Creative Community Development. From urban design studio to international collaborative workshop

Abstract

Creative Community Development Workshop is a collaborative programme initiated from the two tiers of academic endeavours to achieve people’s involvement to foster cities in sustainable manner.  The first tier is a regular programme from a studio subject in Urban Design and Development International Programme, Faculty of Architecture and Planning at Thammasat University, UD326 Urban Regeneration.  The second tier is an annual international academic consortium event, established since 2009 upon the initiative of the Yokohama City University (YCU) called, “the International Academic Consortium for Sustainable Cities (IACSC)”.  Focusing on urban planning, public health and environment as the major components of cities, the consortium endeavours to develop cooperation, foster dialogues and discussions, encourage sharing of information and resources and promote networking mainly in Asia on research and collaborative activities between academic and research institutions, and establish and strengthen the linkage between universities and the cities where they belong towards capacity building for a sustainable society.
The workshop in 2017 on Creative Community Development was an activity under the 8^th IACSC Symposium on “Well-being of Sustainable Living in Aging Population Era” which was hosted by Thammasat University at Rangsit Campus.  The workshop was hosted by Urban Design and Development International Programme (UDDI) between 5-11 September 2017 at the Faculty of Architecture and Planning and on-site study area in Suan Yai Bang Kwang, Bang Kho Laem District, Bangkok, and conducted in a week session on the preliminary stage of community development study and regeneration proposal of the Urban Regeneration studio.
The workshop participants included students, instructors and research assistants from four leading universities in Asia i.e. Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Thailand.  The aims of the workshop are to promote a mutual understanding among the international students, to enhance the students’ ability to propose planning scheme proposal in communicable manner, and, and to give an opportunity for students to work with and contribute to the local community the community development ideas towards livability and sustainability.
The workshop was directed into three sections throughout 7 days, from the workshop commencement, field visit and survey, to group discussion and developing proposals to report to the consortium.  Towards the students’ proposals on the study area regeneration, the final product of the work was presented at the workshop final event and debriefing, and at the poster session at the 8^th IACSC General Assembly and Symposium in the end of the programme.
The final proposals introducing urban regeneration into Suan Yai Bang Khwang ranged from enhancing mobility and accessibility, community betterment, housing development, and disaster prevention, connecting the residents and the main canal, boosting the local economy, improving the community development, tidying spaces and creating green space, to creating local street markets into the area.