Bangkok's Urban Degradation Flashcards
Bangkok’s Air Quality Basics
- Industry is in Bangna of Bangkok (North and South-East of the city), so air quality is poorest there
- Prevailing goes from South-west to North-east
- Bangkok’s air quality globally is particularly poor
- GDP of Thailand has Quadrupled from 1990s - so air quality is bad
Reviewing Bangkok’s AQI
- Bangkok’s air quality seems to be worse closest to Silom and Sukhumvit which both have large amounts of traffic congestion and tall buildings to trap particulates
- Air quality seems to be worse in the east and north of the city
- Globally, Bangkok’s air quality compares unfavourably with HICs and other MICs. In the last two years
- Bangkok’s air quality has often ranked in the cities with the worst air quality
Bangkok’s Measures to lower AQI
- Lead was eliminated from all fuels (before the USA did so), and the emissions controls were imposed on vehicles based on European standards
- All diesel buses, which produce large amounts of PM10, in the city were replaced with ones that run on liquid petrol gas
- Virtually all taxis are run on LPG too. This was achieved through government subsidies of gas
- All motorbikes and scooters sold in Thailand also use four-stroke engines, which are cleaner than previous two-stroke
- January and February 2019 - all schools were closed to reduce children’s exposure to harmful air pollution and reduce traffic
Causes of Bad Air Quality in Bangkok
1) Nitrous oxides (Nitrogen) and PM2.5 from traffic congestion
2) PM10 from construction
3) PM2.5 from clearing agricultural land (burning)
4) Cool season temperature inversion
How Nitrous oxides (Nitrogen) and PM2.5 from traffic congestion cause bad air quality in Bangkok
- Economic development means rapidly growing middle class and car ownership
- Public transport network is very poor (MRT, BTS) so people have no other options but to get cars and taxis
- Poor road transport networks, khlongs and dead-end sois increase congestion and therefore pollution
How PM10 from construction cause bad air quality in Bangkok
- Rapid economic development and rapid urbanisation have led to a construction boom
- Loose planning regulations meaning new development isn’t restricted
- Corruption means that environmental regulations may not be enforced
How PM2.5 from clearing agricultural land (burning) cause bad air quality in Bangkok
- Bangkok surrounded by agricultural areas
- Thailand is a MIC where agriculture is still a dominant industry
- Many farmers do not possess capital or technology to clear agricultural land without burning, which is the cheapest way
How Cool season temperature inversion cause bad air quality in Bangkok
- High pressure air sits over the city meaning air pollutants don’t disperse so they remain there
Problems of Air Quality in Bangkok
- Thailand’s air quality standards are based on PM10, not
PM2.5. They therefore do not take account for the most
harmful particulate matter. - Bangkok’s annual average of PM2.5 is 2.4 times the WHO’s safety threshold, according to the UN.
- Nearly 49,000 people died from air pollution in Thailand in 2013, according to a joint study by the World Bank and University of Washington.
- As economic development increases so do vehicle numbers, affecting air quality. Bangkok has 9.5 million registered vehicles for 9 million residents
Where is Urbanisation dominant in Thailand?
- Urbanization in the country is dominated by the Bangkok urban area, which at 9.6 million people in 2010 almost joined the ranks of the megacities of the region.
What is the population of Bangkok and what can we say about its administration that might make coordinating responses to urban degradation difficult?
- The urban population of the Bangkok urban area grew from 7.8 million people to 9.6 million between 2000 and 2010, a relatively modest annual growth rate of 2.0%.
- It has the ninth largest population in East Asia.
- Bangkok has such a large area and the population is rising towards 10 million
- Urban degradation is harder to tackle using coordination because of these reasons.
How has Bangkok grown, and what does this mean in terms of its size in the region?
The Bangkok urban area grew from 1,900 square kilometers to 2,100 between 2000 and 2010, making it the fifth-largest urban area in East Asia in 2010, larger than megacities such as Jakarta, Manila, and Seoul.
Can you explain the causal factors of rapid urbanisation in Bangkok?
1) Rapid population growth, an increase in population causes an increase in the amount of land needed for domestic use.
2) Lack of governmental planning, if the government were to establish a green zone outside of the city it would create a barrier that stops rapid urbanisation.
3) Lack of investment/capital, the more money you have for construction the more efficient land use is (you can construct skyscrapers).
Bangkok’s Water Pollution
- the efficiency of wastewater treatment processes in the residential sector were only 18 per cent effective, while only 52 per cent of wastewater was treated
- This statistics is linked with rapid urbanisation because the demand for clean water is high and the wastewater produced by domestic uses (mostly) can’t be handled by the governmental and private water treatment facilities.
- The reason why it can’t be handled is because of the unexpected demand in a short period of time which is caused by rapid urbanisation.
Why is there Water Pollution in Bangkok?
- There is a lack of regulations and law put in place against water pollution.
- Therefore, Thailand should have the Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers law, which requires the operators to identify all pollutants that they release to the outside environment.
- With this law we can pinpoint who is the big pollution makers and we can deal with them properly
