Massimo Risoli (BA Geography) joins us to discuss the research project "The Left Behind in Can Tho, Viet Nam : Smart Cities, Climate Change and Everyday Inequality" which is part of the Sustainability & Resilience Institute (University of Southampton) and Mekong Institute (Can Tho University) research collaboration.

In this episode Massimo discusses his dissertation, based on qualitative fieldwork in Can Tho, the largest city in the Mekong Delta in Viet Nam. Drawing on thirteen semi-structured interviews, a focus group, and an interview with a local NGO conducted in June 2025, the research explores how smart city development shapes everyday experiences of flooding, digital inclusion, and urban inequality.  

Building on Ayona Datta’s (2018) concept of digital visibility, the research argues that digital legibility increasingly determines which places, people and problems receive political attention and investment. While every participant identified flooding as a defining part of daily life and almost all had experienced climate-related displacement, none associated smart city development with climate adaptation. Rather than reflecting a lack of awareness, this reveals a deeper governance logic in which digitally visible forms of development are prioritised over long-term climate resilience.  

The episode highlights why placing local voices at the centre of sustainability and smart city policies is essential if urban development is to be genuinely inclusive.

Key readings

• Datta, A. (2018). The digital turn in postcolonial urbanism: Smart citizenship in the making of India’s 100 smart cities.
• Hollands, R.G. (2008). Will the real smart city please stand up?
• Heeks, R. (2022). Digital inequality beyond the digital divide.
• Tran, T.A. (2020). From free to forced adaptation: A political ecology of the ‘state–society–flood’ nexus in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta.   

Guest: Massimo Risoli, BA Geography

Host: Prof Simon Kemp

Producer & Editor: Jack Dinham

The Meliora Podcast Student Research Symposium is part of the 2026 Student Takeover Season where we celebrate the fantastic sustainability research work of our Undergraduate Students.