Profiling households with their flood response measures in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Diverse flood response measures and adaptation actions have been carried out worldwide by various stakeholders, especially the various kinds of responses at household level. However, there is a lack of substantial understanding on the profiles of different households regarding their flood response measures, the driving factors, particularly with regards to dynamically changing socio-economic groups and the question of individual vs. collective action for flood risk reduction. Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) with characterizations of rapid urbanization, socio-economic transitions and significant climate/environment influences at a low lying flood prone area, is increasingly suffering from more frequent and intense floods. Based on a large scale household survey conducted in September and October 2020, the study classifies different flood coping/adaptation measures in HCMC.

A cluster analysis of multiple factors is carried out to clarify the major factors and to identify the features of households and their networks in each cluster. Specific data analysis indicates: 1) Majority of local people don’t receive external supports, due to the fact of moderate flood events and that they subjectively don’t concern much to the impacts (have got used to floods). 2) The most vulnerable groups did receive various supports, which indicates the existence of a basic flood-safe system in HCMC. 3) Long-term adaptation measures are not often applied, because vulnerable groups are not able to while rich people don’t need to. Findings of the study help to better understand the local status of flood responses against the backdrop of underlying socio-economic transformations.