Urbanization, economic development, environmental and social changes in transitional economies: Vietnam after Doimoi

We used the experiences of Vietnam following the economic reform, known as Doimoi, to study urbanization, economic development, and environmental and social changes in transitional economies at multi-scales. The country underwent rapid urban land expansion, as indicated by the increase in the mean value of nighttime light data from -1.4 in 1992 to 4.4 in 2012. The urban population grew at a faster annual rate following Doimoi (1986-2015) compared to the pre-Doimoi period (1960-1985). At the inter-city level, cities with populations more than 1 million experienced more rapid growth of built-up land intensity and population size compared to the national average. At the intra-city level, conversion from farmland contributed significantly to built-up land in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City from 1990 to 2010. As indicated by PM2.5 and NO2 concentrations, urban environments in large cities deteriorated; yet poverty was alleviated, as measured by populations falling under the poverty line and the proportion of the urban population living in slums. Coupled dynamics of urbanization, economic development, and environmental and social changes were modeled and the main findings are: (1) economic development strongly influenced urbanization and (2) urbanization and economic development contributed to environmental deterioration while promoting the social conditions. How urban land expansion was facilitated by local institutional interventions such as frequent changes of administrative boundaries, master plans, and policies is also discussed. Our study highlighted a multi-scale and multi-dimensional perspective, the independent and coupled relationships between economic development, urbanization, and environmental/social changes, and a hybrid approach of examining the influences of the institutional intervention and the market mechanism on urbanization in transitional economies.