The Facebook page of the Urban Design and Development Center (UDDC) has announced an ongoing MUS x UddC International Lecture Series on Urban Regeneration Strategies.
The webinar series, which began on 4 March and will continue until 29 April 2020, has its next installment on Thursday, 25 March.
All presentations are from 6pm to 8:30pm, hosted by the Master of Science on Urban Strategies (MUS) programs of Chulalongkorn University.
The website of UddC explains:
The Urban Design and Development Center (UddC) has expertise in regeneration of a city’s potential, and focuses on five main areas: Urban design and planning, research and analysis of urban data, creating participation of stakeholders and development partners, communications and public relations, and training.
The Thammasat University Library collection includes several books on urban design and urban regeneration.
Past presentations have included those by Dr. Pun-Arj Chairatana, Director of the National Innovation Agency (NIA), Thailand; Assistant Professor Dr. Pitch Pongsawat, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University; Assistant Professor Tavida Kamolvej, PhD, Dean of the Faculty of Political Science, Thammasat University; and Associate Professor Akito Murayama, PhD, School of Urban Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Japan.
The TU Library owns a text coauthored by Dr. Pun-Arj Chairatana, on technological innovations, among other materials by the presenters.
On Thursday, 25 Mar the speaker will be Peerawit Khantisuk, Consultant for EUPOP ASEAN, Belgium. Future lecturers include:
30 Mar 2021 Chen Hsin-liang, Director of Taipei City Urban Regeneration Office
1 Apr 2021 Dominique Alba, Director of Paris Urbanism Agency (APUR)
8 Apr 2021 Professor Dr. Davisi Boontharm, Professor of Architecture and Urban Design, Meiji University, Japan
20 Apr 2021 Professor Dr. Darko Radovic, Emeritus Professor of Architecture and Urban Design, Keio University, Japan
22 Apr 2021 Professor. Dr. Yukio Nishimura, Professor, Kokakuin University, Japan
27 Apr 2021 Koji Terada, Director of Mitsubishi Jisho Sekkei / Isamu Sugeno, Executive Officer, Mitsubishi Jisho Sekkei
29 Apr 2021 Dr. Christine Cabasset, Researcher and Publication Director of IRASEC
4 May 2021 Assistant Professor Dr. Niramon Serisakul, Director of Urban Design and Development Center (UddC-CEUS), Thailand
To hear the lectures online, students are cordially invited to register at this link.
Extensive research
As students at the Faculty of Architecture and Planning, Thammasat University know, there has been considerable research about urban regeneration in the Kingdom.
One example is an article which appeared in the World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences in 2014.
Entitled Cultural Production and Urban Regeneration: The Case Study of Amphawa District, Thailand,
it is by Dr. Pirada Techaratpong of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University.
Here is the article’s abstract:
This research aims to study the role of cultural production in urban regeneration and argue that cultural production, if properly used, can play a vital role in reviving cities and create substantial positive impacts to the cities. The argument can be elucidated by the case study of Amphawa, a district in Samutsongkram province, Thailand, as an example of successful use of cultural productions. The conceptual framework is based on the model of culture contributions in regeneration to examine the impacts. The research methodology is qualitative. This study found that cultural productions can revive cities into vibrant ones and exert considerable impacts: physical, social and economic. It is suggested that, despite that there is not one-fit-all model, cultural production can be an important initiative for any city transformation if it is appropriately implemented. The city planners and authorities ought to consider the conditions and factors and design a specific plan to fit the city context and integrated with other planning.
The conclusion follows:
In conclusion, as the phenomenon of cultural planning emerged throughout the world and cultural resources, cultural production has been seen as a new hope for cities to transform themselves. Despite having some criticism about the validity of evidence and requiring some essential conditions to be successful, cultural production does play a significant role in reviving a lifeless city into a vivacious place as it produces physical/environmental changes, originates activities, creates the area image (a brand) and promotes the place, which, in turn, will result in improving the physical condition of the area, boosting the economy and bringing social benefits, such as quality-of-life, a sense of identity and social cohesion. Moreover, it can even be a catalyst for further regenerations and an inspiration for other cities. The contributions of cultural production to a city are evidenced in the case of Amphawa. The cultural initiatives did transform the city from an almost dead city to a lively place by improving the ambience, enhancing the economy, heightening livability and gluing people in the society in a sustainable way. Even though there is no one-fit-all plan and the outcome depends on a number of factors. it may not be too exaggeratory to say that cultural planning can be applied to any cities as long as the planners and the authorities adapt it to fit their city’s context and fully integrated cultural approaches to other plannings.
In other scholarly findings, an International Webinar on Rebuilding Cities Post COVID-19 also addressed the topic of Urban Regeneration Post COVID-19
On 24 October 2020, the lecturer was Dr. Hideaki Iwasaki, Country Director for Thailand Asian Development Bank. Here are some of his observations:
Bangkok Urban Regeneration Experience under COVID-19 Pandemic and Emerging ‘New Normal’ Trends
Emerging Trends in Early Post-Pandemic Bangkok
From mobility, ridership and traffic data:
– Trend 1: Demand returns on public transport not happening (yet?)
– Trend 2: Shifts to active transport modes (walk and cycle) not happening (yet?)
– Trend 3: Private transport (car and motorcycle) is king highly likely happening
– Trend 4: Decreased travel demand yes and continuing (so far)
It may still be too early to say what will be ‘New Normal’ but
certain trends appear to be emerging
From location data and electricity usage data:
– People spend more time staying home (or in residential areas) and consume more
urban services and resources there.
– Some people have not returned to workplaces (or some workplaces remain closed),
and less resources are consumed at workplaces.
Are the emerging trends good news or bad news?
Good news:
Public transport will be less
congested (lower/flattened peak)
– Roads are still less congested
(hopefully so).
– Overall, people travel less, meaning
less environmental footprints.
– Infrastructure capacity in residential
areas/suburbs may be utilized more
fully.
– Less demand for city-center facilities
and infrastructure (less pressure for
further expansion).
Bad news:
Public transport projects may face
further financial viability challenges.
– Roads may eventually get more
congested (people continue to shy
away from using public transport).
– Less travels mean less consumption
slowing economic recovery.
– Infrastructure capacity or service
level in residential area/suburbs may
not be sufficient to serve higher
demand for longer hours.
– City-center facilities and
infrastructure (existing/being
expanded) may not be fully utilized.
It is still too early to recommend any concrete actions, but here
are some initial thoughts and ideas for post COVID-19 urban
regeneration:
- Continue to monitor and identify emerging trends using data and technologies
that are newly available now – big data, satellite imagery, data from smart
utilities, etc.
- Challenge the existing assumptions for urban development, considering the
changed (and changing) responses to the pandemic (and to similar types of risk)
by different economic and social sectors, and in different geographical areas.
- Primate cities are important, but let’s not forget about the rest of the country,
including the secondary cities and rural communities (these are all inter-linked).
- Good lessons can be learned among similar-sized cities in the region. Further
information sharing would be useful.
(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)