Can coastal cities turn the tide on rising flood risk?

The metropolis of Ho Chi Minh City can survive its flood risk today, but its plans for rapid infrastructure expansion and continued economic growth could, if not managed carefully, lead to an increase in risk. The city has a wide range of adaptation options at its disposal but no silver bullet. In the much smaller city of Bristol, the risk of flood damages  is growing from millions to billions of dollars, driven by high levels of exposure. The city has fewer adaptation options at its disposal, and its biggest challenge may be building political and financial support for change.

In Viet Nam, the authors recommend that adaptation measures in Ho Chi Minh City might require total investments comparable to the city’s annual GDP today (page 20). Similarly, the authors state that, as a smaller city, Bristol provides an example of proactively understanding risk that others could learn from (page 29).