An urban political ecology of Bangkok’s awful traffic congestion
By attending to power relations, the production of urban space, and cultural practices, Urban political ecology can help explain why traffic congestions arises and persists but also creates inequalities in terms of environmental impacts and mobility. Bangkok’s largely unplanned and uneven development has made congestion worse in a number of ways. Further, the neglect of public transport, particularly the bus system, and the highest priority given to cars has exacerbated congestion but also reflects class interests as well as unequal power relations. Governance shortcomings, including fragmentation, institutional inertia, corruption, and frequent changes in leadership, have also severely hindered state actors to address congestion. However, due to the poor’s limited power, solutions to congestion, are post-political and shaped by elite interests.
Reading Development 