Bangkok is undeniably a city of charms. Living in the city, however, has become impossible for most average earners.
Passengers are stranded on Wednesday after the BTS failed to fix a technical problem on the skytrain. Improving public rail transport will help make Bangkok an ‘inclusive city’, city planners say. (Photo by Pattarapong Chatpattarasill)
In the past decade the price of housing has steadily increased while people's average incomes have risen roughly half as much in proportion to the accommodation price hike.
This has forced Bangkokians to move further out from the city. But getting to the Big Mango is a daily ordeal too, especially when you have been forced to live far from rail transport.
Daily expenses are sky-high while offices, schools and leisure places are difficult to reach, Kanis Saengchote, a lecturer at Chulalongkorn University's Business School, told a seminar.
"Bangkok is an 'exclusive' city, where unequal access to opportunities leads to greater disparity in living conditions," he said, pointing out the alarming reality.
Most Bangkok residents are excluded from the benefits the city has to offer.
Turning the largely disparate, sometimes unkind metropolis into an "inclusive" city is a challenge for our century, Urban Design and Development Centre (UDDC) director Niramon Kulrisombat said.
At a time when half the world's population resides in urban spaces he said, "It is crucial to provide fair and equal access to the city's resources, ensuring that everyone can benefit from development opportunities."
Through its exhibition, "Grand Paris — Grand Bangkok", recently held in Bangkok, the UDDC highlighted the need for urban regeneration. It focused on examples in Paris and Bangkok.
The exhibition and public debate presented projects carried out by both municipalities to transform rundown spaces, increase connectivity and remodel the cities to bridge existing gaps.
Most urban spaces currently face identical challenges, said Pierre Mansat, director of the Atelier International du Grand Paris, a group carrying out research and development work related to the Grand Paris project.
Social segregation and exclusion are common in cities around the world. "Today, all cities aim to become inclusive," he said. If no transformation takes place, they will soon be uninhabitable.
Change is under way in the greater Paris area, thanks to the Grand Paris project — a development initiative that aims to better integrate and govern Paris and its suburbs. The colossal scheme — running until 2030 — includes new transport infrastructure, housing policies and public space designs that also take environmental concerns into account.
Paris has a singular urban structure, Mr Mansat argued. The capital itself is very dense, benefiting from intense activity and a highly-developed public transportation network, while many suburban towns are left out in the cold.
The Grand Paris project aims to tackle such inequalities by improving the quality of life in those areas. Over the next 15 years, urban planners hope to tackle a housing shortage, facilitate access to employment opportunities by increasing connections between suburbs and create public spaces in each town.
Catching up with the trend, Bangkok too will undergo structural changes in coming years. Ahead of the capital's 250th anniversary in 2032, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is unrolling its Bangkok 250 scheme. Its central element is an extensive railway-based public transport system, which will penetrate most inner-city communities and reach suburban towns.
“It will allow more people to truly become a part of the city,” BMA adviser Duentemduang Na Chiang Mai said.
Many residents are left out from the current transport grid and those living on the outskirts must spend considerable time and money travelling across the city each day. “They draw so much on their personal resources but the payoff remains low,” she said.
The city's answer is 1,000-billion baht state investment in 12 MRT lines, with 300km of tracks serving 216 stations.Ms Duentemduang said development opportunities will soon flourish along the railway routes.
Through the restoration of inner-city neighbourhoods and construction of walkways, the BMA intends to use urban spaces efficiently. By 2032, City Hall promises more housing facilities, increasing the available number by 200,000 units, new employment opportunities and double the current amount of parkland.
True to its reputation of being a concrete jungle, Bangkok has few public green areas — only 3.3 sqm per inhabitant. It's a saddening fact, Mr Kanis noted, considering that they are essential components of inclusive cities.
The city is a connecting platform for people of different sex, origin, mother tongue or belonging to various groups, with differing socio-economic status, beliefs and attitudes, Ms Niramon said. Public spaces will concentrate on such diversity and allow for social interaction to take place, thus creating mutual understanding between residents.
Entering a public area is akin to leaving one's social bubble. If we only interact with people who are like us, we will have little patience with those perceived as different, she argued.
Ms Niramon said the Chao Phraya riverfront possesses resources and capacities to be developed into a public area. Not only is it attractive, the riverfront is a lively meeting point for city dwellers.
However, there is an important limitation: Unlike the Seine River's banks in Paris which is now a riverside promenade, most land plots along the Chao Phraya River are privately owned.
Only 3.3km or 14% of the riverfront land stretching from Krung Thon Buri Bridge to Krunthep Bridge can be considered public space able to be enjoyed without spending any money. Today, the experience of sitting by the river remains exclusive and cannot be enjoyed by everyone.
"The view from Wat Arun is not for everybody," she said, stressing the need for public initiatives that are inclusive of all population groups.
If public projects were a recipe, a participative development process would be the key ingredient to achieve success. While urban spaces draw their wealth from their diversity, Ms Niramon added that the city is also a space of confrontation and negotiation.
She said public projects will affect each population group or individual differently. For this reason, the UDDC believes smaller-scale projects may lead to higher achievements, as their size enables thorough, deep discussions between stakeholders.
In 2012, the UDDC began planning a 1.2km riverside promenade in Bangkok named Yannawa Riverfront. The project started as a study workshop, she recalled. Their initial step was to collect local communities' views, as planners wished to experiment and stir local actors' imagination and creativity.
She said the process of listening to residents' concerns, such as crime or noise, is essential. Furthermore, a participative process builds awareness about one's place in the city and promotes a sense of belonging and civic responsibility, panellists from the "Grand Paris — Grand Bangkok" debate argued.
The exclusion of any groups, either from public planning or access to the city's resources, will only crystallise social and economic crises, Ms Niramon said. In some cases, it may even stir political conflicts.
Urban regeneration must therefore provide everyone with equal opportunities to enjoy public goods and services, such as mass transport, schools and universities, and parks. Such initiatives adhere to democratic and human rights principles, she said.