Understanding and assessing flood risk in Vietnam: Current status, persisting gaps, and future directions

In this paper, the authors present a systematic review of existing flood risk assessments in Vietnam. They evaluate the current status, persisting gaps, and challenges regarding the understanding and assessment of flood risk in the country.

Their literature review revealed that: (i) 65 % of the reviewed papers did not provide a clear definition of flood risk, (ii) assessments had a tendency to prioritize physical and environmental drivers of risk over social, economic or governance‐related drivers, (iii) future‐oriented assessments tended to focus on hazard and exposure trends, while vulnerability scenarios were often lacking, (iv) large and middle‐sized cities were assessed more frequently than others, (v) only few studies engaged with relevant local stakeholders for the assessment of risk and the development of potential solutions, and (vi) ecosystem‐based adaptation and flood risk insurance solutions were rarely considered. Based on these findings, the authors point out several directions for future research on flood risk in Vietnam.