Placemaking as an urban development strategy for making the Pattaya Innovation District

Abstract

AbstractPlacemaking is a fundamental concept regarding the development of innovation districts, aiming to achieve an attractive and efficient physical design that makes the districts pleasant places to live and work in. The concept also emphasizes the process of neighbourhood creation that meaningfully respects and shows an understanding of place identity as well as social interactions, which are the foundation of knowledge‐based communities focusing on creativity, innovation, and research development. This study adopted social network analysis (SNA) as a tool to examine the daily activities of the people who live and travel in Pattaya City, Thailand's popular coastal tourist destination. Trip destinations and frequency of traveling could reflect some critical nodes of the activities. Spatial nodes and ties could be further developed into innovation districts that attract innovators and researchers aiming to create innovations that respond to the needs of the people. The questionnaire examining daily socio‐economic activities was distributed to 1,396 respondents, comprising three major groups of stakeholders: tourists, local people, and entrepreneurs. The findings showed that they routinely visited department stores, governmental offices, banks, and hospitals, located between North Pattaya and Central Pattaya. Such an area could potentially be developed as an innovation district, which means providing not only a cluster of jobs that generates innovation to serve local and travelling needs, but also a cluster of housing that creates a work and life balance. The analysis emphasizes the link between physical design and regional‐scaled policies that are often overlooked in policy implementation to promote innovations.