Land-use planning as a tool for promoting environmentally sustainable transport (EST) : a case study of Bangkok Region, Thailand | |
| Author | Pajaree Uthayansuthi |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.UE-08-14 |
| Subject(s) | Land use--Thailand--Bangkok--Planning Urban transportation policy--Thailand--Bangkok Transportation and state--Thailand--Bangkok |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Urban Environmental Management |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | Linkages between land-use planning, urban transportation system and their environmental implications deserve greater attention of government authorities to guide a city's planning and urban transportation policies toward a livable and sustainable city. In order to explore on their linkages, this research investigates selected transport mode users' behavior and characteristics on their modal choice of transport associated with land-use patterns in 10 selected survey points representing a cross-section of Bangkok Metropolitan Region (BMR) by conducting a questionnaire survey of 150 respondents, interviews with 50 government officials and compiling data and information from government offices. The underlying hypothesis of the study has been land-use patterns influence travel demand of private car. A related research interest has been to trace the influence of users' personal characteristics (e.g. gender) and socio-economic characteristics (e.g. income) on private car usages. This research's findings include reasons of residents' heavy reliance on private cars, which are: (i) the location of their residences far away from main road; (ii) no connection between locations of residence or workplace and public transport; and (iii) long commuting distance from home to workplace. This implies that land-use pattern have brought along the car dependency. A significant difference is found between female and male modal choice of transport. More females trend to use private car. Because of Bangkoks' expansion through corridor development influence residence and business to locate in the low-land priced sub-urban area, but the transport infrastructure, particularly, the mass transit has not been correspondingly developed for the long commuting distance between the sub urban area and central business districts of the city. This leaves the long distance commuters with a reliance on private car usage. The situation also gets adversely affected by the weaknesses and gaps of land-use planning and transportation policies in developing and managing transport sector appropriately. The results also show that the current transportation and land-use policy and strategies of the Thai government (e.g. the absence of auto-restraint measures, low-toll way pricing, and lack of comprehensive and effective land-use measures and planning) have shaped and supported mobility of Bangkokians by private cars. All these have given raise to the concerns that the persistence of the prevailing transportation patterns would undermine the potential to achieve livability and sustainability of the city. This research proposes a design of policy to promote environmentally sustainable transport aimed at non-motorized transports (e.g. walking and cycling) thus promoting mass transits. For moving in this direction, land-use control/zoning, land-use regulations, pricing policies and awareness raising campaigns need to be strengthened. |
| Year | 2008 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Development and Sustainability (DDS) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Urban Environmental and Management (UE) |
| Chairperson(s) | Amin, A. T. M. Nurul; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Sajor, Edsel E.;Kusakabe, Kyoko |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA); |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2008 |