Development-induced peri-urban resettlement

Vietnam’s rapid economic growth in recent years has driven burgeoning demand for electricity supplies and infrastructure, spurring a proliferation of hydropower and other large infrastructure projects. While poverty rates have declined rapidly among majority Kinh residents, residents from ethnic minority groups continue to lag for most development indicators, including nutrition and health; household income; education; and gender parity. Resettlement of development-displaced residents in peri-urban areas has been a popular strategy in countries like China. The majority of large hydropower dam projects in developing nations are located in remote river watershed regions that may host a significant population of ethnic minority or indigenous residents. The traditional rural Cotu village is an administrative unit akin to all recognized Vietnamese villages, administered at communal, district and provincial levels and presided over by an elected headman.