Bangkok: Porous City

BANGKOK:

THE POROUS CITY

Designed by Kotchakorn Voraakhom of design firm Landprocess, Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn Centenary Park is a green engineering masterpiece and winner of the 2020 UN Global Climate Action Award.

As climate change causes sea-level rise, storm surges, and heavy rainfall, cities across the globe are bracing for flooding disasters. Bangkok is one of the most atrisk cities from climate impacts, yet many developers are ignoring its delta landscape and porosity.

Fortunately, there are companies that understand the urgency of the climate crises, including Landprocess, a landscape architecture and urban design firm led by Kotchakorn Voraakhom that collaborates with vulnerable neighborhoods throughout Bangkok to design solutions to address climate challenges.

Opened in 2017, Landprocess’ Chulalongkorn University Centenary Park is the first critical piece of green infrastructure in Bangkok to reduce urban flood risk. With on-site water management, sustainable drainage systems, a green roof, wetlands, and a retention pond, the 11-acre park can collect, treat, and hold up to 1 million gallons of water, alleviating public sewage during heavy rainfall. In addition to being Bangkok’s first park in 30 years, it was also the first city public park led by a female landscape architect.

While also helping to recycle and reuse runoff water from surrounding areas, Chulalongkorn Centenary Park is equipped with underground rainwater tanks that collect enough water to irrigate itself for up to a month in times of drought. In 2019, the park’s Thammasat Urban Rooftop Farm was opened, repurposing rooftop space to address food and water scarcity. Among many global awards, the park received the prestigious UN Global Climate Action Award in 2020.

Landscape porosity is a natural survival mechanism for climate change. Its solutions can help water-based cities like Bangkok increase their resilience. Through the Porous City Network, Landprocess aims to build more productive spaces in dense urban areas while protecting low-income households from the displacement of climate-vulnerable communities. Projects like the Chulalongkorn Centenary Park and Thammasat Urban Rooftop Farm demonstrate the possibility for city-scale implementation of green spaces that can provide climate mitigation, adaptation, and resilience, as well as sustainable food, energy, and economies.

Chulalongkorn Centenary Park

At each edge of the pond are special water treatment bikes, where visitors can ride stationary bikes to introduce more oxygen into the water.