Unequal and unjust: The political ecology of Bangkok’s increasing urban heat island

Danny Marks and John Connell
Additional contact information
Danny Marks: Dublin City University, Ireland
John Connell: University of Sydney, Australia

Urban Studies, 2024, vol. 61, issue 15, 2887-2907

Abstract: The intensity of Bangkok’s urban heat island during the dry season can be as high as 6–7° and in the densest areas the urban heat island’s intensity is approximately 4°C. The urban heat island thus is causing a city already oppressively hot to become even hotter. The urban heat island also contributes to health problems, such as heat stroke and fatigue, particularly to those with lower incomes. We historically examine the numerous causes of Bangkok’s urban heat island, such as the lack of green space, high levels of air conditioning, and high rates of vehicle exhaust fumes. For example, Bangkok has only three square metres of green space per person which is one of the lowest in all of Asia. Local governmental weaknesses, administrative fragmentation, prioritisation of economic growth and limited buy-in from the private sector have intensified Bangkok’s urban heat island, and imposed numerous barriers to actions that would reduce heat, such as establishing green space, restructuring urban transport or creating and following an effective urban plan. Ideas mooted to remedy these problems have yet to come to fruition, largely because of bureaucratic inertia, fragmentation and divisions within the relevant lead organisations. The political ecology lens also reveals how political–economic processes largely determine the vulnerability of urban inhabitants to heat, but also that thermal governance is highly unequal and unjust. Those who contribute to and profit the most from Bangkok’s urban heat island, such as real estate developers, shopping mall owners, and automobile corporations, suffer the least from its effects, whereas low-income communities hardly contribute to this problem, yet are the most vulnerable.

Keywords: Bangkok Metropolitan Administration; environmental justice; political ecology; urban governance; urban greenspaces; æ›¼è°·éƒ½å¸‚ç®¡ç †å±€; 环境正义; æ”¿æ²»ç”Ÿæ€ å­¦; åŸŽå¸‚æ²»ç †; 城市绿地 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00420980221140999 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:61:y:2024:i:15:p:2887-2907

DOI: 10.1177/00420980221140999

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Urban Studies from Urban Studies Journal Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().