Development of sustainable urban forms for high-density low-income Asian countries: The case of Vietnam: The institutional hindrance of the commons and anticommons

Urban development with sustainable urban forms in high-density low-income Asian countries is a great challenge in the context of acute land scarcity. Though the model of compact cities is a natural choice for high-density urbanizing Asia, fierce competition for limited urban land resources without effective governance often results in an unfavorable form of densification and urban compaction. From the perspective of land rights, this problematic urban form is generated in the presence of the anticommons and commons. The co-existence of the anticommons and the commons results in the under-utilization of scarce land resources and over-consumption of scarce environmental amenities, and the combination of the two constitutes a mechanism that induces a vicious cycle continuously degenerating urban environment, reducing social equity, and locking the city in an unsustainable form which exacerbates housing shortages and land scarcity. The case study of Vietnam has demonstrated that state capacity and governance should be the key factors for the city development in a sustainable urban form, as market failures of the anticommons and commons are caused by state failures.

► Sustainable urban forms for high-density low-income Asian countries are crucial for the sustainable urbanization while land is acutely scarce.
► An unfavorable form of urban densification is generated by the presence of the anticommons and commons.
► The combination of the anticommons and commons constitutes a mechanism that creates a vicious cycle continuously degenerating urban environment.
► The case study of Vietnam has demonstrated that state capacity should be the key factor for urban sustainability.