by Juan Inoriza
Abstract
This article traces the historical evolution of Cần Thơ, a major city in southern Vietnam, from its earliest known references to its current status as an economic and educational hub in the Mekong Delta. It analyses the area’s transformation through major historical epochs, including the Khmer era, Vietnamese expansion, French colonisation, the Vietnam War, and the post-reunification period, focusing on demographic patterns, rural and urban development, social hierarchies, and economic dynamics.
1. Early History and Khmer Influence
Before the arrival of Vietnamese settlers, the area now known as Cần Thơ lay within the broader territorial domain of the Khmer Empire, which exercised control over large parts of the Mekong Delta from approximately the 9th to the 17th centuries CE. The Khmer referred to the region as part of their territory of Prey Nokor or Bassac, and archaeological evidence, including stelae, temple remains, and ceramics, suggests the presence of Khmer religious and trading settlements along the riverbanks, often structured around Theravāda Buddhist practices and seasonal wet rice cultivation.
The Mekong Delta during this period was an ecological frontier: a complex mesh of floodplains, swamps, forests, and alluvial islets. Its low population density was shaped by both environmental constraints and reliance on subsistence agriculture, fishing, and small-scale trade. Social organisation was generally village-based, with clan or temple authorities playing central roles in water management and ritual life. Despite its marginal location, the delta formed a vital part of Khmer trade networks, which connected inland regions with the sea and facilitated interaction with maritime traders from China, India, and the Malay Archipelago.
The Vietnamese southward expansion, known as Nam Tiến (“March to the South”), gained momentum in the 17th century following internal conflicts in Đại Việt (present-day northern and central Vietnam). As the Nguyễn lords consolidated control over southern territories, they encouraged mass migration of ethnic Vietnamese (Kinh) into the Mekong Delta. This settlement drive accelerated following the decline of Khmer political power and the increasing encroachment of Siamese (Thai) and Vietnamese forces into Khmer lands.
Cần Thơ emerged during this period as one of several key agrarian settlements supported by ambitious hydraulic engineering works. The Nguyễn administration organised the construction of irrigation canals, embankments, and drainage systems, which transformed wetlands into cultivable land. These projects not only enabled intensive wet rice agriculture but also served military and logistical functions, reinforcing territorial control and facilitating troop movements. Vietnamese migrants also introduced Confucian bureaucratic norms, new village administrative structures, and a different spiritual landscape, gradually displacing or integrating Khmer cultural institutions.
The etymology of “Cần Thơ” remains a topic of historical debate. Some sources suggest it is derived from “Cầm Thi Giang” (River of Poems), a romanticised name reflecting the serenity of the waterways and their literary associations. Others argue for a more utilitarian origin: the phrase “Cần Trù”, referring to military provisioning or logistic depots used during campaigns by Nguyễn military units. Over time, linguistic evolution and transliteration may have resulted in the modern name. In Khmer, the city is still sometimes referred to by its older names, including Bassac or Prek Russey, hinting at the region’s layered cultural memory.
Thus, the early history of Cần Thơ encapsulates a critical moment of cultural intersection and ecological transformation, as the delta shifted from a loosely governed Khmer frontier to a strategically integrated component of the expanding Vietnamese polity.
2. From Rural Agrarianism to Proto-Urbanisation
For much of its early history, Cần Thơ functioned primarily as a rural agrarian landscape, integrated into the ecological rhythm of the Mekong Delta’s hydrological cycles. The region’s fertile alluvial soil and seasonal flooding made it especially suitable for wet rice cultivation, which quickly became the dominant mode of subsistence and economic activity. Villages were often dispersed along riverbanks or canal systems, with agriculture organised around extended kinship units. Livelihoods were supplemented by fishing, small-scale animal husbandry, and artisanal production, contributing to a predominantly self-sufficient rural economy.
The cultivation of rice, however, was neither static nor purely organic. From the 18th century onwards, especially under the Nguyễn lords and later the Nguyễn dynasty, agricultural production in the region was significantly transformed by state-driven initiatives. These included the expansion of canal networks, the construction of dikes and embankments, and the imposition of taxation systems tied to rice yields. The state’s interest in the Mekong Delta lay not only in its economic potential but also in its geopolitical value, as a granary for the southern provinces and a frontier buffer zone against Khmer and Siamese influence.
By the early 19th century, Cần Thơ had become a key node in the southern agrarian economy, supplying rice to the imperial court and northern provinces via the Delta’s interconnected waterways. The Gia Long and Minh Mạng courts deployed administrators and surveyors to regulate land tenure and oversee hydraulic works, increasingly integrating the region into the imperial bureaucratic framework. Cần Thơ’s strategic location on the Hậu River (Bassac River) rendered it not only agriculturally productive but also logistically advantageous for trade and governance.
The onset of French colonial rule marked a turning point in Cần Thơ’s spatial and administrative development. Following the annexation of Cochinchina in 1867, French authorities initiated a sweeping reorganisation of the Mekong Delta’s governance, taxation, and infrastructure. Cần Thơ was designated a district capital (chef-lieu de district) and later elevated to provincial centre status in 1889, reflecting its growing importance within the colonial administrative hierarchy.
Under colonial auspices, Cần Thơ’s rural base began to acquire urban characteristics, particularly in its central districts. The French constructed municipal offices, gendarmerie posts, customs houses, and storage depots, alongside ports, warehouses, and telegraph lines, effectively inserting the city into the global commodity economy of the 19th century. Rice exports from the region were routed through Saigon to European and East Asian markets, while imported manufactured goods flowed in the opposite direction.
Urban planning followed the typical colonial pattern of dualism: a small French quarter with European-style villas, wide boulevards, and administrative buildings was juxtaposed against a much larger indigenous quarter, where Vietnamese and Chinese (Hoa) communities lived and traded under dense, often poorly serviced conditions. Nevertheless, the infrastructure laid down during this period, particularly roadways and steamboat-accessible canals, set the foundation for Cần Thơ’s later urban expansion in the 20th century.
While the majority of the population remained tied to rice farming and riverine trade, the city also began to attract a nascent class of civil servants, traders, and artisans, many of whom were educated in French-run schools and served in the colonial bureaucracy. This gradual socio-economic diversification contributed to Cần Thơ’s transformation from a rural agrarian zone into a proto-urban centre, embedded within the colonial state’s extractive apparatus but increasingly animated by local agency and regional connectivity.
3. Population and Social Stratification
Historically, Cần Thơ has been characterised by a multi-ethnic population, shaped by successive waves of migration, imperial expansion, and colonial reorganisation. The Kinh (ethnic Vietnamese) have constituted the demographic majority since the late 17th century, following the Vietnamese southward migration (Nam Tiến). However, the region also retained a substantial Khmer minority, whose presence predated Vietnamese settlement and who remained culturally and linguistically distinct, particularly in rural districts bordering Sóc Trăng and Trà Vinh provinces. The Khmer communities, typically Buddhist and engaged in subsistence agriculture and artisanal crafts, often faced marginalisation under both Vietnamese imperial and colonial administrations, with limited access to formal education or land ownership rights.
Another integral component of Cần Thơ’s demographic makeup has been the Hoa (ethnic Chinese) community. Arriving in significant numbers from the late 18th century onward, many as refugees following the fall of the Ming dynasty and the Tây Sơn upheavals, the Hoa played a prominent role in the urban economy, particularly in rice milling, wholesale trade, banking, and supply chain logistics. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, they formed the merchant elite of Cần Thơ, controlling critical segments of commerce and interprovincial trade routes via riverine and canal networks. Their influence was concentrated in urban markets, port facilities, and guild-like associations, and they often maintained separate schools, temples, and cemeteries, reflecting a degree of cultural autonomy.
With the establishment of French colonial rule in Cochinchina (1867), European settlers, primarily French administrators, military officers, engineers, and plantation owners, began to appear in Cần Thơ. While their numbers were small, they occupied the apex of the colonial hierarchy, residing in segregated districts with access to exclusive amenities and legal privileges under the Code de l’Indigénat. The colonial legal order explicitly differentiated subjects (Vietnamese, Khmer, and Chinese) from French citizens, reinforcing structural inequality in education, justice, and land tenure.
Social stratification during the colonial period was sharply pronounced. At the top of the local hierarchy stood a small elite class of large landowners, many of whom were Vietnamese mandarins who had collaborated with the colonial regime and retained significant local power. This class was closely allied with Chinese commercial interests and the French bureaucracy. Beneath them emerged a small but growing educated middle class, consisting of Vietnamese civil servants, schoolteachers, low-ranking officials, and merchants. Educated in Franco-Vietnamese schools, this class played an ambivalent role, both serving the colonial apparatus and, over time, forming the basis of early nationalist and anti-colonial movements. The overwhelming majority of the population, however, consisted of tenant farmers, day labourers, and landless peasants, particularly in the rice-producing hinterlands. Land concentration was a major socio-economic issue: by the early 20th century, a significant portion of arable land was held by a small number of absentee landlords, while peasants either rented plots at high rates or worked as sharecroppers under exploitative conditions. Rural poverty, food insecurity, and indebtedness were widespread, and rural revolts occasionally broke out in response to rising rents, debt foreclosure, and land dispossession.
Labour migration and seasonal employment also gave rise to a floating population of workers, especially during the harvest season. These precarious labourers often found temporary employment in rice mills, on canal construction crews, or French-owned plantations, and lived in conditions of extreme hardship. The social consequences of such disparities were reflected in rising social unrest, a growing divide between town and countryside, and increasing ethnic tensions, particularly as French policies favoured certain groups (e.g., the Hoa in trade, the Kinh in administration) while sidelining others, such as the Khmer and the indigenous poor.
By the interwar period, Cần Thơ had developed a socially fragmented but economically vital character: a city where colonial modernity coexisted with entrenched feudal hierarchies, and where urban commercial vibrancy was underpinned by agrarian exploitation and ethnically stratified labour markets.
4. Colonialism and Modern Infrastructure (1867–1954)
The French annexation of Cochinchina in 1867 marked the beginning of a fundamental transformation of Cần Thơ’s spatial, economic, and political landscape. As part of the colonial reconfiguration of southern Vietnam, Cần Thơ was strategically integrated into the export-oriented economy of the Mekong Delta, serving both as an administrative centre and as a logistical node in the colonial rice economy. The French authorities regarded the Mekong region not only as a rich source of agricultural surplus, particularly rice, but also as a region requiring extensive infrastructural investment to support commercial extraction and control.
By the late 19th century, Cần Thơ had evolved into a regional hub for the collection, processing, and transportation of rice. Its geographic location on the Hậu River made it a natural entrepôt for linking inland rice-growing districts with Saigon (modern-day Ho Chi Minh City) and international maritime routes. The colonial administration invested in the development of infrastructure geared toward export efficiency: a modernised port, customs facilities, warehouses, and transport arteries, including roads and navigable canals, were constructed to facilitate the flow of rice, indigo, and other cash crops to global markets, especially France, China, and Japan.
The French also established state monopolies on salt, alcohol, and opium, turning Cần Thơ into an administrative centre for fiscal collection and surveillance. These extractive policies entrenched a colonial economy in which value flowed outward, toward colonial capitals and overseas markets, while relatively little reinvestment was made in local welfare or rural development. Consequently, while infrastructure flourished in Cần Thơ’s urban core, surrounding rural areas often lacked basic services, perpetuating developmental imbalances that persisted beyond the colonial era.
The imposition of French rule also brought about cultural and administrative changes. A new colonial legal system, based on the Code de l’Indigénat, was implemented, granting special legal status to French citizens while relegating indigenous populations to a lower juridical category. Education, likewise, was bifurcated: a small number of Franco-Vietnamese schools were established in Cần Thơ to train a collaborative class of Vietnamese civil servants, but the vast majority of the population remained illiterate or minimally educated. Instruction was conducted in French, and access was often mediated by class and ethnicity, with priority given to urban Kinh and Hoa elites.
Despite this, the colonial period also saw the emergence of a modern public sphere, particularly in urban centres like Cần Thơ. Newspapers, literary societies, student associations, and patriotic clubs began to emerge in the interwar years, many inspired by reformist movements in China, Japan, and France. Nationalist sentiment was further fuelled by economic inequality, political exclusion, and cultural alienation, creating fertile ground for anti-colonial activism. In the 1920s and 1930s, members of the urban intelligentsia in Cần Thơ began to align with broader nationalist currents, including the Vietnamese Nationalist Party (VNQDD) and various branches of the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP), founded by Ho Chi Minh in 1930.
While the city remained under tight colonial surveillance, labour unrest, student protests, and clandestine political meetings increasingly punctuated its political life, particularly as the economic depression of the 1930s intensified hardship for tenant farmers and mill workers. The growth of the working class and the emergence of a politicised rural underclass challenged the image of colonial “progress” projected by the French and contributed to a more complex, contested vision of modernity in the Delta.
By the end of the colonial period in 1954, Cần Thơ had become a microcosm of colonial contradictions: a city with modern infrastructure and commercial dynamism, yet embedded in a profoundly unequal and racially stratified system. Its legacy included both the material foundations of urban modernity and the social tensions that would erupt in the revolutionary decades that followed.
5. War and Turbulence: The Vietnam War Era
The Vietnam War brought profound disruption and militarisation to Cần Thơ and the wider Mekong Delta. As the capital of Phong Dinh Province, Cần Thơ held strategic importance for the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), particularly as the seat of IV Corps Tactical Zone, which was responsible for military operations in the southwestern region of the country. From the late 1950s onwards, the city hosted a growing number of South Vietnamese Army (ARVN) command posts, as well as U.S. military advisors, civil engineers, intelligence operatives, and aid personnel under the auspices of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV).
The establishment of a U.S. airbase and a logistical operations centre in Cần Thơ marked the city as a hub for both counterinsurgency and development efforts. These facilities played vital roles in surveillance, troop movements, and the coordination of air support across the Delta. The Cần Thơ Air Base, also known as Binh Thuy Air Base, was constructed and expanded by American forces to support a wide range of military operations. In addition to accommodating combat aircraft, the base facilitated medevac helicopters, aerial reconnaissance, cargo transport, and logistical support missions, including defoliant spraying and the coordination of supply convoys to remote outposts, making it a critical asset in sustaining counterinsurgency efforts throughout the Mekong Delta. Moreover, Cần Thơ became a centre for USAID programs, designed to win “hearts and minds” through civic action, agricultural training, and public health campaigns, although the effectiveness of these efforts was mixed and frequently undermined by ongoing violence and administrative corruption.
Although Cần Thơ did not experience the extensive bombing seen in northern provinces or along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the city and its surrounding rural districts were far from peaceful. The region was highly contested between ARVN forces and the National Liberation Front (NLF), commonly known as the Viet Cong. The NLF had strong support in the countryside, particularly among landless peasants and tenant farmers disillusioned by state neglect and unequal land distribution. Their guerrilla tactics, ambushes, sabotage of roads and canals, and targeted assassinations, prompted equally aggressive counterinsurgency responses. These included forced relocation programs, Strategic Hamlets, and extensive sweep operations by South Vietnamese and American troops.
Such conflict exacted a heavy toll on the rural population. Agricultural disruption was widespread due to the destruction of irrigation systems, mine-laden fields, and chemical defoliation operations. Infrastructure deteriorated, and local markets were frequently cut off from urban supply chains due to security concerns. Thousands of civilians were displaced, either fleeing to urban centres like Cần Thơ or being forcibly moved as part of military planning. The urban population swelled rapidly, creating overcrowded slums and straining public services, while rural depopulation further weakened the agrarian economy.
Political divisions were also acute. While the ARVN and U.S. maintained nominal control over Cần Thơ’s urban centre, Viet Cong influence remained strong in surrounding villages, especially at night. Assassinations of local officials, village chiefs, and teachers were not uncommon, and the climate of fear affected both civilian morale and administrative functioning. Meanwhile, the war economy generated black markets, inflation, and profiteering, further corroding trust in state institutions.
As the war dragged on into the 1970s, morale among South Vietnamese forces deteriorated, and American troop withdrawals under President Nixon’s “Vietnamization” policy left provincial capitals like Cần Thơ increasingly vulnerable. Yet, the city remained under government control until the final months of the war. Following the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, Cần Thơ surrendered to North Vietnamese forces and the Provisional Revolutionary Government shortly thereafter, marking the end of the conflict in the region.
The war left deep scars. The collapse of formal institutions, the destruction of productive land, and the trauma of mass displacement created long-term challenges for post-war reconstruction. Nonetheless, Cần Thơ’s urban infrastructure, much of it initially built during the colonial period and expanded during the American era, provided a foundation for recovery in the ensuing decades of reunified governance.
6. Socialist Transformation and Reunification (1975–1986)
The end of the Vietnam War in 1975 ushered in a new era for Cần Thơ, as the city became part of the newly reunified Socialist Republic of Vietnam. In the immediate aftermath of the war, Cần Thơ was administratively incorporated into Hậu Giang Province (later reorganised again in the early 2000s), and came under the authority of the centralised socialist government based in Hanoi. The priorities of the state included national integration, post-war reconstruction, and the ideological transformation of southern society along Marxist–Leninist principles.
One of the central pillars of the post-1975 transformation was the implementation of a centrally planned economy, which involved collectivisation of agriculture, state control over trade and pricing, and the consolidation of private enterprises into cooperatives and state-owned entities. In the Mekong Delta, this marked a radical departure from previous economic patterns. Private rice farming, which had flourished under both colonial and capitalist regimes, was now replaced by state-directed production quotas, often implemented through agricultural cooperatives. Farmers were expected to pool land, tools, and labour into collective units managed by local officials and party cadres.
However, the collectivisation process in the south, including in Cần Thơ and its surrounding rural districts, faced significant resistance and logistical difficulties. Unlike the north, where collectivisation had been introduced decades earlier, southern farmers were unfamiliar with and often reluctant to adopt collective models, especially in a region characterised by household-based production and strong local market networks. Implementation was frequently coercive, and morale among peasants declined as production targets proved unrealistic, and state procurement prices were far below market value.
In tandem with rural collectivisation, the government also imposed strict controls on trade to eradicate capitalist modes of exchange. Private commerce was declared illegal, and state-run distribution networks were created to control the supply of goods. However, these systems were plagued by inefficiency, corruption, and chronic shortages. In Cần Thơ, as in much of southern Vietnam, essential commodities, including food, fuel, and medicine, became scarce, leading to the emergence of black markets and informal trading networks. Urban dwellers, including civil servants and professionals, often relied on family connections to rural areas to access food, contributing to the widespread informalisation of the economy.
The economic and social hardships of this period were compounded by the isolation of Vietnam on the international stage. Following its invasion of Cambodia in 1978 and alignment with the Soviet Union, Vietnam faced economic embargoes from Western nations and regional hostility from China. These geopolitical tensions translated into limited access to foreign aid, trade, and investment, further undermining development efforts in regions like the Mekong Delta. In Cần Thơ, infrastructure deteriorated, urban unemployment rose, and public services, particularly in health and education, struggled under budgetary constraints.
Despite the hardship, the state pursued various ideological campaigns, including re-education programs for former South Vietnamese officials, socialist cultural production, and mass political mobilisation through the Vietnam Fatherland Front and trade unions. Cần Thơ, as a provincial centre, hosted regular political meetings and state-sponsored cultural events, though popular participation was often limited by fatigue and disillusionment.
By the mid-1980s, the cumulative effect of economic mismanagement, social unrest, and institutional stagnation prompted calls within the Communist Party of Vietnam for reform. The Đổi Mới (“Renovation”) reforms, officially introduced in 1986, would mark a decisive shift away from rigid central planning toward market-oriented socialism, fundamentally reshaping Cần Thơ’s development trajectory in the following decades.
7. Đổi Mới and the Rise of a Regional Metropolis (1986–Present)
The launch of Đổi Mới (“Renovation”) in 1986 by the Vietnamese Communist Party marked a historic turning point in national development policy. It entailed a shift from a centrally planned economy toward a “socialist-oriented market economy”, combining state direction with private enterprise and foreign investment. For Cần Thơ, these reforms catalysed a period of sustained transformation, positioning the city as a leading economic, educational, and logistical hub in the Mekong Delta.
In the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, the liberalisation of agriculture, domestic trade, and private enterprise unlocked the productive potential of the region. Cần Thơ benefited from its location on the Hậu River, a major distributary of the Mekong, which facilitated trade not only with Ho Chi Minh City and other parts of Vietnam but also with international markets via the South China Sea. The city became a key node in the rice value chain, serving as a centre for rice milling, storage, and export, while canal and river port infrastructure was upgraded to support increasing freight traffic.
This economic dynamism was further institutionalised with the city’s reclassification in 2004 as a centrally governed municipality (thành phố trực thuộc trung ương), one of only five in the country, separating it administratively from Hậu Giang Province. This elevation reflected both its rising population and its growing political importance as the de facto capital of the delta region. The change enabled Cần Thơ to access greater fiscal resources, planning autonomy, and foreign investment, accelerating its infrastructural and institutional expansion.
Today, Cần Thơ is home to several nationally significant institutions. Chief among them is Cần Thơ University, founded in 1966 and now one of Vietnam’s premier research institutions, particularly in the fields of agriculture, aquaculture, and climate resilience. The Mekong Delta Rice Research Institute (CLRRI), established with state and international support, plays a vital role in developing new rice strains and agronomic practices suited to the delta’s increasingly volatile environment. Other important establishments include Cần Thơ University of Medicine and Pharmacy, the Southern Institute of Water Resources Planning, and multiple technical colleges and vocational schools.
Economically, the city has diversified beyond agriculture to include agro-processing, logistics, wholesale trade, healthcare, banking, and tourism. Several industrial zones, such as Trà Nóc Industrial Park and Hưng Phú Industrial Zone, house firms engaged in food processing, aquaculture exports, electronics assembly, and chemicals. The development of the Cần Thơ International Airport and the Cần Thơ Bridge (inaugurated in 2010) further integrated the city into national and global supply chains. Real estate and urban services have also boomed, driven by rapid rural-to-urban migration and rising demand from a growing middle class.
The city’s population now exceeds 1.2 million, and urbanisation has proceeded rapidly across the inner and outer districts. This growth, while emblematic of success, has also posed serious challenges. Environmental degradation, especially due to industrial pollution, riverbank erosion, and inadequate waste treatment, has become more pronounced. Seasonal flooding has worsened due to climate change and upstream hydropower development on the Mekong, threatening both urban infrastructure and agricultural production. Moreover, rural-urban disparities persist, as access to quality healthcare, education, and digital infrastructure remains uneven across different communes and wards.
Cần Thơ has thus emerged as a regional metropolis, dynamic and increasingly globalised, yet still facing complex development dilemmas. Scholars and policymakers continue to debate how the city can balance growth with resilience, inclusivity, and environmental sustainability in the face of 21st-century pressures.
Conclusion
The historical evolution of Cần Thơ serves as a compelling microcosm of the broader transformations experienced across Vietnam’s southern frontier. Originally embedded within the Khmer cultural and political sphere, the region’s early identity was rooted in indigenous agrarian traditions and spiritual landscapes shaped by the waterways of the Mekong. The gradual southward expansion (Nam Tiến) of Vietnamese settlers in the 17th and 18th centuries redefined this frontier space, transforming it into a new periphery of the Vietnamese state, both culturally assimilated and economically integrated through agriculture, especially rice cultivation.
With the advent of French colonialism, Cần Thơ was reimagined yet again: its canals, ports, and administrative structures were absorbed into the logic of the colonial export economy. During this period, the city’s role as a regional node intensified, but so did patterns of social stratification, land concentration, and ethnic hierarchy. French infrastructural investments modernised certain aspects of urban life, yet they also entrenched deep socio-economic inequalities, many of which persisted long after the end of colonial rule.
The city’s experience during the Vietnam War further underscored its strategic importance. As a military headquarters and logistical centre for both South Vietnamese and American forces, Cần Thơ was drawn into the conflict not only militarily, but also socially and economically. The war disrupted rural livelihoods, strained infrastructure, and created a legacy of displacement and ecological damage.
Following reunification in 1975, the city was subsumed into the centralised socialist economy, facing the challenges of collectivisation, trade isolation, and resource scarcity. Yet, in keeping with its historical pattern of resilience and reinvention, Cần Thơ emerged from this difficult period revitalised by the Đổi Mới reforms of the late 20th century. Today, it stands as a thriving regional metropolis, home to universities, research institutes, industrial zones, and a growing service sector, while continuing to anchor the agricultural productivity of the Mekong Delta.
Cần Thơ’s trajectory thus encapsulates the layered processes of migration, imperial expansion, war, ideology, and reform that have defined Vietnam’s modern history. Its evolution from a frontier settlement to an urban centre of national significance demonstrates the complex interplay between local agency and structural transformation, and between environmental constraints and political will. At the heart of this story lies a city whose development has never been linear, but whose adaptive capacity has allowed it to continually reinvent itself in the face of profound upheavals.
As contemporary challenges such as climate change, urban inequality, and regional governance become more acute, Cần Thơ once again finds itself at a historical crossroads, one that will test its ability to balance economic dynamism, environmental sustainability, and social equity in the decades to come.
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