Bangkok street life : transformations of place in three communities

This thesis aims to understand how people in local communities in Bangkok use and experience neighbourhood public space within the context of a changing urban environment. Three contrasting neighbourhoods were selected for case study analysis. The first is a settlement along a waterway, reflecting a more traditional settlement pattern. The second is a dense and diverse neighbourhood where new developments have long displaced canals. The final case study is a modern housing estate. The thesis begins with an exploration of both Western urban design theories and the urban morphology and history of Bangkok. The thesis is based in diverse methods of fieldwork with a primarily qualitative methodology. The methods included interview, participant observation and morphological mapping. Particular attention was paid to: the experience and meaning of public space; the development of social capital; current forces for urban change; and the relation of each of these to the urban morphology. The theories are deployed in each of the case studies as critical frameworks. The thesis also raises questions about the limits of application of such theories within the Thai context and about the particularities of Thai urbanism. The study shows a range of positive qualities which are evident in these case studies, these include: the diversity and vitality of the urban ecology; a strong sense of `place'; and high levels of social capital. The research shows how everyday street life, sense of `place' and sense of `community' are linked to urban form. The study also shows how these qualities are mediated and damaged by forces of modernisation, traffic and tourism. The thesis analyses the tensions between urban development projects and the amenity and liveability of the residents. Such projects are often determined from the perspective of outsiders and without a full understanding of the role of neighbourhood public space in everyday life. The thesis concludes with the need for the development of urban design frameworks, based on the particularities of the Thai context, to protect and enhance the amenity and liveability of the city, and to make it more economically, socially and environmentally sustainable