Urbanization, Migration and Poverty in a Vietnamese Metropolis: Ho Chi Minh City in Comparative Perspectives

Urbanization, Migration, and Poverty in a Vietnamese Metropolis presents the findings of a major interdisciplinary research project led by the SSRC's Vietnam Program and sponsored by the Ford Foundation. The project gathered data on more than 1,000 households in Ho Chi Minh City over a three-year period to study migration flows, as well as in four sending communities in different regions of Vietnam. The research shows that, despite official claims to the contrary, urban poverty has risen in Ho Chi Minh City, particularly among migrants. Microcredit and other poverty reduction programs have had little impact on household mobility. At the same time, however, the well-being of many households has improved as a result of growth-related economic opportunites.