Bangkok, originally a water-based city along the Chao Phraya River, has rapidly expanded. Its extensive canal network, once central to mobility, ecology, and urban identity, is now primarily treated as drainage and suffers from wastewater and solid waste contamination. These canals hold significant potential to drive sustainable urban transformation.

As part of Water as Leverage (WaL) Academy Bangkok, we explore how Bangkok’s canals can be reimagined as vital public spaces that reinforce the city’s identity, enhance livability, support ecological recovery through Nature-Based Solutions (NbS), and preserve cultural heritage, while also strengthening socio-economic development, mobility, tourism, and climate resilience. Throughout the project, we work through cross-sectoral collaboration, taking a central role in the integrated research-by-design approach.

The programme brings together government, academia, private sector partners, and communities through workshops, creative sessions, and site visits, all aimed at positioning canals at the center of urban adaptation.

Client: ‘Water as Leverage Academy’ a programme of the government of the Netherlands, executed by the Netherlands enterprise agency, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Thailand (EKN)

In Cooperation with: Haskoning, DeltaContext, Meta Meta, TK Studio, Landprocess