Bangkok’s Answer the Sustainible Community Life
Jon Sealey, Global Design Director of M&J proposes redeveopment of land under highways through Bangkok As aprt of a redevelopment scheme Jon Sealey, Design Director of M&J has released designs of the Thailine, a 960,000 sq.m rejuvenation of the areas below the major highways in Bangkok.“ Bangkok is a fantactic City althugh it has a number of major issues.” Explains Jon.
“Pollution and congestion, land prices and increased population. There is also a very poor demographic of people who live in these areas” Jon spent 3 years studting the various communities that utilize the spaces and proposes a complete rethinking into how the areas are used. As Bangkok expands into the suburbs there is a growing need for space in the city to develop and readdress these zones. The proposal interlaces waste treatment centers, health centers, new hybrid infrestructure, commercial and residential areas. more importantly there is also a very strong heratage connection running through the proposal.
“It’s important that Thai values are enriched and imbedded intot he scheme, It’s really a development about Thai people and thier communities” explains Jon. “ There is nearly a million sq.m of space in these areas. We can develop this space for the people” local artists, temples, pegodas, local markets and arts and craft centres will all be situated along the routes. Local small business will also be intergrated. The proposal is to provide a string of community areas which create a series of eco-sensitive public spaces under the existing highways.
The vision is to establish not only a pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly public space but an engine for environmental, economic, and cultural betterment within the city. The existing highway infrestructure actually holds over 600 rai (960,000 sq.m) of useable land and runs through the heart of the city. Embedded into the proposal are features that address the persistant regional concerns over air quality, water useage, health, energy usage, food shortages and economic growth. Green areas are increased by 200% through the city. Grey water is stored in large holding areas and used for timed irrigation.
Solar energy is capitalised through solar trees which will intern illuminate the areas. The plan bundles these and other eco-smart strategies within a visually vibrant and socially compelling layout. Areas directly under the highways are reinvented as a pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly recreation park, with shaded gathering space for cafes, community centers, and other cultural activities they are opened to the public and rendered as an eco-recreation areas. Layered into the design are cultural references. Thai sensibilitys are addressed in a string of social and environmental amenities tailored to their specific commmunities.
Temples, local craftmansship, local business and recreational activities area all installed, enriching the focus on Thai Heratage whilst simultaneously providing public realms specific to the needs of the city’s diverse communities. The scheme holds great promise for economic development in Bangkok. Many areas of diused and rundown land which are noisy and polluted would suddenly be turned into active green space or recreational areas, places where people can gather, rest and socialise. These areas would become immediately more desirable in social, urban, and economic terms.
The proposal provides social and environmental benefits to the community, and fosters an improved public realm. It presents opportunities for inregenerated social and community planning. Elevated cycle routes located under the highways link the communities in a sustainible mode of transportation. Along with hybrid infrestructure of electric Tuk-Tuks. The existing klongs (canals) are cleaned, treated and extended into new areas providing floating markets and an industrial netwaorks connected by water. The idea is to reestablish Bangkok as the Venice of the East and make the city a forward thinking sustainible city of the future. Source and images Courtesy of Marques & Jordy.
