Key environmental and social data were collected at both the regional and local site scale, through numerous site visits, review of current plans and initiatives (HCMC Master Plan, Environmental Strategy for Ho Chi Minh City 2010, Socio-economic Development of HCMC 2020), and meetings with local experts in planning, transportation, infrastructure, local ecology, landscape, real estate development, and land use. Much discussion centered around an understanding of the Saigon River, its typical and extreme tidal conditions and 50 and 100-year flood elevations and potential influence on the project landscape and urban design condition. Climatic data such as rain, wind, and sun orientation was critical in understanding seasonal differences and laying out of buildings and roads for maximum efficiency. Social data that reflected typical Vietnamese ways of life were studied and incorporated into the plan, including day/night use of outdoor spaces as "living rooms" by large segments of the population, a residential preference to live in close proximity to water, reliance on the ubiquitous motorbike and bicycle for local transport, and distance to/from employment centers.