Living labs - một cách tiếp cận phục vụ nghiên cứu và triển khai các dự án quản lý sông, kênh rạch trên địa bàn TP.HCM

Quy hoạch và phát triển kè bờ sông Sài Gòn và sông, kênh nội thành và các giải pháp
để hoàn thành cơ bản kè sông Sài Gòn, sông và kênh nội thành vào năm 2025
LIVING LABS – AN APPROACH TO STUDY 
AND IMPLEMENT RIVER MANAGEMENT 
PROJECTS IN HO CHI MINH CITY 
(LIVING LABS – MỘT CÁCH TIẾP CẬN 
PHỤC VỤ NGHIÊN CỨU VÀ TRIỂN KHAI 
CÁC DỰ ÁN QUẢN LÝ SÔNG, KÊNH RẠCH 
TRÊN ĐỊA BÀN TP.HCM) 
Nguyen Hong Quan1*, Kayla Tift2, Tran Thi Van Thu1, Nguyen Thuy Vien Minh1, 
Mariana da Cunha Oliveira Santos3, Vu Thi Hong Hanh4 
1Center of Water Management and Climate Change (WACC), Institute for Environment 
and Resources (IER), Vietnam National University - Ho Chi Minh city (VNU - HCM) 
2Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam 
3Institute of City Planning and Urban Design, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, 
Germany 
4Faculty of Architecture, University of Architecture Ho Chi Minh City 
Abstract 
Ho Chi Minh city has a beautiful water landscape with populated rivers and 
canals networks. Over the last few decades, however, the water system has been 
compromisedas a result of water pollution, informal settlements, and unregulated 
development. Consequently, the city has been working in order to improve the current 
situation through various urban upgrading projects. While some promising international 
projects through the World Bank, Japan and Belgiumhave undertaken efforts to 
rehabilitate the river networks in HCMC, the city is still faced with multiple issues to 
develop and implement multi-purpose and multi-functional river restoration projects. 
Typical reasons for failurehave been attributed to limited time preparation, lack of 
holistic perspectives, lack of stakeholder involvement, and limited implementation 
capacity. In this paper, we introduce the concept of “Living Labs,” which includes five 
main components: (1) Multi-Method Approach; (2) User Engagement; (3) Multi-
Stakeholder Participation; (4) Real-life Setting; (5) Innovation and co-Creation.Living 
Labs offer to support the development and implementation of river management 
projects in Ho Chi Minh city. We use the case of Xuyen Tam canal as an illustration of 
how the concept can be implemented in practice. 
* Corresponding: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Hong Quan, Center of Water Management and Climate Change 
(WACC), Institute for Environment and Resources (IER), Vietnam National University - Ho Chi Minh city 
(VNU - HCM), Mobile: +84-908275996 nhquan@wacc.edu.vn 
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Introduction 
Issues of Rivers and Canals in Ho Chi Minh 
City 
While the encroachment of riverbanks and 
canals havegradually decreased in 2017 from the 
previous year in HCMC, informal settlements 
still remain a significant problem for the quality 
of the water systems. Often, informal settlers and 
development projects will intrudeand construct 
on protected corridors of rivers and canals in the 
city. In 2014, there were 360 infringement cases 
on navigable canals, channels, and rivers that 
have traffic function; 75 cases in 2017 and down 
to 64 in 2018. According to Decision 22/2017 of 
The People’s Committee, itstrictly prohibits all 
acts of illegal encroachment ofland and using 
land in wrong purposes or acts of causing harm. 
This decision was a result of landslides which 
affected the safety and stability of construction 
works, thereby protectingriverbanks, streams, 
canals ditches and public lakes. Department 
branches and districts managers were 
decentralized to further enable proper 
management, delegating clear responsibilities 
and regulations of water systems within their 
jurisdiction. Even though they regularly inspect, 
supervise and handle violations– achievinginitial 
results - there remains a significant delay of 
project implementationto renovate and embellish 
the rivers and canals. This delay causes re-
encroachment and creates an unbreakable cycle 
of river and canal degradation. According to Vu 
Ngoc Long, the former Director of The Southern 
Institute of Ecology, if “we are tardy for 
restoration of the original function of canal 
systems in HCMC, the city is forecasted to suffer 
the terrible impact of climate change, the quality 
of life of people will be severely affected within 
10 to 20 years.” 
Noticeably, there are several backlog cases 
that have yet to be handled. For instance, Tan 
Hung Co, LTD. built illegal and embankment in 
district 8, comprising of and electrical pole with 
400 meters in length on the river route to Cho 
Dem. In addition, households of Bui Thi Thanh 
Van in District 9 levelled and filled a canal 
branch of Ba Cua. Unmistakably, a series of 
other long-standing violations have existed and 
caused sizable damage to riverbeds and the 
individuals dependent on these waterways. Not 
only are ecological issues a concern, but the 
challenges of social livelihoods deeply imbedded 
in the river and canal networks. 
The corollaries of encroachment are narrowing 
and changing water flow, affecting sedimentation 
and agriculture, changing flood patterns, water 
pollution and even drought; the corollary of 
levelling and construction result in landslides 
surrounding and within the riverbeds, limiting 
water storage capacity and changing the natural 
water patterns. Many canals are violated and 
turned into sewers, inhibiting water flow 
andresulting in stagnation, trash collection, and 
promotion of water-born illnesses. Conversely, 
people also build houses, roads and other public 
and social infrastructure. Mr. Nguyen Van Hiep, 
former Deputy Director of HCMC Department of 
Construction, emphasized “the death ofrivers and 
canals is definitely due to human factors; 
however, the responsibility of Agency 
management is very ... opean mountainous 
regions. The Intent of PHUSICOS was to 
implement nature-based solutions involving the 
quadruple helix model – government, industry, 
academia and civil servants. In order for 
PHUSICOS to succeed, the European Union 
identified the need for multi-stakeholder 
participation and expertise in implementation of 
research, development and innovation projects 
(RDI’s). The Living Lab model is employed to 
effectively acknowledge the implementability 
gap and has been distinguished as a successful 
approach to high-creative solution design 
(European Commission, 2018). 
By using the living labs approach and involving 
an interface environment between stakeholders, 
the project was able to “to solve important 
research questions and generate new insights to 
key impact factors supporting a functioning 
Living Lab approach in the context of sustainable 
land use planning, NBS implementation and 
climate change mitigation” (European 
Commission, 2018; pg. 12). The benefits 
provided by involving a Living Labs approach 
has positively affected the outcome of the 
PHUSICOS project through problem 
identification and innovation technology, as well 
as the creation of new projects. These included 
the Green Surge Project and the Isar River 
restoration project. 
Green Surge 
The Green Surge project was established 
through the European Commission’s Seventh 
Framework Programme as an initiative that 
involved the Living Labs methodology. The 
project’s aim was to test different ways to 
connect green spaces and people in the “context 
of land use conflicts, climate change adaptation, 
demographic changes, and human health and 
wellbeing” (European Commission, 2018; pg. 
18). 
Amidst these challenges, the innovative and 
bottom-up approach of the Living Lab’s 
environment allowed for interesting lessons and 
Vision Plan Implementation
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results of the project. The Living Labs were 
established in five urban cities throughout 
Europe, providing a continuous co-production of 
knowledge demand and knowledge supply, 
which allowed for tailor-made recommendations 
for each city as well as in a broader European 
context. As a result of the living lab, the project 
was able to form Learning Alliances, therein 
forming an intensive knowledge exchange. They 
identified areas of green that could be connected 
for better performance, and they implemented 
new policies and regulations for green space 
maintenance and gave policy-makers new-
founded confidence on urban green-
infrastructure technology and implementation 
(Mattiissen et al., 2017). 
Isar River, Germany 
Isar River, Germany, used Living Labs as a 
mechanism for river rehabilitation. Through 
living labs, the project was able to identify gaps 
within the flood protection strategy, identifying 
water capacity deficiencies of German damns in 
the instances of flood. Also, local authority and 
citizens were involved to address the water 
quality of the river, in addition to involving 
scientists to address the water flow speed to 
support ecological and social functions. It had 
been discovered that channeling the river 
weakened the flow strength of the river, with 
caused problems for citizens and sedimentation 
flow. Furthermore, the poor aesthetic of the river 
due to grey infrastructure initiatives was 
addressed and corrected. As a result, the Living 
Lab environment addressed specific problems 
with the Isar River, summoned stakeholders, 
created a vision, gathered appropriate funding 
and implemented a plan. The outcome proved to 
be highly successful (Mattiissen et al., 2017). 
Living Labs as Cultural Preservation 
Throughout many countries in Asia, Living Labs 
have been explored for the purpose of cultural 
preservation. For example, the capital of the 
West Java Province, Banding, is utilizing a 
collaborative approach with local officials, 
specialist architects, academics and local citizens 
to develop open areas as ‘smart green spaces.’ 
Problem areas were identified in safety and 
transportation concerns with underutilized plots. 
As a result, they have newly organized festivals 
from an emerging civil society called the BCCF, 
innovative designs for new parks, and new bike 
sharing and pedestrian schemes. This also 
prompted major financial investment through the 
city’s initiative (Mangano et al., 2016). 
Living Labs can also be seen in the Southeast 
Asian Creative Cities Network comprised of 
Indonesia, Malaysia, The Philippines and 
Thailand. This initiative formed as a result of a 
lack of permanent spaces to share knowledge and 
a lack of participant cities. The Living Lab is 
composed of representatives from ten different 
cities, the British Counsel, CMU STeP and 
Creative Chiangmai, while involving local 
experts and citizens. There is an abundant 
exchange of ideas, resources and expertise to 
expand the countries involved. Joint bids for 
public agency or private funding were formed, 
which allowed for the creation of competitions, 
joint activities, events and symposiums 
(Mangano et al., 2016). Overall, this initiative 
has fostered a more creative environment and 
focused on the value of innovative thinking. 
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Xuyen Tam Canal 
Introduction 
City is well known for dense canal/waterway 
networks which played critical roles in its spatial, 
social cultural and economic characteristics; 
differently defined through history; of which 
those with more layers of usages overtime should 
generate more values than those of vacancy and 
ignorance. Among those, Xuyen Tam seem 
belongs to the second category which, for along 
time, gradually occupied by informal settlements 
and usages. 
Compared to other historically significant 
canals such as Tau Hu Ben Nghe, Kenh Te, Kenh 
Doi, ad Nhieu Loc Thi Nghe, Xuyen Tam is 
rather small and less important to the foundation 
and development of the city. However, the fact 
that it runs across only Binh Thanh District, its 
curvy shape, its shallow and narrow are 
somehow distinctive and potential for locally 
community-based upgrading activities. 
Since 1990s, some major canal upgrading 
projects have been carried out, helped transform 
some waterfront sections to better conditions, 
evidenced along canals such as Nhieu loc Thi 
Nghe, Tau Hu Ben Nghe, Tan Hoa Lo Gom, etc. 
However, it is argued that apart from the water 
and spatial qualities’ improvements, valuable 
community – based social cultural characteristics 
have been missed; the spatial patterns along sides 
waterways have also controversial due to the 
removals of many significant 
buildings/architecture, the chaotic building 
scales, heights, shapes, sizes, densities, setbacks 
and landuses. These are challenges for Xuyen 
Tam channel rehabilitation that need more 
innovative approaches. 
Current Issues 
Xuyen Tam channel flows through Binh 
Thanh District with a subcatchment of 600 
hectares and a length of 8.2 km, including 6.2 km 
of the main route connecting Nhieu Loc-Thi 
Nghe canal to Vam Thuat river and 2 km 
consisting of 3 total branches (Son Bridge, 
BinhTrieu and BinhLoi). This channel is one of 
the most polluted HCMC waterways due to the 
domestic waste of over 2,000 households living 
along it. Additionally, the channel cross section 
is narrowing due to encroachment on the 
riverbanksfrom illegal settlements, and excess 
sedimentation from a lack of dredging. As a 
result, local residents have been living in 
conditions prime for flooding and water-related 
diseases for the past 20 years†. 
The proposal of Xuyen Tam channel 
rehabilitation‡, approved by HCMC People’s 
Committee in 2002, includedimprovement in 
sanitation practices, infrastructure construction, 
and urban landscape planning. Yet, it has not 
been implemented because of difficulties to 
secure investment, even though investment 
capital has been steadily increasing in works of 
compensatory and construction. There is also the 
issue of re-encroachment, which further delays 
construction efforts. Therefore, the city has 
recognized a need for contributions of relevant 
stakeholders, such as HCMC departments, 
university researchers, construction agencies, and 
other applicable agents to evaluate advantages 
and disadvantages of implementing the Xuyen 
Tam channel rehabilitation project in the near 
future. 
†https://web.archive.org/web/20171120164452/https://
tuoitre.vn/song-o-noi-o-nhiem-nhat-tp-hcm-
20171118170223132.htm 
‡
rach-xuyen-tam-609442.html 
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The layout of Xuyen Tam channel. (Source: Internet, Googel Map) 
Application of “Living Lab” in the Context of 
Xuyen Tam Canal 
The five characteristics of Living Labs have been 
applied to the case of Xuyen Tam Canal. Below 
are the displayed mechanisms to improve the 
project’s outcome: 
1. Multi-Method Approach 
- MOTA analysis of implementation possibility 
(Ho et al. 2015, Nguyen et al, 2019) 
- Multi-purpose landscape planning 
- Circular economy business model 
2. User Engagement 
- Land developers 
- International donors 
- Local authorities 
- Business partners 
- Local communities 
- NGOs 
3. Multi-StakeholderParticipation 
- Vision development and sharing 
- Action plan development 
- Call for investment 
- Implementation and Monitoring 
4. Real-life Setting 
- Public works 
- Waste management 
- Plastic waste management 
- Local livelihoods 
- Environmental monitoring 
5. Innovation and co-Creation 
- Smart city 
- Flood resilience 
- Public and green space 
- Business models 
Conclusion 
Encroachment of the river and canal systems 
in Ho Chi Minh City persists as a leading cause 
of water pollution, flooding and ecological 
degradation. This can have serious consequences 
on the livelihoods of citizens and overall 
resiliency of HCMC, especially concerning water 
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management. It is still difficult, however, for the 
city to solve water-related issues givenlack of 
holistic perspectives - lack of stakeholder 
involvement, limited implementation capacities, 
and inadequate solution proposals. 
In this paper, we introduced the concept of 
“Living Labs” with several examples in the 
world, primarily Europe and Southeast Asia. 
Living Labs can be used in both environmental 
and social contexts and provides demonstrated 
improvement in project outcomes. We also 
introduced the case study of canal rehabilitation 
for Xuyen Tam Canal, proposing Living Labs as 
a viable solution to acquire funding, implement 
new technology and involve all stakeholders in 
order to co-Create and identify implementation 
gaps. Accordingly, we would like to stress the 
importance ofLiving Labsas a new, integrated 
approach with numerous advantages which can 
offer a solution for HCMC’s water crisis. 
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