Open to the public! : a new network of communal recreation waterfront space in Bangkok

Abstract

Physically and historically, Bangkok has been shaped by its relationship to its waterfront. Flowing 370 kilometers through Thailand, the Chao Phraya River is more than the nation's lifeline. It was a principal waterway that largely determined the expansion of this former agricultural city. With the advent of industrialization, the focus shifted to the establishment and consolidation of man made infrastructures such as roads and highways, leaving the waterfronts as large areas of underused land, deteriorated ports, warehouses, and informal settlements. With recent developments turning their backs onto the waterfront, the diminishing public exposure and access to the Chao Phraya River means it is quickly losing its historic role as an valuable asset and resource for the capital. This thesis proposes the establishment of a green network along the Chao Phraya River by opening up and developing selected underused areas, and connecting them with the new systematic water transportation. Open to the Public! presents a series of open space networks that offer new public areas to the city by (i) improving the river accessibility to reconnect it with the city, (ii) opening up and creating a new network of public recreational waterfronts that also addresses the existing flooding problem, and (iii) activating the use and access of the hidden Bangkrachao peninsula, a 14.4-million-square-meter jungle located just over two kilometers from the Bangkok Central Business District. As the ports and industrial zone are gradually being moved to new locations, this thesis aims to explore the plausibility of reconnecting this large preservation area back to Bangkok.