Exploring the relationship between urban morphology types and household-level flood vulnerability profiles in Ho Chi Minh city

Flood vulnerability in rapidly urbanizing cities is not only a function of hazard exposure but is also produced through the social and spatial configurations of urban life. In Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, we examine how household-level vulnerability is shaped by the intersection of urban morphology and everyday socio-economic conditions. Drawing on 554 households in 2020 and 2023, we develop groups based on both indices and profiles of social vulnerability and flood exposure, using factor analysis of mixed data and hierarchical clustering. These are situated within two distinct morphological frameworks: Urban Structure Types and Local Climate Zones. Our analysis shows, first, that household groups are unevenly distributed across morphologies, reflecting underlying urban development stages or regional climate conditions. Second, vulnerability is not fixed but relative, shifting across space and time in relation to social differentiation and morphological context. Third, during the COVID-19 pandemic, many households reported greater resilience, linked to improved warning systems, reduced flood events, and enhanced collective organization. We argue that interpreting vulnerability through both morphology and social profiling illuminates the entanglement of urban form, inequality, and adaptation, offering new entry points for inclusive resilience planning in flood-prone megacities.