Exposure of manufacturing firms to future sea level rise in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Abstract

Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) is facing notably high levels in current and future flooding. Simultaneously, the ongoing process of rapid industrialization is characterized by the strong emergence of manufacturing firms within the urban area. As manufacturing firms are at the frontline regarding damage caused by flooding, which is often neglected in risk analyses, we argue that the assessment of firms’ exposure to flooding is essential for implementing an integrative flood risk governance. Hence, this study maps manufacturing firms in HCMC, using geocoding based on the Vietnam Enterprise Census (2005, 2015), and assesses whether they are exposed to future sea level rise. The maps developed visualize the expansion of manufacturing firms from 2005 to 2015 and the spatial distribution of firms exposed to future sea level rise in HCMC. Our results reveal that particularly domestic, private micro firms in labor-intensive industries, which represent the backbone of the local economy, are exposed, threatening their competitiveness and viability.