Flood adaptive cities

Abstract

For three hundred years, Mekong delta has become a water society where inhabitants in this region developed adaptive strategies, often called “shaking hand with floods”. Historically, people first settled on the lightly higher terraces and later on the levees along the river. With the digging of canals, people started to settle along the canal banks; such settlement has formed a typical pattern of ribbon-like settlement. At the confluences of network system, intensified urban expansion is occurring. Over twenty years after the introduction of “DOI MOI” policy (innovation), Mekong delta in Vietnam has experienced significant expansion of cities and rapid growth of population. The water cities are transforming into the road cities in which the role of water in the city structure is going to be neglected. Thus, the cities are losing its unique characteristic and inhabitants are facing more vulnerable to flooding. Furthermore, the consequences of human interventions into natural process have caused an essential change in the natural landscape. The transformation from a natural dynamic water system in which people adapted to the forces of nature into an infrastructure system in which the forces of nature are attempted to be controlled, turns out to be more problematic. Finally, climate change will have a serve impact on the natural system of the delta and in the lives of those living in these areas, namely: flood events, storm surge, water scarcity, subsidence and salinization. The projects aimed at answering a research question: How a new form of urban development for the Mekong delta can provide a water safety condition, improve the environmental quality, spatial quality and meanwhile provide economic value for its inhabitants? As the first step, the project researched in the complex system of Mekong delta cities. Research question was step by step answered through triple three layer approach and different layer analysis through different scales. These researches provided a clear understanding in: how nature layer, infrastructure layer and urban layer proceeded and integrated throughout 300 year history of Mekong Delta; what current image of development in Mekong Delta is and why water should be maintained for future development. Equipped with this knowledge, the project proposed to apply the theory of Transit Oriented Development in combination of water management. The result is compact urban areas in regional scale or compact neighborhood in city scale that are protected on high levees, connected by public transports, surrounded by natural delta landscape and provided with diverse economic values.