Bangkok’s Urban Evolution: Challenges and Opportunities for Urban Sustainability

Abstract

This chapter investigates Bangkok’s urban evolution from its inception as a “water-based” city shaped by and in harmony with natural processes, to its current domination by environmentally insensitive global forms and practices. Also investigated are the official visions, plans, and measures to counter the negative impacts of uncontrolled market-driven urbanization, characteristic of Bangkok’s expansion over the past 4 decades. Based on these investigations, the chapter proposes reorganization on the scale of “superblocks” – the units of expansion of suburban Bangkok – as a practical pathway towards sustainability.