Critical Planning

Bangkok is a rising global city, home to nearly 20 million people and notorious traffic congestion. Constrained mobility and accessibility have long underscored the centrality of transportation issues to managing growth. Historically, the preponderance of Bangkok’s transportation network interventions have expanded road capacity to alleviate traffic; however, major investments in the city’s mass transit network began in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. This was also a time of massive economic growth and frenzied international investment. But, in 1997, a financial crisis (centered in Thailand) contaminated economies across the region and devastated economic growth in Bangkok. While many economic indicators confirm that the crisis was a troublesome era for the city, fortunes were varied across income groups and mobility profiles. This paper examines how the financial crisis impacted Bangkok’s transportation system, tracking changes in urban accessibility before and after the crash. Lessons from the resilience and evolution of the city’s mobility patterns are instructive in adjusting transportation planning efforts today.