Paradigm shift in sustainable urban planning for Thailand's provincial cities from the perspective of urban development stages during the 2010s

Abstract

Thailand’s urban planning was stuck in a growth paradigm that concentrated on land-use management to respond to the population and economic growth since 1975. However, most provincial cities have experienced a population decline. As a result, many of the provincial cities’ comprehensive plans are unable to foster sustainable development in their respective cities. Meanwhile, little attention has been paid to this topic. Consequently, this study attempts to emphasize the existence of shrinking cities in the Thai urban system alongside the neglect of the government to manage this phenomenon by assessing the urban planning policies from the last and penultimate comprehensive plans and analyzing the provincial cities’ urban development stages using population data from the 2010s. This study selected 20 provincial cities in Thailand’s northeastern region as a case study. The results reveal that all urban planning policies concentrate on expanding built-up land to support the growth paradigm. Regarding the urban development stages, only four provincial cities encountered urbanization. The majority of the provincial cities are in the suburbanization and de-urbanization stages because their populations in the core areas have declined. Thus, most urban planning policies appear mismatched with the status of their cities’ urban development. As such, continuing to implement comprehensive plans under the growth paradigm risks leading cities in the wrong direction and jeopardizing the long-term sustainability. The paradigm of urban planning must immediately shift from the growth paradigm to become consistent with the stages of urban development, so as to shape sustainable cities in the long term.