Floods prompt re-think of urban planning nationwide
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The Department of Public Works and Town and Country Planning is revising all city planning across country in response to the flooding crisis.
“The revision of city planning will re-designate residential areas to lessen the impact of [future] natural disasters. People will know where they can live and where they cannot,” department director-general Udom Puasakul said.
The department has come to understand the degree to which urban areas and economic zones in the country are at risk from flooding, he said.
“We will have a new national master plan for city planning to protect urban communities in place in the next five years,” he said.
The department will spend over Bt4 billion on the new national master plan to ensure that it incorporates flood-related provisions.
“I admit that it is difficult for me to tell people to relocate their homes,” Udom said.
The department will offer planning guidelines not only for provincial cities, but also for outlying districts that will allow local authorities and residents to make their own decisions when it comes to constructing buildings or establishing residential and industrial areas, he said.
“This is the country’s first project involving urban planning for districts, which will provide residents with more information about the physical makeup of their areas,” department deputy director-general Chetawan Anantasomboon said.
Planning for districts will provide information about the location of residential areas, industrial areas, agriculture areas and disaster areas. It will be limited to suggesting proper locations for where people should live or conduct business, he said.
“We can only tell them where they should live, but we cannot stop them from building homes in flood-risk areas,” he said.
The urban plan for districts will take four years, in which time the department will conduct a survey and draw up a city plan for each district across country.
