Deconstructing coastal sustainable development policies: towards a political ecology of coastalscapes in Vietnam

Sustainable development has become the mantra, or the global utopia, for multiscalar development worldwide, being promoted by governments and international organisations through the support to social and environmental policies. However, the concept of sustainability, as well as the Agenda 2030 and SDGs, remain controversial due to socio-political and environmental contradictions. This article analyses the promotion of Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) and related initiatives oriented towards sustainable coastal governance in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. It emerges that these policies, rather than promoting sustainable coastal governance and preserving local communities practices and knowledge, support a controversial green growth vision and the unsustainable neoliberalisation of socio-environmental practices.