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South and Southeast Asia is facing a compounded environmental crisis at the intersection of climate-induced flooding and widespread water contamination, with profound implications for human health, ecological stability, and regional development. This chapter critically examines the systemic drivers and cascading consequences of recurrent flooding across diverse typologies, including flash floods, riverine inundation, urban waterlogging, and coastal surges, and their role in mobilizing biological, chemical, and emerging contaminants. Drawing from interdisciplinary evidence and region-specific case studies from Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, the chapter demonstrates how infrastructural fragilities, governance failures, and socio-spatial inequalities exacerbate exposure to waterborne pathogens, heavy metals, and persistent pollutants such as arsenic and microplastics. The analysis foregrounds vulnerable populations, particularly those in informal settlements, who bear the brunt of both infrastructural neglect and institutional exclusion. By bridging insights from environmental science, urban planning, and public health, the chapter advances a holistic framework for resilience grounded in adaptive infrastructure, inclusive policy design, and regionally coordinated responses. It also underscores the strategic relevance of community-based knowledge systems, decentralized wastewater solutions, and digital innovations (e.g., geospatial flood mapping) in strengthening disaster preparedness and water security. In reframing Southeast Asia’s water crisis as a multidimensional governance and equity challenge, the chapter contributes novel pathways for research and policy integration in climate-vulnerable regions. The chapter repositions flooding and water contamination as interconnected governance and justice challenges—rather than isolated environmental events—providing a platform for rethinking integrated water management under climate uncertainty. It calls for an urgent, interdisciplinary reorientation of water and disaster management systems to avert a deepening cycle of socio-environmental risk.

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South and Southeast Asia’s Flooding and Water Contamination Crisis

  • 章节

  • 发表日期：

    2026年

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  • Matthew Chidozie Ogwu,
  • Attachai Jintrawet

摘要

South and Southeast Asia is facing a compounded environmental crisis at the intersection of climate-induced flooding and widespread water contamination, with profound implications for human health, ecological stability, and regional development. This chapter critically examines the systemic drivers and cascading consequences of recurrent flooding across diverse typologies, including flash floods, riverine inundation, urban waterlogging, and coastal surges, and their role in mobilizing biological, chemical, and emerging contaminants. Drawing from interdisciplinary evidence and region-specific case studies from Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, the chapter demonstrates how infrastructural fragilities, governance failures, and socio-spatial inequalities exacerbate exposure to waterborne pathogens, heavy metals, and persistent pollutants such as arsenic and microplastics. The analysis foregrounds vulnerable populations, particularly those in informal settlements, who bear the brunt of both infrastructural neglect and institutional exclusion. By bridging insights from environmental science, urban planning, and public health, the chapter advances a holistic framework for resilience grounded in adaptive infrastructure, inclusive policy design, and regionally coordinated responses. It also underscores the strategic relevance of community-based knowledge systems, decentralized wastewater solutions, and digital innovations (e.g., geospatial flood mapping) in strengthening disaster preparedness and water security. In reframing Southeast Asia’s water crisis as a multidimensional governance and equity challenge, the chapter contributes novel pathways for research and policy integration in climate-vulnerable regions. The chapter repositions flooding and water contamination as interconnected governance and justice challenges—rather than isolated environmental events—providing a platform for rethinking integrated water management under climate uncertainty. It calls for an urgent, interdisciplinary reorientation of water and disaster management systems to avert a deepening cycle of socio-environmental risk.