Unseeing Chinatown

Universal Zoning, Planning Abstraction and Space of Difference

Bibliographic Data

ID4782879
AuthorsNapong Tao Rugkhapan (0000-0002-0278-4342, Urban and Regional Planning Program University of Michigan 2000 Bonisteel Boulevard, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109–2069 USA, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume40
Issue3
Pages601-620
Publication date2016-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Urban and Regional Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0309-1317 • E-ISSN: 1468-2427
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/1468-2427.12401
OpenAlexW2586105767
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited19

The article investigates the technical rationality behind Bangkok's recent land use zoning plans. It does so through the example of Chinatown. The plans, intended to promote urban sustainability, introduce zoning techniques such as (1) land use subcategorization to hierarchize urban districts, and (2) density zoning to encourage intensive development around transit stations. The case of Chinatown foregrounds the discussion in this article, which then, in turn, explores the two zoning techniques. I argue that both techniques are formulated through a functionalist rationality, and thus omit place-specific conditions of land, such as local practices, histories and land tenure. Worse yet, the landed elite uses them to justify displacement and eviction. The article theorizes Chinatown as a space of difference, pointing to particularities that are unseen and thus at risk of being unmade by what is often passed off as technical expertise

Chinatown · Cityscape · Civil engineering · Economic geography · Eviction · Geography · Political science · Rationality · Sociology · Urban planning · Zoning · Computer Science · Engineering · Law · Socioeconomic Development in Asia · Urban Planning and Governance · Water Governance and Infrastructure