(305 square miles)” (City Population, 2010) (Figure
2) our city is about twice the size of New York City.
Bangkok has a total area of 2,481.69 rais or 3,970,704
m2 of public parks, which is equal to 0.70 m2/ person
(Phongspul, 2011). compared to New York City’s
ratio of 2.5 acres per 1,000 residents, which is equal
to 10.12 m2/ person (Open Space Index, 2008). Our
ratio of green space is not even one tenth of New
York’s, a city with more expensive land values and
limited open spaces.
Bangkok has become overcrowded and
polluted from its tremendously fast growth. Despite
its history of 230 years, we seem to have forgotten
the cultural and historic way of living in a city
once well-known as the “Venice of the East.” A map
of Bangkok in 1905 shows the rigid network of
“Klongs” and rivers that run through the heart of
Bangkok (Figure 3). The rapid growth of the city along
the water’s edge converted farms and forests to
other valuable uses such as ports, industries, and
commercial areas, mostly owned by the private
sector and done without any land-use plan or
existing guidelines. For decades, people have been
living along the Chao Phraya River, where the
settlements and most agricultural land are located
within the Chao Phraya watershed.