The Ecological and Social Effects of Gentrification and Urbanisation in Thailand's Lower Chao Phraya Delta

Sammanfattning: Rapid economic development and urban expansion of the Bangkok Metropolitan Region (BMR) places pressure on biomes and communities alike. In a world suffering from the increasing effects of climate change, unchecked urbanisation comes at the expense of carbon sequestrating environments. The modernisation, concretisation and gentrification of this low-lying, deltaic, monsoonal metropolis has seen its traditional, water-based urban morphology replaced with a solid state of perception, parallel to a loss of flood mitigating infrastructure. As the metropolis’ boundaries expand into its hinterlands, agriculturally productive land is being converted to residential, commercial and industrial development and the fate of low-income urban populations and farmers lies in the hands of speculators hoping to capitalise on increasing land values. Combatting this backdrop of neoliberal urbanisation is legislative framework intended to prevent speculation, yet it results in additional ecological damage as landowners clear natural-growth forests and mangroves to meet tax-reducing criterium. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the reasons behind and consequences of under-regulated urbanisation and gentrification and the effects this has had on the vulnerable ecology and communities of the BMR. It provides lessons on how previous short sighted and poor development regulations will have enduring social and environmental consequences long into the future and how adoption of traditional morphological ways-of-life and legislative amendments can limit further damage. The legacy of neoliberal urban development resulting in gentrification and underpinned by conflicting local planning laws are analysed and supported by various theoretical materials, field studies and interviews.