Featured Entries
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The D.I.Y. Disaster Plan: How Informal Networks Battled Bangkok’s Worst Flood
When a devastating flood struck Bangkok in 2011, many citizens had only their informal networks to rely on. In the first Forefront of the Informal City Dialogues, Dustin Roasa reports on how those networks helped save lives — and the city itself.
Bangkok Entries
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Lack of Smart Regulation Causes Tension for Thai Masseuses
According to the government authority that regulates the country’s famous massage industry, a masseuse with a lifetime of informal training is no better than one who’d crack your pelvis in half.
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Participants in Innovation Workshops Create Solutions for the Futures of Their Cities
The second phase of the Informal City Dialogues’ workshops has begun, with attendees now not only looking toward their cities’ futures, but figuring out ways to impact them.
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One Month in Photos
From an annual water fight in Bangkok to the slum-based bars of Nairobi, our fortnightly roundup of photos from our bloggers.
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The D.I.Y. Disaster Plan: How Informal Networks Battled Bangkok’s Worst Flood
When a devastating flood struck Bangkok in 2011, many citizens had only their informal networks to rely on. In the first Forefront of the Informal City Dialogues, Dustin Roasa reports on how those networks helped save lives — and the city itself.
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Breaking Rules and Flouting Bans at Thailand’s Annual Nationwide Water Fight
At this year’s Songkran festival, preposterous bans on vending and booze were defiantly ignored, and Bangkok’s riotous informal spirit was on full display.
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Foreign Land Owners, Shoe-Repair Shops and Other Visions of Bangkok in 2040
In a surprisingly bold conversation between high-ranking formal participants and poorer informal ones, Bangkok’s Scenario Planning workshop was notable for its range of visions.
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The Big Question: How Can We Reconcile Street Vending With Pedestrian-Friendly Sidewalks?
They’re a critical pillar of the informal economy, but as street vendors multiply, the amount of sidewalk space available for pedestrians is shrinking. Three perspectives on how to equitably share the pavement.
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VIDEO: From Vendors to Housing, Informal Bangkok Is In Flux
Produced by Still Life Projects for the Informal City Dialogues, two short films illustrate the complex ways in which informality intersects with the formal world in Bangkok.
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Behind the Scenes in Bangkok with Still Life Projects
In February, Still Life Projects traveled to Bangkok to shoot two short films for the Informal City Dialogues, one of which documented the lives of two street vendors. Here’s the story of how they met them.
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Using Futures to Generate Innovations for the Informal City Dialogues
We may not be able to plan for a single future, but we can plan for futures. Read about how our project is working to anticipate what tomorrow might hold for these six cities so that we might start preparing today.
At A Glance
- 8.3 million population
- 30% population growth between 2000 and 2010
- 14.5 million population (metro area)
- 80,000 population of one of Bangkok’s largest slums (Klong Toey)
- 57% share of Thailand’s GDP generated by the informal economy
- (Statistics are estimates and compiled from multiple sources)
Notable Facts
- Thailand’s World Bank income categorization was upgraded in 2011 from a lower-middle income economy to an upper-middle income economy.
- Poverty in Thailand fell from 21 percent in the late 1990s to 8 percent in 2009. Only 12 percent of impoverished Thais live in urban areas.
- The number of registered vehicles in Bangkok rose from 600,000 in 1980 to 6.8 million today.
Resources
- Chulalongkorn University (grantee)
- Asian Coalition for Community Action
- Asian Coalition for Housing Rights
- Urban Research Plaza
With generous support from
