An urban political ecology of Bangkok's awful traffic congestion

Abstract

Urban political ecology (UPE) can contribute important insights to examine traffic congestion, a significant social and environmental problem underexplored in UPE. Specifically, by attending to power relations, the production of urban space, and cultural practices, UPE can help explain why traffic congestions arises and persists but also creates inequalities in terms of environmental impacts and mobility. Based on qualitative research conducted in 2018, the article applies a UPE framework to Bangkok, Thailand, which has some of the world's worst congestion in one of the world's most unequal countries. The city's largely unplanned and uneven development has made congestion worse in a number of ways. Further, the neglect of public transport, particularly the bus system, and the highest priority given to cars has exacerbated congestion but also reflects class interests as well as unequal power relations. Governance shortcomings, including fragmentation, institutional inertia, corruption, and frequent changes in leadership, have also severely hindered state actors to address congestion. However, due to the poor's limited power, solutions to congestion, are post-political and shaped by elite interests. Analyses of congestion need to consider how socio-political relations, discourses, and a city's materiality shape outcomes.Key Words: urban transport governance, Bangkok traffic congestion, urban political ecology, Thailand political economy, Bangkok's bus system

A transboundary political ecology of air pollution: Slow violence on Thailand's margins

“…Bangkok, the densely populated capital of a rapidly developing country, represents the epicentre of a national problem of vehicular emissions that degrades atmospheric quality within, above and beyond extended urban regions (Figure 1 (Marks, 2020).…”

“…Other alternatives modes of public transportation—mass rail and public boats—are still too limited to significantly reduce car usage. Negative public perceptions about public transport have intensified Bangkok's traffic problem, while creating a burgeoning category of commuters for whom cars have become extensions of their homes (Marks, 2020).…”

“…Rather than invest in public transport to bridge this socioeconomic gap and reduce vehicular emissions, the Thai government has instead promoted a national culture of aspirational car ownership that mirrors its own development priorities focused on economic growth at the expense of sustainability considerations. This is evident in media advertisements where cars are portrayed as status symbols (Marks, 2020). Yet car commuting culture has also been facilitated by the low cost of vehicle ownership relative to public transport for those who can afford to pay down‐payments on vehicles.…”

How Does Socio-Technical Lock-In Cause Unsustainable Consumption in Cities? A Framework and Case Study on Mobility in Bangkok

“…Though several national and city departments oversee urban transport planning, operation, regulation, monitoring, and so on, there is no agency that leads this effort or oversees collaboration among the relevant bodies. This has led to fragmented transport planning and inter-agency conflict (Hossain, 2006;Marks, 2020); it has also ultimately prevented the formation of an authoritative multi-modal transport master plan (Wu and Pojani, 2016).…”

An Effective Traffic Signal Optimization Model for Intersections in Bangkok

“…An ineffective traffic signal at an intersection is one of the major reasons causing disorderly traffic flow and congestion [5]. Bangkok's traffic signalling control and management system is currently not well planned [6]. Therefore, to sustainably solve the congestion traffic in Bangkok, an effective system to optimize the traffic flow is needed.…”