Bangkok Streetlife

Bangkok Streetlife reflects everyday city life and Thai urbanism through the study of transformations of place in three local communities. The book begins with an exploration of both Western urban design theories and the urban morphology, and history of Bangkok. It is based in diverse methods of fieldwork with a primarily qualitative methodology. The methods included interview, participant observation and morphological mapping. Particular attention was paid to: the experience and meaning of public space; the development of social capital; current forces for urban change; and the relation of each of these to the urban morphology. The theories are deployed in each of the case studies as critical frameworks. It also raises questions about the limits of application of such theories within the Thai context and about the particularities of Thai urbanism.