15 paper has two primary objectives. Firstly, Vietnam Water-City is obviously mapped in terms
16 of four major general identification elements, namely, river density, water terrain, river traffic
17 and sea city. Secondly, that water-city map is employed in predicting the long-term effects on
18 typical water cities by climate change, especially based on the scenario of the rising sea level
19 from 2020 to 2050 in two major alluvial plain such as Red River Delta and Mekong Delta. To
20 define accurately the location of 78 water cities the spatial analysis, generalization and GIS
21 data, evidently, is utilised. By far, the adverse long-term effects on Vietnam water cities have
22 been illustrated owing to the fundamental indicators including agricultural land area, GDP per
23 capita and population. To sum up, it is no doubt that Vietnam is inclined to suffer the terrible
24 consequences of rising sea level.
25 Keywords: Vietnam water-city, identification elements, river density, water terrain, river
26 traffic, sea city
27
28
29 1. INTRODUCTION
30
31
32 To commence with, “Urban is a geographic - economic - ecological system in which
33 natural and socio-economic components have a close and balanced relationship that will be
34 harmfully damaged or injured due to terribly unbalanced situation. In other words, nature
35 evidently will be destroyed and seriously polluted, then human life and health are threatened
36 in linked with reducing the effectiveness of manufacture - service - management activities" [1]
37 (Vu Tu Lap, Vietnam Natural Geography). Furthermore, it is no doubt that there are dominant
38 factors among relationship; hence determining the dominant factors is fundamental to identify
39 Vietnam Water-Cities.
40 In accordance with Vietnam natural topography in general, and several cities in
41 particular, the river element is an essential factor to identify water cities. The other important
42 factor is terrain: utilise the terrain type of geographic landscape is a synthesis of natural
43 territory, formed from the relationship between geological, topographical, climate,
44 hydrological, soil, organisms and the human impact.
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2 
Corresponding author.

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Dividing space of climate

according to terrain
Climate Terrain

Hydrological system:
rivers, lakes, sea,
underground water

Human
Land

Living
Creature
Figure 1. The close relationship between hydrological system and climate, terrain, land,
living creature and human
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49 2. METHODS
50
51
52 “Water Urbanism posits that water and cities must be understood within an expanded notion
53 of a constructed ecosystem… How we live with and design for water will be a central,
54 defining element of the next century relative to climate change and urbanism…” (Kate Orff,
55 Introduction Water Urbanism, Madurai, India).
56 Pursuant to Vietnam natural terrain, the fundamental factors in order to identify Vietnam
57 water urbanism will be formulated as bellow:
58 1) Density of rivers and streams: the city is situated in high density of rivers and streams
59 (Urban topology by river density)
60 2) Terrain type: (Urban Topology by water terrain)
61 - Alluvial Plain;
62 - Valley, basin (hilly region);
63 - Coastline (Tidal flats, sand dunes).
64 3) Located along the waterway (Water-city typology by river traffic)
65 4) Adjacent to the sea (Sea City)
66
67
68 2.1. Urban Typology by river density

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69
70 In truth, Vietnam tropical monsoon climate creates a densely covered network of rivers,
71 consisting in more than 2360 rivers over 10km; the average annual rainfall is 1,900mm; the
72 average flow is 26000 m3/s; total water volume is 839 billion m 3/year; surface water 76%,
73 underground 24%; outside flow into Vietnam 59.7%. In details, the average density is
74 1km/km2.
75 To be honest, due to the tropical monsoon climate and distinguished terrains; therefore, the
76 density of rivers and streams is unevenly distributed, such as extremely high density (over
77 2km/km2) and high density (1-2 km/km2) are located in the northern and southern part of
78 Vietnam, meanwhile, the average density is situated in the central part by less than 1km/km2.
79
80 2.2. Urban typology by water terrain, namely, alluvial plain; valley, basin (hilly region)
81 and coastline (Tidal flats, sand dunes)
82
83 Vietnam urban centers have a tradition of building on the "river" terrain. In addition,
84 thousands of rural-urban settlements have been relying on the plain of rice paddies - at local
85 high places inside the plain, or adjacent to the river delta, allowing humans to use water
86 sources for living, production and transportation:
87 Particular:
88 + Phong Chau at the top of the Red river;
89 + Co Loa on the river shelf adjacent to the accumulation plain - RRD;
90 + Hoa Lu: Delta edge of Red river, Hoang Long river;
91 + Hanoi is in the delta, along the Red River;
92 + Pho Hien on the banks of the Red River; Hue along the Huong River Delta;
93 + Saigon along the Saigon River.
94
95 2.3. Water-city typology by river traffic
96
97 Because of the natural terrain with long coastline, the waterway is the major driving force
98 behind the construction of urban settlements in Vietnam. Traditionally, the water network has
99 been the first layer to build upon, supporting urbanity, road infrastructure, and agricultural
100 land. Settlements are laid out along rivers and urban centers occur at the confluence of
101 important waterways. Total length of inland waterways: 6658.6km (North: 2663.9km; Central
102 region: 808.4km; South: 3186.3km). The global turnover illustrates the advantage of the
103 seaway: accounting for 69.35% of the volume of circulating goods. Additionally, the river-
104 way is the third, reaching 13.01% (Table 1).
105
106
107
108 Table 1. The percentage of circulating goods by different transportation type

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Turnover 100,00%

Railway 1,95

Overland 15,52

River-way 13,01

Seaway 69,35

Airline 0,16

* Source: Vietnam Inland Waterway Administration (VIWA) – Ministry of Transportation

109
110 2.4. Sea City
111
112 Combining with a coastline of 3,260km, excluding islands, Vietnam claims 12 nautical miles
113 as the limit of its territorial waters. Thus, a huge number of cities are adjacent to the sea – the
114 fundamental identification element to define the water city. For instance, Ha Long city being
115 situated in Vietnam’s northern coast is likely to have potential source of being a water city in
116 terms of sea tourism, deep-water port, and natural coastline ecosystem. Cam Ranh city is a
117 city in the South Central Coast region of Vietnam also tend to have possible position in order
118 to build up deep-water port and to turn into water city.
119
120
121 3. RESULTS
122
123 3.1 Urban Typology by river density
124

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Figure 2. Urban Typology by river density [2]

125
126
127
128
129
130

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“Mekong Delta” in total 18 cities

Unlike the rest of Vietnam, the Mekong delta
only has been occupied by Vietnamese for
At the gate of “Red River Delta” in total
approximately three centuries. As the marshy
5 cities
delta was transformed into productive land for
wet paddy cultivation, settlements developed
linearly along waterways. [5]

Figure 3. Urban with extreme high density of rivers and streams

131
The top and edge of the Red River delta, the
valley of the big rivers in northern part
(including Red River, the upstream of Chay
River, Thai Binh river, small river systems of
Quang Ninh) – total 15 cities
+ Huong River basin - the place with the
highest rainfall in Central Vietnam: Typically,
in Hue city with the annually rainfall is
2868mm. (2 cities)
+ Southern part: Dong Nai river and Vam Co
river (2 cities)

Figure 4. Urban with high density of rivers and stream

132
133 3.2. Urban typology by water terrain, namely, alluvial plain; valley, basin (hilly region)
134 and coastline (Tidal flats, sand dunes)
135
136 In truth, most of Vietnam cities naturally belong to “water terrain”:
137 + There are 69/98 cities and villages (70% of the total) built in topographic features of the
138 river;

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139 + 47/98 (48%) cities are located in the inland waterway terrain with long-term wet rice
140 agriculture, showing the importance of the relationship between urban and agriculture;
141 + The two biggest Northern and Southern triangle alluvial plains have the numerous water
142 cities;
143 + In the Central Coastline the two typical water-cities are Vinh city (constructed in the
144 alluvial plain of Ca river and Lam river – also the major waterway) and Hue city (built up in
145 the alluvial plain of Huong river);
146 + Only 2/98 (2%) cities are adjacent to the sea without alluvial plain, especially Cam Pha and Thai Nguyen.

Figure 5. Urban typology by water terrain

147 3.3. Water-city typology by river traffic

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148
149 Most Vietnam's main urban areas are landed in the river and sea routes. In addition, 54/98
150 cities (municipalities granted) located in river routes; Furthermore, in 54 cities, there are 8
151 urban areas combining with both rivers and sea - called a river estuary, typically, Da Nang
152 and Cua Lo.
153 The other 14 cities are adjacent to the sea, most of them have deep-water ports: Ha Long,
154 Nghi Son, Cua Lo, Da Nang, Quy Nhon, Nha Trang, Cam Ranh and Vung Tau. Coastal
155 shipping is very important for medium distance transport in order to connect and to
156 communicate between coastal cities. In Can Tho, the capital of the Mekong Delta, an
157 extended water network has been the main infrastructure for centuries leading to linear
158 settlements along waterways promoting a way of ‘living with the floods’ [5]. Hanoi, on the
159 other hand, situated in the heart of the Red River Delta, grew as the dynamic delta conditions
160 [5]
.

Transporting goods by river-way in the North

Transporting goods by river-way in

the South

Figure 6. Transporting goods by river-way in both the North and South

(Source: Vietnam Institute for Urban and Rural Planning - VIUP)

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161 The North and the South have the longest and densest river network. In other words, the river transport
162 system (especially, in the North and South of Vietnam) is a fundamental factor to develop urban position in
163 territorial organization. For instance, Bien Hoa City landed along the Dong Nai River has a low density of
164 rivers and streams but is adjacent to the river, thus has convenient river-way. Nga Bay Town: The typical
165 urban area for the delta triangle group with dense waterways is the main transport route for a long time; Up
166 to now, there has always been an important urban and external transport route.

Figure 7. Water city

typology by river traffic

Cities are located in the waterway

Cities located in the inland river-way

Others
167

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168 3.4. Sea City

169
170

Due to the
natural long
coastline,
Vietnam has
total 22
cities being
adjacent to
the sea.

SYMBO
L Figure 8.
CITIES ARE ADJACENT TO THE SEA
Sea City
SEA CITY

OTHERS

171
172 3.5. Water city typology by quantity of identification element
173
174 In accordance with four major general identification elements of water city, namely, (1) urban typology by
175 river density; (2) urban typology by water terrain, such as alluvial plain; valley, basin (hilly region) and
176 coastline (Tidal flats, sand dunes); (3) Water-city typology by river traffic; and (4) Sea city, the two triangle

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177 alluvial plain of the South and North have combined apparently numerously importance water cities,
178 meanwhile, there are rare or none of these water-cities are located in the Northern mountain, Central
179 Highland and the North of the South-East. To sum up, Vietnam has totally 78 water-cities consisting in
180 between four and only one identification elements as mentioned above.

Figure 9. Water city typology by

quantity of identification element

181 4. THE ADVERSE LONG-TERM EFFECTS BY RISING SEA LEVEL

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182
183
184 In fact, 84 coastal developing countries investigated in terms of sea level rise, Vietnam ranks
185 first in terms of impact on population, wetlands, urban extend and agriculture [Dasgupta et al.
186 2007]
187 Pursuant to the analysis above most of the potential and indispensable water-cities in Vietnam
188 are situated in the two vast majority of Northern and Southern triangle alluvial plain (Red
189 River Delta and Mekong Delta), for instance, Ha Noi, Hai Phong, Ha Long, Da Nang, Ho Chi
190 Minh, Can Tho, Dong Nai. In addition, the Red River Delta is the second most important rice-
191 producing area in Vietnam, accounting for approximately 20 percent of the national crop and
192 also hosts other important economic activities such as fisheries, aquaculture, land reclamation
193 for agriculture, harbor construction, mangrove forestry, etc.
194 Meanwhile, Mekong Delta, a rice-growing region that spans southern Vietnam, not only is home to 18
195 million people but also more than half of Vietnam's rice is produced in that delta, as well as 60 percent of
196 its fish and shrimp. Flooding, amajor issues in the Mekong Delta is predicted to become more severe as
197 rainfall increases and seawater level is rising. Furthermore, those two delta triangles, namely, Red River
198 Delta and Mekong Delta have numerous water-cities which will confront with terrible and hazardous effect
199 on climate change, especially rising sea level (according to the scenario of rising sea level in Mekong Delta
200 from 2020 to 2050, Vietnam Remote Sensing Center).

Rising Sea Level: 0.74 m

Flooding area: 348.7 km2 (2.6%)

Figure 10. The three important water cities of Red

River Delta including Ha Noi, Hai Phong and Ha
Long will face with rising sea level: 0,74m (2050)
201 The landscape of Mekong delta was characterised by patterns of dispersion and dissipation
202 with intensified nodes of which Cantho has always been the most important one” [Shannon

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203 2004] Because of its central position in the delta, Can Tho gained importance and grew up as
204 a regional central for cultural and economic exchanges.
205 In addition, Can Tho strategically situated at the confluence of the Can Tho and the Hau
206 Rivers became an important colonial market town. The city developed following a few
207 principleavenues laid out in the direction of the prevailing monsoon winds with a large market
208 structure oriented towards the waterway as the focal point of the plan [Shannon 2004].
209 Unfortunately, due to the scenario of rising sea level from 2020 to 2050, Can Tho is likely to
210 confront with terrible flooding situation in 2050 because of 1,0m rising sea level.
211 Furthermore as so-called climate refugees may migrate from surrounding flooded areas, safe
212 land in Can Tho could be under high pressure. Particularly, the two densely populated delta
213 regions will be affected: it is predicted that a 1m sea level rise will flood more than 20000km 2
214 of the Mekong Delta [IPCC 2007:59]. Concerning the Mekong Delta, investigations of the START centre
215 of Chulalongkorn University predicts a rising water level that could be twice as high as the estimated sea
216 level rise as it combines 5 important elements: upstream flood, local rainfall, sea level rise, north-east wind
217 and the spin from the equator. [DeNijs 2010]

Rising Sea Level:

1.00 m
Flooding 2 area:
15100 km (38%)

Figure 11. The important water-city of Mekong Delta, namely Can Tho will be disappeared in
2050 due to rising sea level: 1,0m (2050)
218
219 Table 2. Some typical Vietnam water-cities, strongly supported in socio-economy, are suffering from
220 the rising sea level from 2020 to 2050

Water city Agricultural land GDP per capita Population in Number

area (ha) US$ 2017 of factors
Ha Noi 174.429 3,425 7,587,800 3
Ha Long 9544,86 3,718 227,000 3
Hai Phong 83.310 2,857 2,103,500 3
Da Nang 69.989 2,506 1,046,876 4
Ho Chi Minh 118.052 5,428 8,426,100 4
Can Tho 81.688 2,980 1,237,300 4
Rach Gia - 266,01 245,328 3
Quy Nhon 110.972,6 1625 537,320 3
Bien Hoa - 3,300 1,104,495 3
Nha Trang - 3184 420,521 2

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221
222 To sum up, it is no doubt that Vietnam is inclined to suffer the terrible consequences of
223 climate change, especially huge numbers of water cities tend to be the direct victims in the
224 near future.
225
226 REFERENCES
227
228
229 1) Vũ Chí Đồng (1996) Villes et organisation de l’espace du Viêt-nam, essai d’analyse
230 spatiale;
231 2) Vu Tu Lap (2005) Natural geography of Vietnam, Publisher of Pedagogical University;
232 3) VIUP. Climate change scenario in the Mekong Delta and Red River Delta from 2020 to
233 2050;
234 4) Global city & Climate change studio (2017), Water Urbanism, Kolkata;
235 5) Stefanie et al. (2010-2011), Basil Descheemaeker, Pierre Eyben, Michiel Geldof, Laura
236 Rijsbosch, Alexander Smedts, Thibaut Visser, Evelyne Wauters. Water Urbanism: Towards
237 resilient design proposals – Water urbanism in a global changing context, Master of Applied
238 Sciences and Engineering: Architecture;
239 6) DASGUPTA S., et al. (2007), The impact of Sea Level Rise on Developing Countries: A
240 comparative Analysis, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 4136;
241 7) SHANNON, K. (2004), Rhetorics & Realities addressing Landscape Urbanism. Three
242 cities in Vietnam, PhD diss., KULeuven;
243 8) James et al. (2001), Osvaldo F. Canziani, Neil A. Leary, David J. Dokken, Kasey S. White,
244 IPCC, “Impacts, adaptation and vulnerability”, “Mitigation”, in Climate Change Third
245 Assessment Report.
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