From the Countryside to the City: Environmental Transformations and the Impact of Urbanization, Land Use Changes, and Migration on Cambodian Life
Francis and Rose Yuen Campus in Hong Kong, The University of Chicago
May 22–25, 2025
Organizers:
Alan Kolata, University of Chicago
Sabina Shaikh, University of Chicago
Try Thuon, Royal University of Phnom Penh
Jonathan Johnson, UCLA
From the Countryside to the City: Environmental Transformations and the Impact of Urbanization, Land Use Changes, and Migration on Cambodian Life
Francis and Rose Yuen Campus in Hong Kong, The University of Chicago
May 22–25, 2025
Saturday, May 24, 2025
Panel 5: Future Scenarios of Environmental and Social Change in the Lower Mekong Basin
This panel focuses on the methods necessary to track ongoing socio-environmental change and the impact of hydropower development and ensuing hydrological changes on Cambodian communities. Specifically, it examines how shifts in the Tonle Sap ecosystem change the traditional livelihood strategies of water and land-based rural communities, the geopolitical governance of hydropower development and water-conflicts, and the sequencing of quantitative and qualitative methods to capture the increasing migration of Cambodian households. The panel aims to provide both practical methodological advice and an analysis of how environmental change must look at hydrological dynamics and the geopolitical dimensions of water governance to accurately capture future socio-environmental change in Cambodia.
What forms of urbanization are likely to emerge in Cambodia? What impacts will hyper-urbanization have on Cambodian livelihoods, secondary cities, and rural areas?
How will agro-industrial development and climate change impact socio-environmental sustainability in the Lower Mekong Basin? How do geopolitical relations, government development policies, or foreign direct investment impact the sustainability of livelihoods in Cambodia? How are rural and urban areas impacted differently?
What novel methodologies will be needed to chart the interactive, recursive, and non-linear dynamics between all of these processes? Which areas of research should be prioritized, and why? Which indicators and policies should be prioritized to track sustainable development, economic growth, and household wellbeing?
What models of development and accompanying social change are emergent, possible, or present in Cambodia?
Panelists
Mak Sithirith, World Fish Center, Cambodia Development Resource Institute, Royal University of Phnom Penh
Professor of Natural Resources Management and Development
Mak Sithirith obtained his Ph.D. in Geography from the National University of Singapore in 2011, with the Wang Gungwu Medal and Prize as the best Ph.D. Dissertation. He then pursued his first post-doctoral fellowship in transboundary water governance and climate change impacts in the Lower Mekong Basin in 2014 at the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education in the Netherlands, and the second post-doctoral fellowship in food system governance in 2022 at WorldFish. He was then promoted as a Scientist in WorldFish in 2024 and a full Professorship in the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP) in 2023. Dr. Mak Sithirith has over 25 years’ experience in program management, research, and policy engagement in the development sector, and has worked with various institutions including the EU, CDRI, ADB, and UNDP. His research focuses on river basin development and management, natural resource politics and governance, water security, and aquatic resources governance, particularly in the Tonle Sap and Lower Mekong basins. He has published a number of publications related to water governance, fisheries, Tonle Sap and Mekong. He is the Co-author of the book entitled a “Floating Lives of the Tonle Sap”.
Abstract
The Socio-Ecological Transformation of the Communities in Tonle Sap Lake
Tonle Sap Lake (TSL) is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. The flood pulse of TSL, characterized by the flow and volume of water from the Mekong River, shapes the inundation and the productivity of fishery and natural resources; and the human ecological system of (1) water-based, (2) land-based, (3) water-land-based communities. Climate change and hydropower development have altered the flood pulse and the hydrological regimes of the Mekong River and Tonle Sap Lake. While a bulk of studies have focused on the impacts of climate change and hydropower development on Tonle Sap Lake as a whole physically, a few look at the impacts on different categories of communities in lake. In addressing this concern, the study examines how changes in flood pulse and hydrological regimes have impacted on different categories of communities. The study entails a comprehensive review of existing literature and an examination of impacts of climate change and hydropower on three different categories of communities in TSL. The study concludes that communities around the lake experience social and ecological changes. Fishing is no longer reliable, and fishing communities are shifting into farming by clearing the flooded forest areas. Some floating communities are no longer floating, but become water-land-based communities, while other water-land-based communities stay on land longer than on water throughout the year. More young people migrate to towns and overseas for employment in the non-fishing industry.
Chanrith Ngin, University of Auckland, New Zealand
Honorary Academic and Research Associate
Chanrith Ngin is an Honorary Academic and Research Associate at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. He was previously Lecturer at the Faculty of Development Studies at the Royal University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Designated Professor at Nagoya University Cambodia Satellite Campus, Senior Research Fellow at the Cambodia Development Resource Institute, and Visiting Fellow at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore. Currently, he is a co-editor of Routledge Studies in Global Land and Resource Grabbing for Taylor & Francis Group.
He has done research on natural resource governance, the political economy of resource grabbing, climate change adaptation, disaster preparedness, and climate resilience in Cambodia.
Abstract
Institutional role and agency of Mekong River Commission in transboundary water geopolitics
In this presentation, I review the institutional role and agency of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) in juxtaposition with geopolitics related to transboundary water governance. The first part examines the history, governance and performance of the MRC to discuss its ability to solve transboundary water conflicts caused by hydropower dam development among member and non-member countries. This discussion is supported by past and ongoing conflicts, focusing on the Lower-Mekong Basin. The second part brings in various Mekong-related initiatives such as the Lacang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC), the US-Mekong Partnership, the Australia-Mekong Partnership, and the Mekong-Kanga Partnership. It discusses how these initiatives interact with and influence the MRC in terms of governance and ability to solve conflicts. I conclude that despite abundant tools, the MRC’s performance largely depends on its ability to navigate geopolitical interests and hydro-hegemony among both members and non-members. This depicts that hydropower dam planning, development and governance have political economy implications, which could cause social and environmental harm such as displacements and deforestation. For a better MRC, member states should revisit and recommit to its founding principles.
Brian Kirchhoff, NORC
Senior Research Director
Brian Kirchhoff is a Senior Research Director II at NORC at the University of Chicago where he supports and manages the design, implementation, and analysis of domestic and international research projects. Mr. Kirchhoff has 19 years of experience in survey research domestically, internationally, and specifically in conflict and post-conflict environments. He has led research through every phase: development of research objectives, questionnaire design, sample design, training material development, conducting trainings, implementation and oversight of data collections, creating and applying quality control procedures, analysis and report writing, and presentation of findings to stakeholders. Mr. Kirchhoff has 15 years of on-site experience directing fieldwork throughout the Middle East, all regions of Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Basin. He has designed and directed both quantitative and qualitative research for telephone, face to face, and web-based data collection methodologies.
Abstract
Aligning Data Collection Methodologies with Research Questions in Modern Cambodia
Collecting high quality data is attainable in Cambodia with proper planning, methodological support, and sufficient budgets. Given the lack of extant data sources to track the needs of the research, primary data collection will be required. Additionally, the need to longitudinally track changes over time suggests the best option is to begin by conducting a large, face to face, household survey in phase one, which would include modules that capture the current situation for each household, economic activities they participate in, and rostering contact information for multiple members of each household to facilitate future surveys with these same households. The household survey will lay a baseline for this research while simultaneously building rapport and relationships with the households we will rely on for continued cooperation in future surveys. In phase two, we propose remote, follow-up surveys which can be conducted by phone, SMS, web, or a combination of these methods. This phase will allow us to track household members’ situational changes over time, including migration of family members, changes in financial situations and economic activities, and other key metrics related to this research. Ideally, if funding is available, we propose a third phase of data collection leveraging qualitative data collection to dig deeper into key stakeholders’ views and expertise on these research topics and potentially fielding focus group discussions with groups of stakeholders and/or important demographic groups among the general population of Cambodia to further understand the decision making and rationale behind findings from the quantitative survey data. This session will discuss costs, logistics, and timelines for these three phases of data collection.
Chandarany Ouch, U.N.
Economist
Chandarany Ouch is an Economist at the United Nations Resident Coordinator Office in Cambodia, with expertise in economic research, policy analysis, and regional development. Prior to joining the UN, she was an Economic Fellow with the World Bank’s Myanmar, Cambodia, and Lao PDR Transport and Logistics Team under the East Asia Pacific Inclusive Fellowship Program. She also served as an Economist at UNDP Cambodia and as Head of the Economics Research Unit at the Cambodia Development Resource Institute (CDRI).
With extensive experience in collaborative research and policy engagement at both national and Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) levels, Chandarany focuses on critical socio-economic and development challenges. Her work spans inclusive and sustainable economic policies, financing for development and the SDGs, LDC graduation, regional trade, labor market and skills development, the gender wage gap, and microfinance.
She holds a PhD in Economics from Monash University, Australia, and a Master in Public Policy from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore.
Interlocutor