In 2016, Bangkok had an estimated population of 8.28 million. In the same time, the city has grown rapidly. Bangkok’s population is expected to surpass 10 million and to become a megacity in 2030.
Expansion
The capital city has grown rapidly during the last few years because of the lack of urban regulations and legislation.
In the 1960s, Bangkok began to expand. In the 1990s, sides of an urbanized city had already covered borders of surrounding cities and areas within a 40 km radius filled up quickly with shopping malls, leisure centres and housing estates. Before 2000s, the city grew up even faster, thanks to the economic boom of the late 1980s.
Benefits
Benefits from the growth of big cities like Bangkok are already known : employment opportunities with higher wages and salaries, lower cost of living, more and better social services like schools and more cultural and leisure centres.
Those benefits are divided into three groups : economic, social, and cultural. As Bangkok is the capital of the country, it is the economic and financial centre of Thailand.
This city always had an economic and employment potential and the way Bangkok has grown is essential for the Thai economy.
Quality of life
The way Bangkok has grown is causing transportation problem. There is a large number of cars in the city and a paucity of roads which are overloaded during the rush hours. Thailand is also growing in terms of human population at the same time as automobile population. In 2016, 37,268,655 vehicles have been registered, this number including motorcycles, passenger cars, trucks, pick-up trucks and public transports.
In 1999, BTS has been built. Two new lines are using capital’s biggest road with 26 km of skyway and 25 stations. In 2004, the underground railway was constructed despite the soil moisture to connect Hua Lamphong to Bang Sue.
The growing number of cars in Bangkok has an impact on air and water quality. The traffic congestion and concentration of factories are both reasons of automotive and industrial emissions. These emissions influence the air and water quality in the capital of Thailand.
Bangkok was built on a paddy field, so the land is more suitable for rice farming than residential purposes. Additionally, there is no effective control on land-use in Bangkok. Thailand and Bangkok development as a centre for economic activities cannot been stop and they will still be exploited for industrial, residential and commercial activities.
Today we can observe that Bangkok has grown fast but Thai people still do not think about consequences on the long term.
