VIRTUAL Lisbon Livable Cities

Abstract

As the world becomes increasingly warmer and more water-filled, there is a need to implement interventions at the territorial scale, reshaping settlements and cities to better adapt to upcoming socio-ecological challenges. The paper argues that an urban design strategy that rethinks a landscape system as a whole is necessary to effectively mitigate the consequences of global warming and massive changes in urban morphology over time. Ho Chi Minh Metropolitan, or Saigon, as the locals call it, is the largest metropolitan area in Vietnam in terms of population and economy. The metropolis colonizes a swamp in the Saigon-Dong Nai River Delta. Since 2019, the city has expanded its development to the east side of the river, after nearly occupying the west side. Because of more than two decades of drastic urbanization, the city ranks among the world’s lowest ratios of open public space. This has made the city more vulnerable than ever to the consequences of global warming. The paper will examine the history of urbanism in relation to its topographic structure. The study will provide a chance to develop a design scenario that utilizes the landscape as a potent framework to shape urbanism. The design scenario is hypothesized in the post-growth context where the west side city would slow expanding; therefore, it is more about redesigning the urban landscapes to adapt to flood levels in 2050 in order to restructure and limit urban sprawl at the city’s edge.