Urban Development in Bangkok, Thailand

Table of Contents

Introduction
Urban Development in Bangkok: Housing Estates
The Impact of the Citys Developments
Conclusion
References

Introduction

The city of Bangkok is the largest city in Thailand and is also the primary city in that country. It was made the capital city during the year 1768 after the reign of Ayutthaya was overthrown. However, the city was formed as a small shopping center at the mouth of a river known as Chao Phraya River at the time of Ayutthaya Kingdom and it initiated the Rattanakosin Kingdom after it was moved across the river in the year 1782 and it was absorbed by the Burmese.

This can be evidenced by the fact that the place that was formerly used by the city is known as Phra Nakhon when the name Bangkok is mainly used in reference to the boundaries that are for the metropolis areas that cover the Bangkok city and its build up after the 18^th Century and it is known as a place with its own governor and public administration.

The entire region of South East Asia can now be said to be considering the city as it center for social, economic and political activities. However, the city is also considered by the region known as Indochina as its center for political, economic and social activities. The city is also considered to be a very influential part in the education, politics, arts, entertainment of the region. It also has an influence the cultural business and financial aspects of the region as well as in the world. As far as the population is considered, the city is the 22^nd largest city in the globe with over eight million residents registered in the capital according to a 2007 census.

However, owing to the fact that Bangkok is a large city, it also has illegal immigrants and legal immigrants who commute to the city on a daily basis and hence its population is actually said to be over fifteen million people. In this respect, the city has been made a cosmopolitan by the fact that there are people of varying nationalities in the city and these people include people of various origins like the western people, Chinese people and Indian People (Worlds Best Awards, 2008).

Urban Development in Bangkok: Housing Estates

There are statistics that have clearly highlighted how the city has developed in size and most importantly as an important business hub for the region as well as the entire world. This has been achieved in less that three decades and this has been highlighted as the most interesting part. In the year 1974, Bangkok had been developed two times as how the city had been developed during the years of 1960s and in the year 1984, Bangkok was already covering the fringes of the provinces that surround it.

During the 1990s there were housing estates that covered a forty kilometer radius of the city although there was also the presence of business establishments, parks and courses of golf and this can only be rooted to the fact that the country experienced an economic boom during the 1980s. Thanks to these estate developments, the city will is now increasingly being referred to as the Extended Bangkok Metropolitan Region and this is out phasing the known reference of Bangkok Metropolitan Region (Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, 2005).

The Impact of the Citys Developments

When a city has developed and grown to such extents there are impacts to the community as well as the economy of the country. These impacts can be said to be both positive and negative in nature. Most of the positive impacts are normally increased employment rates, increased wages and salaries for the workers, low living costs, raised capacities of production and improved social services. However, the fact that the city of Bangkok has developed has also ensured that some of these benefits have never been realized and that the city has been a negative impact for most of the people and residents of the city.

Most cities have been noted to provide three groups of benefits and these groups are known as economical benefits, cultural benefits and social benefits. As far as the economic benefits are considered, the urban development of the city has ensured that the residents of the city are enjoying increased employment opportunities and the income of the residents has also increased significantly. In fact city officials have released reports that the city and its vicinity have been contributing over fifty percent of the countrys gross domestic product despite the fact that the city only holds fifteen percent of the countrys population. This is evidence that the residents of the country have been benefited with increased income and also increased per capita income (Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, 2005).

The households income has also increased significantly and when compared to some provinces in the country, the household income of the city can be said to be over 2.3 times over the average household income of the city. This has ensured that the citys poverty positions are very low considered to other provinces in the country. This can be evidenced by the fact that only 23.67% of the residents of the city were considered to be poor in consideration that 39.87% of the people in other provinces are considered to be extremely poor.

The city is also considered to be the center of all financial, business and other economic activities of the country and hence is considered a very important part of the countrys development. It is also a communications center for the country hence is a very integral part of the business fraternity of the country. This means that the growth of the city is very beneficial to the development and industrialization of the country and most particularly its economy (Worlds Best Awards, 2008).

The city has also been afforded many infrastructural developments owing to its increased housing estates. This means that the city has been considered to be one of the business hubs of the region and this can be attributed to the fact that it has been able to accommodate a lot of people who are considered to provide the city with a well organized labor force which is very important for the development of any region as well as any country.

Another benefit of the housing estates is that the country has been able to sell its products to a significant magnitude of local consumers and this is very viable for the development of any country as well a major city in the world. Bangkoks housing estates have been very instrumental in ensuring that the development of the country has been steady for a number of years and this has ensured that the country has not been left behind by other countries in the same region which have been developing steadily like Malaysia.

The fact that the housing estates have been accommodating a lot of people also means that the citys economy benefits largely from the fact that large populations have also been responsible for ensuring that the city is one of the most developing centers in the world and this can be attributed to the fact that the country has been seen as a business hub by many foreign investors hence the city being attractive to many foreign investors.

This means that the country has been able to attract Foreign Direct Investment and also has the capability of ensuring that the city has been able to properly utilize the inflows of foreign direct investment to ensure that the country has one of the rapidly developing economies in the world. This means that the large number of people living in the city have been very influential in ensuring that the countrys economy is developing at a very rapid rate (Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, 2005).

As far as the development of the country is considered, the citys developments have been a very influential perspective because the city has been used as reflection of the countrys development. One of the most developed areas of the country is the fact that the country has one of the best social services in the world. This can be attributed to the fact that a significant percentage of the citys population has access to quality social services and this means that the country also has a significant percentage of people accessing quality social services.

However, with all the growth and development the city has been experiencing over the last few decades, there have also been the negative impacts to the residents of the city. This can be rooted to the fact that with every growth rate the city enjoys, there are also economical, cultural and social problems that are accrued to the growth rate. One of the problems is that the city cannot afford a well planned system of public transport hence the city is always having problems with transportation.

This can be rooted to the fact that the city has a large population of people and in order for the economical activities of the city to continue the people need to be transported from one place to another. The transportation of the people is very essential for any economy as well as for any society (Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, 2005).

There have been also problems of the air and water quality of the city. This can be rooted to the fact that the city has a large population of people and this means that the natural resources that the city enjoys have to be used sparingly. However, due to the fact that the city has a lot of people who would like to enjoy these services, the country has been pressing the natural resources and this means that the environment has been degraded to a significant extent. However, this cannot be reversed because the citys population is increasing as the times goes by (Worlds Best Awards, 2008).

Another problem is that the city has also been experiencing some cultural problems and this can be attributed to the fact that the city has a lot of immigrants originating from different countries and regions of the world. This means that the city has been made an interaction point of many cultures and when these cultures do not agree, there is a likelihood that the cultural stature of the city will also contradict. This has been experienced in various cultural aspects the most notable being religion.

There have also been a rise in the social crimes as well and this can be attributed to the fact that although the city is economically doing well, there are some people who are not sharing the economic opportunities and this has led to some social problems. The most notable social problems are crime as well as prostitution (Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, 2005).

Conclusion

The housing estates of the city of Bangkok have been viewed as one of the reasons that the city has been urban developing. This can be attributed to the fact that the city has been accommodating a lot of people both local and foreign. However, there have been some impacts which can be noted to be both positive and negative. This means that the authorities concerned should ensure that the positive impacts continue while the negative impacts are catered for to ensure that the city develops in a more positive outlook.