Students Tackle Sustainability and Urban Planning in Bangkok, Thailand
Beginning June 3rd, several students from ASU, including myself, have taken a trip around the world to has tackle major sustainability and urban planning issues facing Thailand. Bangkok, a major tourist attraction, faces the daunting task of reducing pollution in the inner city and surrounding areas, reintroducing and preserving green land, providing a clean water system, and developing new systems that will compliment their green initiative.
The plan currently in the works by Thai officials involves building and promoting new railway systems throughout the city. Thailand is currently rated #4 in the world for the worst traffic, and the pollution resulting from the traffic directly affects the immediate and surrounding areas. The main objective is transit oriented development, so students must find ways to develop the community in a way that helps to promote the use of public transit. While interviewing local Thai citizens, we found that most people found the current railways very useful, but traffic from cars congestion in the morning is still unbearable.
In the past few years, much effort has been put into the transportation systems and the goal is to promote and provide accessibility to the stations to reduce car traffic in cities along the railway stations. The promotion of public and sustainable transportation is one of the main objectives in our first project, as well as find ways to promote sustainability within the community.
Green Transportation in Arizona
With fuel costs steadily on the rise, Arizona residents are searching for an alternative method of transportation. Although we are studying this problem overseas, it also applies back to Arizona and specifically around Arizona State University. As we all know, the light rail is the newest development of transportation in that area and for the most part, has had a positive effect on the community.
By providing a light rail connecting stations from Mesa to Phoenix, it provides greater accessibility for residents, promotes a more sustainable way of living, reduces traffic and amount of cars on the roads, and saves money. Although public transportation doesn't seem to be as widely used in Arizona as it is in Bangkok, it definitely has potential.
