Rethinking Environmental Management in the Pacific Rim: Exploring Local Participation in Bangkok, Thailand

by Amrita Daniere, Lois M. Takahashi

Environmental degradation resulting from rapid industrialization has become a serious issue for the governments of Southeast Asia. It not only threatens the quality of life of residents but also the capacity and potential for economic growth. Thailand, and particularly its capital city Bangkok, represents an important example of this uncontrolled growth in terms of economic gain as well as environmental loss. It is therefore an ideal case for studying how to improve policy design and implementation for environmental management in rapidly developing urban areas. This volume focuses on three interrelated factors in environmental management in Bangkok and other rapidly developing urban areas along the Pacific government policy and enforcement, non-governmental organization intervention, and community participation. It examines the influence and consequences of community input and substantive participation in the design and implementation of environmental management projects and makes important connections among environmental conditions, community perceptions and action, environmental policy, and state intervention.Author Amrita Daniere, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, University of Toronto, Canada and Lois Takahashi, Associate Professor, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of California, USA.

300 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2002