Case study: Red River embankment and climate change resilience in Lao Cai City

This case study was developed for the professional training of architects and urban planners in Vietnam, to enable them to integrate climate change adaptation into their professional work. It focuses on river embankment construction in Vietnam to prevent flooding and erosion.

Vietnam and China have about 144 km of shared natural borders by rivers and streams. China has constructed many river embankment infrastructures, some of which had led to changes in the flow of rivers and consequently, causing riverbank erosion in Vietnam’s territory. The Lao Cai Provincial People’s Committee (PPC) have requested the central government to allow Lao Cai to build a system of embankment on the two sides of the Red River and Nam Thi River close to the border with China. This centennial infrastructure was intended not only for the prevention of flooding, erosion and border disputes, but also for the improvement of Lao Cai City’s landscape.