Affordable housing in Bangkok : the omission of a sense of coherence

This thesis concerns “Affordable Housing in Bangkok: the Omission of a Sense of Coherence”. The topic is embedded in the research questions “What is the quality of the provision of affordable housing for the ever increasing population of Bangkok?” and, resulting from research which indicates a high level of abandonment of affordable housing In Bangkok, “What methodology might retain relocated slum dwellers in affordable housing?” In answering the research questions, the thesis examines the dominant assumptions and practices of affordable housing in Bangkok from the latter half of the twentieth century to the present time (2013) by way of a historiographical review of literature concerning the major attributes and imputed needs of low-income earners and slumdwellers for affordable housing in Bangkok. The thesis traces the population growth of Bangkok acknowledging the economic pressures of internal and overseas migration and the consequential growth of the Greater Bangkok Area. Adopting a qualitative interpretivist paradigm, the research methodology employs a hermeneutic approach to historiography which stresses the creative interpretation of words and texts following a methodology defined by O’Brien et al (2004). The thesis then compares affordable housing initiatives in Singapore, Hong Kong and China to inform the Bangkok experience with reference to recommendations by the Asia Development Bank. The body of the thesis examines historiographical texts relevant to affordable housing in Bangkok finding that the majority of affordable housing projects are in reality slum clearance projects with a significant percentage resulting in a ‘yo-yo’ phenomenon by which relocated slum-dwellers abandon affordable housing and return to the slums. This results in wealthier Bangkok citizens purchasing the abandoned affordable housing for renting and an increase in the number of slum dwellings in Bangkok. The constitutive meta-model of communication derived from a theory by Craig (1999) and others is employed to assess the impact of discourse, time and space in selected affordable housing projects in Bangkok. The outcomes of the evaluation are analysed and synthesised to form a table by which to score key criteria that comprise a ‘sense of coherence’ derived from the constitutive meta-model of communication and so provide a quantifiable measure by which to evaluate and compare proposals for the future of affordable housing and the retention of relocated residents in affordable housing projects in Bangkok.