Greener and more resilient Bangkok
Bangkok is a metropolis and the center of prosperity of the country. Therefore, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has an important role in providing public services that are sufficiently inclusive to meet the needs of all citizens for their better qualities of life.
The crisis of multiple waves of the spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a big challenge that Bangkok and cities around the world are facing right now. The COVID-19 outbreak has had a negative impact on the environment. Normally, Bangkok deals with environmental challenges and impacts of climate change, such as fine particulate matter PM2.5, solid waste, and lack of green spaces etc. To be resilient to the changes, especially the COVID-19 pandemic while still being able to maintain the quality of the environment, Bangkok has therefore worked intensively to make Bangkok environmentally sustainable and be able to adapt to climate change.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought both positive and negative changes to the environment. The COVID-19 control measures such as reducing social activities, work from home and movement restriction, have resulted in declining in traffic volume and energy consumption. These measures have led to positive effects on the environment, for example, emission of greenhouse gas and noise pollution have reduced, and most importantly, it was found that the concentration of the PM2.5 in the atmosphere has decreased. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has also resulted in negative impacts on the environment. The use of personal protective equipment such as PPE suits, gloves, medical masks, and anti-infection goggles is all considered infectious waste. Besides, the increase of food delivery, takeaways and online commerce generates more waste from plastic packaging. If this plastic waste is not properly disposed of, it will cause microplastics, which can affect the ecology and the environment.
Presently, the people of Bangkok are more attentive and cooperative in protecting the environment. There are waste reduction and separation at source in communities, schools, and public places, aiming for a sustainable waste-free society. The spread of COVID-19 has led to infectious waste contaminated by secretion, which can transmit the infection. Contamination of germs from person to person and environmental contamination by germs in soil, water, air happen quickly. Disinfectants that are highly effective against germs can be dangerous to users and COVID-19 frontline staff. Use of disinfectants containing chlorine can cause irritation. Moreover, burning waste containing these disinfectants may generate dioxin as a carcinogen and the residue in the environment can destroy the ecosystem. Bangkok pays attention to the health of the people, medical workers as well as the environment. Many types of disinfectants used during the COVID-19 crisis may have short-term and long-term effects that are not environmentally friendly, causing harm to animals living in natural water. Therefore, the BMA recognizes the importance of innovation that is environmentally friendly. The BMA provides medical facilities under the BMA including community isolation centers and field hospitals with cleaners and disinfectants for COVID-19 that are more environmentally friendly and have been registered for Thai innovation products. It is an antiseptic mixed with natural extracts, containing no harmful chemicals and is naturally biodegradable. In addition, the use of Thai innovative products is a response to the policy of supporting SMEs being able to access government procurement that promotes environmentally friendly procurement (Green Procurement or Green Purchasing).
Apart from the COVID-19 epidemic crisis, climate change is another big challenge that is affecting the sustainable development of cities around the world. Bangkok is trying to address environmental challenges through cooperation from all sectors of society, such as the PM2.5 particle problem that may have a significant impact on vulnerable groups. The BMA has installed 70 air quality monitoring stations covering all 50 districts of Bangkok. Besides, the BMA has the Bangkok Air Quality Data Center, which is responsible for monitoring the situation, notifying, and informing the public on a regular basis. It also helps people know if they should have outdoor activities on days when the air quality is poor and may be harmful to health or if they should avoid entering areas with high pollution to reduce exposure to pollution. Everyone can access real-time air quality information from the website of Bangkok: “www.bangkokairquality.com” or the application “the Bangkok Air Quality Report (AirBKK)” from anywhere and anytime.
In addition, Bangkok attaches great importance in providing public spaces for citizens: the public spaces that can be used sufficiently; appropriately; easily accessible for everyone, and in dealing with the impacts of climate change. The analysis of satellite imagery data in 2019 found that Bangkok had only 14% of the Urban Tree Canopy area. Furthermore, the green area per population of Bangkok is approximately 7.48 square meters per person (as of March 18, 2022), which is considered lower than the World Health Organization standard prescribing of at least 9 square meters per person. Besides, access to public green spaces within a walking distance of approximately 400 meters is still only 13% of the Bangkok area.
The green space development has been planned and designed based on urban environmental benefits. Green space provides many environmental benefits, acting as a green lung for the city, storing carbon dioxide (carbon sequestration), releasing oxygen, trapping fine dust and pollutants, reducing the temperature in the city, alleviating the Urban Heat Island phenomenon, lessening noise and visual pollution, acting as retention areas and reducing soil erosion. Additionally, green space has been important as an actor who builds the city’s ecosystem to be balanced and maintain biodiversity.
Bangkok has initiated the GREEN BANGKOK 2030 Project, which is a project to increase public spaces and green spaces. The project has integrated and collaborated with many stakeholders from both public and private sectors, and Bangkok people. The stakeholders give their vacant and unused lands to the BMA for creating public green spaces within the prescribed period of time. Currently, there have been 6 lands declared intentions by Bangkok citizens to be given to the BMA use for the Green Bangkok 2030 project with the total area of more than 48 acres. The project “GREEN BANGKOK 2030” aims at creating quality and sustainable green spaces in 4 issues as follows:
- To increase the ratio of the green spaces to total population to be 10 square meters per person
by 2030.
- To increase the public green spaces being accessible for all citizens within 400-meter walking distance (5 minutes) and no less than 50 percent of Bangkok
- To increase the Urban Tree Canopy to urban areas to be 30 percent of Bangkok areas.
- To build the network and participatory processes between public sectors, private sectors, and citizens to increase the public green spaces in Bangkok city.
