PU3 Practice in Urban Development Planning Term 3

CO-PRODUCTION OF HOUSING AT SCALE

Collaborative People-Centred Partnerships for Slum Upgrading (Word Count: 15,277)

Group A
Ruhul Abdin, Don Brown, Dalia Chebarek, Cindy Tianran Chen, Sorcha Cremin, Sophia Yin Cui, Agnes Nam, Pauline Richir, Abigail Shemoel, Jing Zhang

MSc Urban Development Planning, Development Planning Unit University College London

1 June 2012

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thank you to...

First and foremost, the communities in Bangkok and Pattaya who opened their homes to us and treated us with incredible Thai hospitality. Also to CODI, NULICO, NHA, and all the organizations who took the time to educate us about Baan Mankong. Thank you also to our professors and tutors.

ACRONYMS
Asian Coalition for Community Actions Asian Coalition for Housing Rights Asian Development Bank Bangkok Metropolitan Authority City Development Committee City Development Fund Community Organization Development Institute Crown Property Bureau Development Planning Unit Government Housing Bank International Institute for Environment and Development Local Development Foundation Metropolitan Waterworks Authority National Committee on Decentralization Policy for Provincial and Local Development National Economic and Social Development Board Non-Governmental Organization National Housing Authority National Rural Development Committee National Union of Low Income Community Organization Rural Development Fund Tourism Authority of Thailand Urban Community Development Office University College London NESDB NGO NHA NRDC NULICO RDF TAT UCDO UCL ACCA ACHR ADB BMA CDC CDF CODI CPB DPU GHB IIED LDF MWWA NCDP

CONTENT
1. Executive Summary ............................................................................................................... 8 2. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 9 3. Context ................................................................................................................................. 14 4. Theoretical Framework/Literature Review .......................................................................... 16 4.1 Conceptualizing the Right to the City ........................................................................ 16 4.2 Definition of Transformative Spatial Justice ............................................................. 17 4.3 Strengths and Limitations of the Theoretical Framework ......................................... 19 5. Methodology ........................................................................................................................ 21 5.1 Initial Diagnosis ......................................................................................................... 21 5.1.1 Methodological Background ........................................................................... 22 5.1.2 Methods........................................................................................................... 22 5.1.3 Limitations ...................................................................................................... 22 5.2 Diagnosis in the Field ................................................................................................ 23 5.2.1 Methodological Background ........................................................................... 23 5.2.2 Fieldwork Plan ................................................................................................ 23 5.2.3 Methods........................................................................................................... 25 5.2.4 Limitations ...................................................................................................... 28 5.3 Post-field trip Diagnosis ............................................................................................ 29 5.3.1 Methodological Background ........................................................................... 29 5.3.2 Methods........................................................................................................... 29 5.3.3 Limitations ...................................................................................................... 30 6. Findings................................................................................................................................ 31 6.1 Overview .................................................................................................................... 31 6.2 Pre-Construction ........................................................................................................ 33 6.2.1 Findings........................................................................................................... 34 6.2.2 Opportunities of Pre-Construction .................................................................. 35 6.2.3 Development of Transformative Spatial Justice ............................................. 37 6.3 During construction ................................................................................................... 38 6.3.1 Findings........................................................................................................... 39 6.3.2 Opportunities During Baan Mankong ......................................................... 43

6.3.3 Looking forward to transformative spatial justice .......................................... 44 6.4 Post construction ........................................................................................................ 45 6.4.1 Findings........................................................................................................... 45 6.4.2 Opportunities for Post- Construction .............................................................. 47 6.4.3 The way forward for achieving transformative social justice ......................... 48 6.5 How the findings and opportunities lead into the strategies ...................................... 49 7. Strategies .............................................................................................................................. 51 7.1 Strategy 1: Building and Maintaining Relationships. ................................................ 51 7.1.1 Strategy Overview .......................................................................................... 51 7.1.2 Strategy Relevance.......................................................................................... 52 7.1.3 Scales of the strategy ...................................................................................... 52 7.1.4 Inclusion .......................................................................................................... 53 7.1.5 Opportunities................................................................................................... 54 7.1.6 Implementation ............................................................................................... 55 7.1.7 Limitations ...................................................................................................... 55 7.2 Strategy 2: Charter ..................................................................................................... 57 7.2.1 Strategy Overview .......................................................................................... 57 7.2.2 Strategy Relevance.......................................................................................... 58 7.2.3 Point of entry in Bangkok, Thailand ............................................................... 58 7.2.4 Evidence Supporting the Charter .................................................................... 59 7.2.5 Implementation ............................................................................................... 60 7.2.6 When ............................................................................................................... 61 7.2.7 How should this happen? ................................................................................ 61 7.2.8 Limitations / Anticipated problems ................................................................. 61 7.3 Strategy 3: Finance and Technology .......................................................................... 63 7.3.1 Strategy overview ........................................................................................... 63 7.3.2 Strategy Relevance.......................................................................................... 67 7.3.3 Target Groups .................................................................................................. 69 7.3.4 Strategys implementation and timeline.......................................................... 69 7.3.5 Possible limitations ......................................................................................... 70 8. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 71 8.1 Significance: .............................................................................................................. 73

8.2 Research Limitations: ................................................................................................ 74 8.3 Recommendations for Further Work .......................................................................... 74 9. Dissemination ...................................................................................................................... 75 10. Bibliography ...................................................................................................................... 76 11. Appendixes ........................................................................................................................ 81

1. Executive Summary
This report examines the transformative potential of the Baan Mankong Collective Housing Programme in Thailand. It relays the sociopolitical context of Bangkok, the main implementation site for the initiative, and provides a theoretical framework for understanding transformative spatial justice, which is the ultimate aim of Baan Mankong. The report contains our methodology and findings attained from desk-based research and fieldwork in Bangkok.

Based on our findings three main strategies were developed for increasing the potential of the project to achieve transformative change at city-scale. The proposed strategies outline the necessary steps for implementation in Thailand, as well as challenges and opportunities for each.

2. Introduction
Bangkok (Figure 2.1) is a vibrant, rapidly developing city that is the economic powerhouse of Thailand. It has seen both steady long-term growth from a gradual opening of its markets to international trade and investment (Warr, 2004). The real estate boom of the 1990s, and the currency crisis that triggered the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997 has led to fast spurts of growth and decline. This growth has meant that Bangkok has become a magnet for migrant workers from Thailand and beyond.

The flux of workers and intra/inter-migration means that calculations about growth and economy are difficult to pin down, so its official population count of 8,249,117 in 2010 is likely between 11-13 million (Census, 2010). The rapid growth in the city that has been made to accommodate migrants and development has led to an official urbanisation rate of 2.63%, which is likely much higher (Sheng, 2010). The demand for land within the city that comes from a result of increasing migration and economic growth has been met with government policies that often overlook the poor. While Bangkok officially grows, and its economy increases, poor people are often excluded from this prosperity, and have been met with patterns of eviction. The Gini coefficient, which measures inequality, is calculated for Bangkok at 0.48, compared to a continent-wide measure of 0.39 in Asia and a nationwide measure of 0.421.

Image 1 View from Baan Mankong new building in Lung Talad Kao Wat Para Ya Krai
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G=1 unequal distribution / G=0 equal distribution

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In the face of this inequality, the Baan Mankong project attempts to address the displacement and threat to urban land security that has increased for poor urban dwellers in Bangkok. It supports two critical tenets of the right to the city: participation, whereby slum dwellers can negotiate the right to appropriate space in the city, and appropriation, which challenges the power structures and control over space allocation in the city. It is largely supported by CODI, the Community Organisations Development Institute, which is a widely respected organisation that has been tasked by the government to address the needs of housing for the poor.

Figure 2.1 Geography of the region

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Image 2 CODIs founder, the actual CODIs director (Ms Thipparat Nopladarom), Diane Archer and Soomsook Boonyabancha

Image 3 CODIs building

Baan Mankong was founded in 2003 by the Thai government as a way for poor communities to manage their own upgrading and resettlement. It is ideally a decentralisation of authority and power away from municipal government down to communities who are given the responsibility and power to shape their futures. In its first five years of existence, it has led to projects in 1,010 communities are either finished or underway in 226 towns and cities, [and] in 69 of the countrys 76 provinces, involving 54,000 households (www.codi.or.th). By 2012, it has shaped 1,557 communities, directly benefitting 91,986 households in 278 cities.

The Baan Mankong programme is characterized by three main qualities. First, housing upgrades and resettlements are demand led and driven by poor women and men participating in group savings. This builds strong leadership skills and cohesion within communities as it encourages people to jointly negotiate and leverage demands. As a result, it builds communities capacity to collaborate and form partnerships with other important actors in the city, such as landowners (whether it be the Crown Property Bureau, private citizens, the King, or other developers), local authority officials, and other communities. Second, it encourages the use of flexible financial models that can be used to support these projects. This might mean getting loans from CODI, or establishing City Development Funds in a collaborative banking system. It allows community dwellers the opportunity to move away from traditional sources of finances such as fixed mortgages, by diversifying financial streams ultimately creating a fairer, more just system of loans, interest, and credit. Finally, Baan Mankong is more than just a programme to acquire secure housing. The process of enabling citizens to be
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proactive and empowered in their own development is critical to laying the foundation for transformative change. It aims to be a city-wide process, with surveying, networking, learning by participating in multi-scalar networks and building agency.

Image 4 Soomsook Boonyabancha presenting CODIs strategy

After a desk-based review of Bangkok, Thailand, and the history of various land tenure and housing schemes in the city, preliminary proposals were made that would increase the reach and effectiveness of the Baan Mankong Programme at the scale of the city. These proposals were made with the understanding that they would be challenged by information and experience gained through the on-site field research in Thailand. After conducting fieldwork exercises and asking many questions, the strategies were revised and redeveloped in London. This report contains the information and process through which these proposals were developed.

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Image 5 CODI building

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3. Context
In a globalized world, no city is an island unto itself, and Bangkok is no exception. Since the opening of its trade markets to international actors, Thailand has seen a steady growth that has been largely concentrated in the city. Since the inception of the Constitution in 1997, and the adoption of the Decentralisation Plan and Process Act in 1999, local government in Thailand has adopted the role of acting as a mediator to the macroeconomic forces of globalised neoliberalism. Government officials have taken on the capacity of the New Public Management scheme (Sheng, 2010) to welcome and attempt to regulate outside investment. Yet, local government serves both as the mediator and the mediated (Figure 3.1).

Figure 3.2The political context model of Bangkok

This investment has led to constraints on the availability of land, particularly in urban centres, and has been coupled with a rapidly rising cost of land and unequal access to it. As a result, the needs of poor men and women who have insecure land tenure on occupied or rented land

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in Bangkok are threatened. Many communities face eviction for illegal squatting, or see their rents raised higher by landowners in an attempt to clear the space for different investments.

Baan Mankong aspires to give poor men and women the tools to challenge the primacy of capitalist interests as the foremost value to landowners and the state. It seeks to counterbalance the overwhelming power of international financial institutions, multinational corporations, and wealthy landowners who dominate the urban environment. It is key to enabling a process of transformative spatial justice through supporting two fundamental elements of the right to the city (Purcell, 2002). First, it promotes participation. Through organisational guidance, leadership development, and by coalescing the power of numbers, it empowers slum dwellers to collectively negotiate their right to appropriate space in the city. It also employs various mechanisms to combat injustice in land appropriation.

Second, it highlights the centrality of just appropriation to the right to the city. It challenges the valuing of property rights above use-rights, particularly in the cases where communities have occupied land for decades and based their livelihoods around it. While the legally recognized system of property rights might deny these people a right to this space, or indeed, any space at all, Baan Mankong attempts to address the injustice caused when this land is threatened.

Baan Mankong, when adopted by communities, looks for ways they can gain long-term land and housing tenure, whether it is by renting at just rates, or by enabling community savings to purchase land of their own. It does not seek to abolish property rights or to promote illegal occupation. Rather, it aims to empower poor men and women by building their social, economic and political capital thus increasing their capacity to participate in shaping the city. Thus, Baan Mankongs emphasis on democratizing the production of urban space bears many similarities with the right to the city, which forms the conceptual basis for our theoretical framework.

(Agnes Nam, 1,449 words)

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4. Theoretical Framework/Literature Review

The theoretical framework develops a reinterpretation of Henri Lefebvres (1968, 1973, 1991, 1996) notion of the right to the city called transformative spatial justice. This concept is used as an analytical lens for assessing the extent to which Baan Mankong is empowering urban citizens to collectively realize their right to the city through the slum upgrading process. By extension, transformative spatial justice forms the theoretical foundation of our strategies, which seek to enhance Baan Mankongs efficacy, with a focus on scaling-up to the city-wide level and beyond.

This section begins by conceptualizing the right to the city in order to ground our definition of transformative spatial justice in the literature. The definition is then outlined in detail as it relates to the process of transformation supported by Baan Mankong. The section concludes by reflecting upon the strengths and limitations of the theoretical framework as a basis for strategy development in Thailand.

4.1 Conceptualizing the Right to the City

The concept of the right to the city was developed by Lefebvres 1967 publication La droit la ville (right to the city). Lefebvre, a French philosopher, was at the forefront of the anti-capitalist movement emerging from the national protests in Paris beginning in 1968 (Brown, 2010). The protests arose in reaction to growing urban commodification and gentrification driven by the processes of capitalist industrialization and commercialization, which prioritized exchange value over use value (Lefebvre, 1968, 2001). La droit la ville became a banner for rallying a new type of urban social movement to reclaim the rights discarded by these processes (Dikec, 2001). From this context, Lefebvre developed his notion of the right to the city: The right to the city manifests itself as a superior form of rights: right to freedom to individualization in socialization, to habit and to inhabit. The right to oeuvre, to participation and appropriation [as distinct from the right to property], are implied in the right to the city. (Lefebvre, 1968, in Kofman and Lebas, 1996, pp. 174).

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A growing number of geographers and social scientists are expanding upon Lefebvres notion of the right to the city in response to the impact that global neoliberal restructuring is having on declining citizenship and enfranchisement in cities (Harvey, 2008, 2012; Dikec, 2001; Isin, 2000; Purcell, 2002, 2009). Scholars are building upon a well-established body of literature by political economists who argue that the process of global economic restructuring since 1970 has fundamentally reoriented urban governance and policy away from participation and distribution towards competition and private capital (Albrechts, 1999; Goodwin and Painter, 1996; Harvey, 1989; Jones, 1999; Werna, 1999). Within this policy context, the right to the city has been adopted as the banner for mobilizing a new kind of revolutionary urban social movement across the globe (Caruso, 2010; Mayer, 2009). Like Lefebvre, these movements are seeking to create new rights (e.g. the right to appropriate) through grassroots social and political action (Brown, 2010). Although the right to the city emerged from the French context over 40 years ago, it is gaining increasing relevance in the global South where the threat of eviction, displacement and land speculation are pervasive. As a result, the right to the city provides a useful framework for responding to the larger conflict over who should benefit from the city and what kind of city it should be (Mayer, 2009).

4.2 Definition of Transformative Spatial Justice

The definition of transformative spatial justice incorporates new interpretations of the right to the city relevant to Thailand. However, it continues to preserve the integrity of Lefebvres original concept, particularly its emphasis on radical grass roots politics and transformative action (Figure 4.1).

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Figure 4.3 Definition of transformative spatial justice

The definition draws on Purcell (2002, pp. 100), who argues that the right to the city offers a radical alternative that directly challenges and rethinks the current structure of both capitalism and liberal-democratic citizenship. Purcell calls for the extensive rescaling of participation to the local level through a new politics of the urban inhabitant. This supports two fundamental rights to the city: participation and appropriation and also draws on the concept of public learning, which is a process of driving continuous change through precedent-setting and knowledge exchange. These three processes work interdependently to enable Baan Mankong to scale-out (i.e. to increase the arena for the production of urban space), scale-on (i.e. to build social, economic and political capital) and scale-up (i.e. to close the structure-agency gap between citizens and government).

Participation, appropriation and public learning, as defined by Figure X, are implicitly embedded in the Baan Mankong approach to slum upgrading, which, in theory, empowers slum dwellers to collectively manage and implement the entire process from the ground up

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(Boonyabancha, 2005). This approach takes land as the entry point for addressing slums, which reflects the concept of spatial justice developed by Dikec (2005). Spatial justice involves dismissing the idea that land is an empty container of human life and reconceptualises land as a political arena where the social relations of capitalism can be renegotiated (ibid). This reflects the turn in the literature away from the notion of social justice posited by John Rawls (1971) towards the contribution of Iris Marion Young (1991). Whilst Rawls understood social injustice in distributive terms, Young focused on the forces of domination and oppression. As argued by Dikec (2001), the very production of space, which is inherently a conflictual process, not only manifests various forms of injustice, but actually produces and reproduces them (thereby maintaining established social relations of domination and oppression)(pp. 1788). Demonstrating spatial justice in practice, Baan Mankong empowers slum dwellers to become active participants in all decisions that shape the production of urban space. Thus, transformative spatial justice is not just about the right to participation and appropriation, but the right to political space as well (ibid).

4.3 Strengths and Limitations of the Theoretical Framework

The principal strength of transformative spatial justice is its understanding of the city as a space of politics (Dikec, 2001, pp. 1790), which responds to the complexity of power relations that were observed during the site work, particularly between Baan Mankong communities and landowners (notably the CPB). Thinking about space politically supports a politics of partnership-building between traditionally opposed groups in an attempt to build what Appadurai (2001) calls deep democracy.

However, transformative spatial justice runs the risk of falling into what Purcell (2006) calls the local trap, which is the tendency to assume that the local level is inherently more democratic and just than other scales. Whilst participation and appropriation are integral to the slum upgrading process, they do not challenge the dominant economic order. The scalar and political limitations of the right to the city has provoked a growing body of scholarship on legal reform as a means of challenging the economic policies that create exclusionary urban development processes (Fernandes, 2007). Brazils 2001 City Statute is an example of a growing urban social movement across Latin America that is attempting to institutionalise the right to the city in the legal frameworks that govern urban development (ibid). However,

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critics argue that institutionalised versions of the right to the city shift the nuances of the political stance and tend to dilute some of the radical demands of transformative movements (Mayer, 2009, pp. 239). Nevertheless, few scholars have considered the potential of top-down and bottom-up approaches to work together, such as Unger (2009). Unger argues that the right to the city is neither an anarchist or statist ideology, but a framework that can support horizontal and vertical (or diagonal) transformations (ibid).

Such debates have highlighted opportunities to develop strategies that strengthen the potential of transformative spatial justice to reform higher level policy while supporting grass-roots transformative action simultaneously. Therefore, transformative spatial justice takes places over different periods of time and at various political scales. In addition, the extensive body of literature on the right to the city provides an opportunity to draw upon the experiences of urban social movements worldwide. However, since social movements arise from unique contexts, their lessons may not be universally valid. Nonetheless, the field work in Bangkok confirmed that transformative spatial justice is a useful framework for analyzing social injustice and the role that Baan Mankong plays in mediating the impacts of globalisation on declining citizenship and uneven urban development.

(Donald Brown, 1,474 words)

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5. Methodology
In this chapter, the methodology will be uncovered according to those three stages in our research process namely pre-, during and post-field trip. In each stage, according to the different working resources and working plan, varied methods have been implemented. The chapter will introduce methodological objectives in each stage and the methods used in the research with justifications and limitations of these approaches.

5.1 Initial Diagnosis

Image 6 Some group members during the pre field period

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5.1.1 Methodological Background

This stage was based on desk reviews in London and was the starting point of the research. The objectives are mainly focused on: 1) formulating the definition of transformation and developing a criteria to test this; 2) understanding the Baan Mankong programme, especially the relationships amongst and between the actors involved in the process, and identifying the problems and opportunities in relation to the programme; 3) building on that, developing possible strategies for scaling-up of the Baan Mankong Programme to be tested in the field.

5.1.2 Methods Desk Based Data Collection

In order to formulate the definition of transformation, firstly, we reviewed literature about the programme and the theories of urban transformation and social justice. Then, summarising, synthesizing and analyzing this information (Loughborough University, n.d.), we defined the term transformation as transformative spatial justice, which forms the theoretical framework of our research. In this stage most sources and information are secondary data: qualitative

data by instance through lectures, Skype interviews, readings, and quantitative data by official statistics and administrative records (Hox and Boeije, 2005).

Desk-based Analysis
Building on the literatures and other secondary data, we used actor mapping analysis, the web of Institutionalisation (Levy, 1996) and actor rating assessments to comprehensively understand the Baan Mankong Programme. We synthesized the analysis especially the relations amongst actors, aiming to identifying the problems and opportunities. (Appendix 3-7)

5.1.3 Limitations
The initial diagnosis was basic desk-analysis and all built on the English publications and evaluations of the programme. Thus, the understandings in this stage were relatively limited and incomprehensive due to the lack of access to resources. Additionally, the theoretical
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framework and definition of transformation is based on the works of Purcell, Lefevbre, Dikec amongst others and will be tested in the field.

5.2 Diagnosis in the Field

5.2.1 Methodological Background
In this stage, the main goals were sufficiently using the primary sources, information and visiting hours in the field to 1) further understand the process of the programme; 2) test the strategies and hypothesises formulated in London; and 3) refine and adjust the proposals and studies of Baan Mankong. This stage was the most important in terms of data collecting, and thus, varied qualitative and quantitative methods were conducted during the process. Throughout the entire process, we have participated in and have made presentations as well as receiving feedback from peers as well as members of the community.

5.2.2 Fieldwork Plan

In the field, we used an inductive and deductive approach. The theoretical framework was

designed to guide an inductive approach, whereby theories and generalisations related to transformative spatial justice have been built out of the observations and data collected from six study sites. The field work is regarded as a deductive approach since information collected from the sites and field to some extent has reflected and helped us refine our initial diagnosis. (Payne, 2004) (Figure 5.2.2).

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Theories/ Generalizations

Deductive Approach

Tentative Hypothesis/ Conclusion

Inductive Approach

Patterns/ Commonalities

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 5

Site 6

Figure 5.2.2 The Deductive and Inductive Approach of Fieldwork Plan

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5.2.3 Methods Participant Observation

As an inductive approach, by using the direct or indirect observation, participant observation has helped us study the dynamics of the communities, the interrelationships of community members and environments, and also identify the problems and opportunities (Jorgensen, 1989) especially during the site visits.

Interviews
Interviews have been the most effective methods in the field. Interviews were structured, unstructured, semi-structured, informal and also in focus groups to efficiently collect both qualitative and quantitative data. During the field work, the interview ranged from a highly structured situation with a planned series of questions with experts or officers to a very informal talk with local residents (Miller and Salkind, 2002)
Image 7 A woman living in

Participatory Mapping
In order to study the process of the programme, develop positive language Jewkes, relationships with respondents and also conquer the barriers 1995), (Cornwall number and of

the informal settlement of in Lung Talad Kao Wat Para Ya Krai showing pictures of her daughter who lives in Canada during the interview

participatory mapping exercises were conducted in the field including participatory actor mapping, mental mapping (Dream of the financial mapping, River),

prioritization

mapping and community mapping (Appendix 2). Image 8 The river of life in Sangplu, Participatory

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Image 9 Exercise in Lung Talad Kao Wat Para Ya Krai

Questionnaires
To study the residents understanding of the programme, visualised questionnaires have been tested across six sites. The questionnaires were developed to find out the respondents attitudes toward different actors ((Miller and Salkind, 2002), and moreover we used the attitude symbols (smiley face) to avoid the translation issue (Appendix 1).

Image 10 Questionnaires survey in Site 3

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Visual Recording (photos, videos)

The experience in the field was recorded by a series of photos and occasionally videos to reflect the important impressions of the field. Photos were also used to capture significant elements in sites visited such as blocked drainage/ gates/ typology of houses/ people in the communities

Image 11 Participatory exercise in Site 3

Group Reflection
At the end of each day, we had group meeting to exchange and reflect on the information and learning from each site among all members; and then further identified what information still needed to be collected from the sites, also adjusting the plan to effectively use the remaining

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visits and discussions.

5.2.4 Limitations Language Barriers:

Language barrier was the biggest issue we found in the field. Even though we used images and other participatory exercises to try minimise language impacts, some information was still lost during translation.

Image 12 Translation during the river of life exercise in Sangplu

Culture Barriers:
Besides, cultural difference is another issue we found in the field which mainly happened on the different understandings of some certain terms and definitions, such as, right and citizenship.

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Time-controlling Issue:
In most cases of the field work, the working time was fixed and arranged in that we could only talk to specific people in a fixed period of time which to some extent, has limited the information collection in terms of range and depth. Some sites had specific tasks

pre-organised, and thus restricted the ability for us to conduct our research.

Questioning Issues:
Related to the language and culture barriers, questioning skills also became constrains during the field work. Even the questions have been prepared in advance, how to ask right questions was still the key problem throughout the working process in terms of maximising the information delivery.

5.3 Post-field trip Diagnosis

5.3.1 Methodological Background
After the field trip, the diagnosis mainly involves the process of 1) reviewing the information collected in the field; 2) summarising the learning during the trip; 3) based on the information and learning, refining and further developing the strategies for Baan Mankong to achieve transformative spatial justice. This stage is vital for bonding the information across all sites and generalising the data in order to better develop the strategies.

5.3.2 Methods Data Analysis

In this stage, we categorised the findings collected from six sites and generalised it into a finding table (Appendix). And then, we used open discussion as a group working tool to identify the commonalities and issues across sites according to different stages of the programme (pre/during/post-construction).

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Focus Group
Also, we used focus group in this stage among group members to better analyse and understand the programme based on the learning and findings in the field; and then, to adjust and refine the opportunities and challenges, and also the strategies.

5.3.3 Limitations
In this stage, the methods are mainly constrained by: the existing information gaps due to the methodological limitations in the field which could limit the final conclusion and understanding of the research; also, the limited working hours, since the work schedule after field trip was relatively tight which could influence the depth and range of analysis.

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6. Findings
6.1 Overview
The communities throughout Thailand that have been exposed to Baan Mankong have been influenced by one another. We went into the field assessing the relationships that each of the communities had developed with other actors and the knowledge being shared between them, their financial tools to promote and support appropriation, their perception on their right to the city, and the level of participation of different individuals in the different stages of the process. With a unique story in each of the visited communities in the six sites, we returned with a diverse set of results. Throughout the time that was spent on the field in Thailand, we came to realize the level of intricacy and adaptability in the structure of the Baan Mankong programme. The cooperation between the different actors, as well as the complexity within each community, dictates the path required in achieving the goals of the community.

Image 13 High rise buildings nearby communities in Bang Kho Laem district (Senghki, Sangplu and Lung Talad Kao Wat Para Ya Krai)

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The location of the site plays a significant role in the progress of the communities.

Areas

along the canal, such as Chatuchak and Thepleela are affected with environmental problems. With Pattayas proximity to the beach, its mayor promotes its tourism and encourages upgrading low-income housing. Nonthaburi Province, on the fringe of Bangkok, and an upcoming region for development and investment, is beginning to grapple with rapid urban growth as well as massive environmental issues such as flooding. (Appendix 8-10)

(Cindy Tianran Chen, 1,588 words)

Land availability is one of the major issues in Thailand, especially in urban areas.

Bangkok

has many different landowners and therefore requires many different tactics in dealing with specific landowners. Powerful landowners such as the Crown Property Bureau, the King,

the Treasury Department, as well as private owners amongst many other public landowners make it a very complex environment for the poor to secure tenure. For example, Lung Talad

Kao Wat Para Ya Krai is located right in the centre of Bangkok, surrounded by new and commercial developments and skyscrapers, and with the strict rules that the Crown Property Bureau has imposed on it, the community struggles.

Time is an important factor to inflect the process rather than a linear axis to pull all phenomenons together. We found a trend of similarity between the communities in each

period of the programme, and the factors currently affecting them. Consequently, while analysing our findings, we categorized the communities into three time frames; pre-construction, during construction, and post-construction. Those in the pre-construction phase are still initiating their savings groups and cooperatives, building relationships and a platform for advocating their rights. Having joined the

programme in 2010, Baan Nern Rodfai in Pattaya struggled to get community members to join, and to allow its savings group to kick off, but having reached stability, it is successfully striving to appropriate land. Being an inspiration to it, Kao Noi has sorted the logistics and is ready to move to the construction phase. In this phase, communities are actively saving as well as constructing and upgrading homes. Some of the problems encountered may revolve on the design of the project or the covering of debt, both issues found in Khao Patthana.

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Some communities may also find it difficult to maintain positive relationships within the community and with exterior actors, such as those in Chatuchak. This phase is usually the most time consuming, and then is followed by the post-construction, in which the community members would have achieved their goal of secure tenure and land, but are still responsible for maintaining harmony and covering their debts. The most recurrent issues here may include financing, and are generally overlooking the future with a fear of re-slumming, such as in Sengkhi.

6.2 Pre-Construction
During this phase, communities are contemplating their current situation, and discovering Baan Mankong programme as well as other programmes, such as NHA, private developments, or local authority initiatives. Momentum is activated usually with a fires, floods and

collective desire for a secure future, as well as trigger events such as eviction notices.

With the support of NULICO, they can investigate other successful

communities that have undergone upgrading, and collectively evaluate the possible impact of it on their livelihoods. The residents at a larger scale within the community are then approached with ideas on adopting Baan Mankong, and enough are gathered to form a committee and a savings group programme. In Pattaya, the local authority suggested that community members lean towards Baan Mankong as it is the most community led approach to upgrading, in which community members are responsible and involved in every aspect of the process. Sang ton Eng community on the other hand saved independently, as it preferred to be debt-free after the completion of construction. Communities that were interested in joining Baan Mankong would need to prove their dedication to the programme financially and approach CODI having raised 10% of their total spending for their programme.

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Image 14 Fire picture at Sangplus community center

6.2.1 Findings Negotiations and Power Relations:

With a political economy to support this step of adopting the programme, Pattayas communities are enthusiastic to lead this process. The community holds regular meetings to discuss its progress, and has a very positive relationship with the local authority. The community leader is selected in each community to harmonize negotiations within communities as well as with external actors, and to follow up with community progress and concerns. Community members are empowered by their collective ability to structure and organize themselves and enhancing their capacity to negotiate and tackle power relations. With only the support of NULICO, they take charge of the project and the factors to initiate it. Independently, they are expected to approach the local authority to gain support and approval of their project. They also negotiate with the landowner the options to which the land is appropriated and managed during the project. With the Crown Property Bureaus strict rules on these terms in Lung Talad Kao Wat Para Ya Krai, the community struggles to gather interested households in taking part in the Baan Mankong, as it requires abiding by rules which obstruct their interests. Nang Nual also finds it difficult to reach consensus, among community members as well as with the landowner, to collectively share the land it settles on as it has become very expensive. Communities in this stage are required to build networks and consensus to gather support throughout their initiative. They compile a structure and a strategy, and they begin saving up. CODI only intervenes with the communities approach

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when they provide it with all the information and resources gathered as a build-up to join the programme.

Trust Issues:
A recurrent issue which frustrates communities in this stage is the lack of confidence of community members towards the savings groups and Baan Mankong as a whole. Residents find it difficult to trust that such a long term project is worth committing to and will provide them with positive outcomes. Trust issues are apparent throughout the programme, but are critical at the beginning, when residents are required to commit to a time-consuming and expensive project that they are unfamiliar with. The savings group is particularly in need to justify that expenses are managed properly to benefit all equally. This correlation between time and trust is strong enough that residents can grow to gain trust with time, or lose faith in it. In Nonthuburi, community members lost trust one year into the programme for its slow pace, but after witnessing results, have agreed to join again. Similarly in Pattaya, Baan Nern Rodfai established two committees in the past which failed to successfully adopt Baan Mankong. The current third committee struggled to gain residents trust, but managed to impress them with progress.

Inclusion/ Exclusion:
While Baan Mankong is emphasized as a community-led, inclusive and participatory programme, it is expected that all members of a community are equally targeted and included. However, it was clear from some sites that Baan Mankong may end up excluding people who are unable to pay, especially among migrants and temporary workers. The programme is

demand-driven, but some are not willing to join due to financial constraints, uncertainty, and lack of information. These issues led to community dissensus in most cases.

6.2.2 Opportunities of Pre-Construction Learning

Prior to joining, communities are given the opportunity to visit other Baan Mankong sites, to

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evaluate the challenges and opportunities of Baan Mankong and the possible success of their progress. This grants communities the prospect of learning from one another, and portrays to them the outcome that Baan Mankong can offer. The more people are likely to join, the more money is raised and consensus is built among the residents.

Negotiation capacity on land

Communities have the opportunity to build positive relationships with external actors, to agree on the programmes outlooks and processes. When the local authority stands with the community, it can facilitate procedures tackling policies, services and infrastructure. As securing land is the first active step in the programme, the community needs to reach a compromise with the landowner, to try and promote the project. Land appropriation here is not only policy-central but also tackles desirability and finance.

Inclusion within communities

The community acts as one actor when negotiating with either of the external actors, and therefore inter-community relationships are key for residents to support one another and work collectively and equally. If the programme were to include non-traditional participants,

including migrant workers, short-term renters, non-Thai nationals, and those who are exceptionally poor, relationships among the residents may be harmonized and the project more efficient.

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Image 15 A man in wheelchair in Sangplu

6.2.3 Development of Transformative Spatial Justice

In this stage of the programme, the platform for transformative spatial justice is created and will move along with the programme until completion. The key factors to achieving justice are highly crucial at this point as they formulate the tools needed to carry on actively. Residents are mobilized and encouraged to participate in the programme, to structure their community, plan their steps moving forward, negotiate and make decisions. Land needs to

be appropriated in this stage, and site plans need to be completed in order to obtain CODI financing and carry on with the programme. Through negotiations and information sharing within communities, with other communities, and with local governments and other external actors, the participants enhance their public learning. (Figure 6.2.3)

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Learning

Inclusion within community

Negotiation capacity on land

Participation

Appropriation

Public Learning

Figure 6.2.3 Development of Transformative Spatial Justice

(Dalia Chabarek, 1,566 words)

6.3 During construction

According to Appendix X, there are currently 16 communities in the construction stage. Each community is facing different issues in diverse situations, which determines the possibility to organise Baan Mankong smoothly. It is from these six sites in the field, that the phenomenon and issues in this stage can be concluded and analysed. Furthermore, based on those findings, the opportunities and challenges can be defined for improving current situations and further achieving Image 16 Lang Witthayalaikru transformative spatial justice.
Chankasea Community

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6.3.1 Findings
The findings can be subdivided into three aspects, namely; consensus building, relationship building and Community-led Planning Groups.

Consensus-building
Most of the communities found that they had difficulties building consensus over issues on site planning and design within

communities and among different actors. For instance, Lang Witthayalaikru Chankasea Community in Chatuchak District is facing conflicts and contradictions both internally and with the planning department. One family did not agree to share their land with Image 17 Krungthep Patthana Community the community, resulting in holding it back from progressing beyond the first phase of construction. It caused their plan to fail meeting the 2-meter standard of the road width forcing the construction procedure to be delayed until they come up with an alternative solution that everyone is satisfied with. Failing to build consensus for a long Image 18 Bang Prong 2 Community time eventually brings about the deterioration of trust within the community, which would further lead people to leave the savings group. The Krungthep Patthana Community in Chatuchak district is an example of people quitting the programme because no progress had been made during Image 19 Rimkhlong Patthana Bangbua Community 10 years of saving.

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Struggling to develop consensus in most of the sites can be viewed in two aspects. The first one is people did not fully understand the procedure of the BAAN MANKONG programme which influenced their community cohesion. For example, people from Bang Prong 2 community came together and started the BAAN MANKONG programme after hearing about it in a radio commercial without fully learning about the programme first. They copied the procedure and housing design straight from Bang Prong 1 and there was no real participation and community cohesion. The second aspect is strong leadership, which to some extent may restrict the thoughts exchange. The Rimkhlong Patthana Bangbua Community in Chatuchak District is now facing the problem of redesign because people were not satisfied with the initial house design. Furthermore, it can be felt that there was strong hierarchy in members minds that inhibited them from decision making. Only the leader could decide and have a chance to negotiate with different actors because they did not have time to attend meetings.

The difficulties of building consensus have shown the restriction of BAAN MANKONGs further development in three dimensions. First, diverse demands within communities as the realistic

phenomenon have limited the programme from moving forward. It is difficult to meet the demands of every family, especially some short-term renters and immigrants. Also, people always hold different perspectives about the BAAN MANKONG

programme and their priorities and there is a lack of good solutions to facilitate opinions among
Image 20 Thepleela community, photo by liz

households in communities. Second, trust issues emerged where there is no consensus over a long period of time.

Trust issues, in different levels including the trust to CODI and the BAAN MANKONG programme, to community leaders and other members, are core to creating and organising saving groups. Lastly, the lack of expectation and understanding of the BAAN MANKONG programme, especially its long-term benefits, were not up to their expectations.

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Relationship Building
Relationship building and negotiation with local

authorities and landowners is important for ensuring that the process remains people-driven. Based on the findings from the site work, it can be seen that over 90% of communities were capable of maintaining good relations among different actors such as CODI, the Treasury Department and NULICO. In those communities,

negotiation with landowners or local authorities did not obstruct the organisation of the programme. In addition, the good relations with landowners and local authorities could have been the driving force for communities in processing the BAAN MANKONG programme while still remaining people-driven. However, there were still Image 21 B_Lung Talad Kao Wat Para two communities that were facing the issue of Ya Kra community relationship building. For example, the CPB who contracts out to private developers in Wangthonglang have added 10% to the cost. The significant role of the CPB in Wongthanglang has reflected directly on two ongoing communities. In Thepleela community, the CPB was driving the re-blocking agenda and forcing consensus among the conflicted community.

The reason could be defined mostly as external factors. Firstly, the varied conditions of relationship building and negotiations among different actors may depend on the property owners. In terms of the land owned by the CPB, there were relatively more conditions and regulations set by the CPB on the site planning and design, and a strong ambition to build consensus within the community. At the same time, the process went very well on the land owned by the Treasury Department and relatively smoothly on the land owned by the private sector. Secondly, supports from the top could accelerate the process. For example, the two communities in Pattaya started in 2010 compared with others that started between 2003 and 2007, but have gained significant progress already. The support from the government in

order to clean up the site to develop tourism played a key role in the implementation of the

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BAAN MANKONG programme.

Two issues arise if relationship building fails to facilitate in the programme; people may lack the ability to negotiate with some landowners, and the strong role and ambition to control site planning by landowners has deteriorated the incentive to participate within communities. It will further result in the failure to achieve transformative spatial justice in the future.

Community-led Planning Groups

Some sites at this stage have developed community committee sub-groups for planning which could be a good model to improve participation and community cohesion. For instance, BAAN MANKONG communities in Wangthonglang have created community-led planning groups to coordinate upgrading, including infrastructure planning and

provision. Certain people are appointed for coordinating different aspects of the
Image 22 Suanplu Community

upgrading process such as infrastructure or housing and so on. Communities that have developed the community-planning groups have also applied for City Development Funds (CDFs) and infrastructure grants channelled from central government through the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority (BMA). This is a good way to mobilize people to actually join the programme and improve community cohesion from taking responsibility in organising the upgrading process. Another successful example is Suanplu, a post-construction community which also set up sub-groups including the Friends Help Friends group, Funeral expense support groups, Housewife groups, Volunteer for health promotion and disability support, Kong tun mae Anti drug fund and Youth activities groups, and so on. It was a reflection of the concept that manages the community together to some extent. The establishment of sub groups has promoted the process and advanced participation within the community. Furthermore, it is also good for the extension of participation and community cohesion after the construction phase.

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6.3.2 Opportunities During Baan Mankong

Based on the findings, the opportunities of the future development of the BAAN MANKONG programme can be defined.

Address community social issues

Phasing development presents issues for community mobilisation and delivering results to whole community rather than incrementally.

Establish a long-term community vision

It is important to maintain expectations through delivering results, which could be helped by building a long-term vision by the community, for the community.

Build relationships with officials and institutions

Increase possibilities to gain better results from negotiation.

Build

awareness

about

unjust land conditions and city pressures Remain peoples aspiration to achieve better living conditions.

Image 23 Saving groups book in Site 1

Show the viability of savings groups

Increase the trust within communities.

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6.3.3 Looking forward to transformative spatial justice

According to Diagram 6.3.3, it can be seen that transformative spatial justice could be embedded widely into the future improvement of the BAAN MANKONG programme. The specific strategies will be discussed based on the findings, challenges and opportunities in this stage, in order to further achieve transformative spatial justice.

Address community social issues Establish a long-term community vision Build relationships with officials and institutions Build awareness about unjust land conditions and city pressures Show the viability of savings groups

Participation

Appropriation

Public Learning

Figure 6.3.3 Development of Transformative Spatial Justice

(Sophia Yin Cui, 1,426 words)

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6.4 Post construction

Six communities have completed construction. As the pilot projects of each district, most of them started their process in 2003, 2004 and 2005. Only Chareonchai is an exception, as it began in 1982 and was the oldest project that we visited. It highlights the longevity in

developing the Baan Mankong model. Thus, once it finished the construction in 2002, the site was quickly set as a successful precedent to encourage other communities to follow up.
Figure 6.4 The green points are the sites that

6.4.1 Findings

already finished BAAN MANKONG

Based on the site visits, a number of common issues emerged in the post-construction period. Some of them are challenges while others can be considered as the opportunities (Figure 6.4).

Lease Renegotiation
In the communities whose land is owned by the Crown Property Bureau (CPB), the registered inhabitants were able to attain 30 years of legal tenure. It is a negotiated result of the local authorities, CODI, communities and the landowners. For example, in Ruamsamakee, local

authorities helped the community to attain temporary registration before legal ratification. The CPB promised a 30 years lease for registered members on the condition that the
Image 24 The dialogue in Wangthonglang,

community have savings groups as well as an agreement on a housing plan. CODI coordinated and facilitated the ongoing dialogue of different actors. Moreover, it offered

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loans to the community members and encouraged them to start saving.

We interviewed some residents of Ruamsamakee and asked them about the security of tenure. Most of them said that they are satisfied with the length of the lease. However, based on conversations with other community leaders and Thai academic staff, the land price of Wangthonglang district will increase every three years which implies the threat of land speculation and potential tenure insecurity. The lease renegotiation will become a key issue across these post-construction sites in the future.

Disaggregation or Sustainable Growth

The disaggregation of saving groups at household level is another issue. Some communities thought BAAN

MANKONG was only about house upgrading, therefore, once they finished the construction process, they assumed that they did not need to continue saving. The lack of emphasis on sustainability of community in the post-BAAN MANKONG stage inferred this kind of disaggregation ----- It becomes harder to convince everyone save continuously and invest their money collectively. However, without a long-term vision for
Image 25 The mushroom business in Community

future growth, communities have the potential to devolve back into slums. This limited understanding decreases the size and value of the communities savings groups, which evolves into issues in regards to the repaying of loans. At the same time, other communities that have completed construction regarded BAAN MANKONG as their entry point for improving livelihoods.

In terms of finance, some of them have successfully diversified their funding stream. For example, Inudom promotes urban agriculture and sets up relevant community enterprises as a collective business. They grow herbal medicines and invest in mushroom farms for everybody in the community. Ruammit Patthana residents also embarked on a fishery

project which offered job opportunities for elders of the community. In this way, the

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community extends the use of savings to develop their local industries; as a consequence, the local industries create more fund resources for the community.

Communication and Public Learning

The tools used for communication and learning in these post-construction communities are simple and primary. The interviewees in Chareonchai and Kao Patthana said that they use three ways to communicate and publicize BAAN MANKONG within communities: putting notices on a board; using a speaker for announcements; and organising activities such as workshops. In terms of public learning, these finished communities are set as very

successful precedents. However, they have yet to build a precedent of institional learning. On one hand, the community leaders are busy with internal affairs, and they do not have enough time to deal with exchange external and

community

knowledge sharing. On the other hand, there are no existing and experienced city-level networks that communities can use to learn Image 26 The Publicizing in Chareonchai from and exchange information.

6.4.2 Opportunities for Post- Construction

Based on the issues we found, some internal and external opportunities of this stage can be recognised and analyzed further.

Youth programme and Public space

One of the issues we defined before is the disaggregation of savings groups at household level. The lack of emphasis on sustainability of community in the post-construction stage inferred this disaggregation. Therefore, the internal opportunity could be linked with the future growth within the community. In terms of public space, the people from communities

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which have already finished the construction process have more awareness on making the most of public space. They start to consider the open space as a platform for participation and knowledge sharing. They emphasize the need for better landscape and more public space in their future community plan. Moreover, based on the observation of post-construction sites from our group, children use the public space more frequently, which could be another internal opportunity of the programme. Referring to the presentation from ACHR and general information that NULICO staff offered, the younger generations are very active in engaging with participatory design. ACHR also embarks on a youth programme to train them to use GIS technology. All the above indicate that the inclusion of young people is very important for the future development of Baan Mankong Programme.

City Development Fund and other existing district network

Based on the information our group collected, most communities in this stage have already joined the CDFs. CDFs are a city-wide savings union which was initiated by CODI very recently, which aim to change the networks from community level to city level. It encourages communities to pool money together to increase collaboration and connectivity through many concrete activities. According to the presentation by Somsook Boonyabancha, the CDFs are multi-functional and should not merely be understood as offering stronger financial support; it also brings more courage and confidence to the poor for stimulating various bottom-up changes. It will fundamentally increase the negotiation capacity of community residents at

city scale and stabilize the partnership among poor people, local authorities and other development stakeholders. For the sites whose lands are owned by the CPB, they also have the CPB network which offers some opportunities for scaling up.

6.4.3 The way forward for achieving transformative social justice

Findings of communities in the post-construction stage reflect the need for developing transformative spatial justice in its three aspects. For example, the issue of disaggregation reflects the insufficient influence from urban citizens on the production of urban space, which does not meet their sustainable social, political, economic and environmental needs. However, at the same time, some existing institutions at this stage offer post BAAN MANKONG communities a number of opportunities to achieve transformative social justice. For example,

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as shown in the following diagram, the Pursuit for public space in community and City-development funds network address the participation, appropriation and public learning together. Youth programme attaches importance to participation and public learning. (Figure 6.4.3)
Youth Programme City-development Funds and other existing network The Pursuit for Public Space in Community Plan

Participation

Appropriation

Public Learning

Figure 6.4.3 Development of Transformative Spatial Justice

6.5 How the findings and opportunities lead into the strategies
To conclude, all the issues we found from the fieldtrip revolve around power relations, land, finance, time, space and internal or external factors. Some issues are recurrent through all the phases, whereas others are periodical. For example, the concern of relationship building and negotiation with local authority and landowners are important all the time. The landowners and policy makers are less responsive to communities before the start of the BAAN MANKONG programme. During this process, different powers have built a more regular and stable relationship among each other. Therefore, after completing construction, the good relationship and existing network becomse a big achievement as well as an opportunity for the Baan Mankong Programme.

Moreover, comparing the various opportunities in three stages by using the criteria of

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transformative spatial justice, we found that the inclusion (particularly including the youth), CDFs and negotiation capacity of communities are the most important opportunities for future development of the BAAN MANKONG programme. These opportunities help this programme achieve social change, and are the base for our strategies which will be elaborated in next section.

(Jing Zhang, 1,537 words)

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7. Strategies
Based on our findings we have developed three interconnected strategies that seek to expand transformative spatial justice in Bangkok and Thailand. The first strategy looks at ways to strengthen cohesion and participation between actors at all levels. It also looks at the importance of inclusion of all, especially those who may have been previously excluded from the process. The second strategy explores the notion of incrementally developing a national charter that will strengthen the ability for poor men and women to actively shape their environment. And, finally, the third strategy looks at ways to develop alternative funding sources and build knowledge sharing through an online platform. Together, these strategies address the criteria of participation, appropriation, and reflexive learning which are essential to transformative spatial justice.

7.1 Strategy 1: Building and Maintaining Relationships.

7.1.1 Strategy Overview

Image 26 Sangplu and Lung Talad Kao Wat Para Ya Krais community leaders

This chapter focuses on the strategy to strengthen relationships and inclusion between actors (i.e. communities, civil society and government) at all levels to enable long-term transformative spatial justice. It focuses on the rationale for the strategy and possible tactics for implementation. Based on our findings from the field, this chapter also seeks to identify assumptions, limitations and challenges that might arise.

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7.1.2 Strategy Relevance

Transformative spatial justice as we have defined it embodies the importance of active citizenship at the grass-root level and the need for structural change at policy level, allowing for the right to appropriation of land to happen. Without strong linkages and relationships between actors, the potential to create true change for all citizens is limited, as is the collective power of the people. This strategy looks to address this by building on existing relationships within Baan Mankong and CODI across all scales of Thailand as well as creating new ties between actors. Leveraging the existing collective power within the networks and communities and guiding them towards influencing change within their society is crucial. It is also vital to influence actors at the top, to show them just how important these relationships can be for the countrys future success.

7.1.3 Scales of the strategy

The strategy is divided into three different levels: the level of the city, the community-to-community level, and within communities themselves. The first level relates to how central government links with other actors at city level, for example with the municipal government. From the field sites we witnessed four core challenges that inhibited relationships at this level. These were 1) weak links between local and central government, 2) inconsistent relationships between communities and local governments, 3) lack of credibility amongst actors due to those weak ties impacted development in certain areas and 4) inability to negotiate at scale as expressed by some actors. The second level refers to community to community relationships and how links are created among certain communities to help support and encourage participation in the Baan Mankong programme, as well as encouraging communities to realise their rights to the city as a whole. At present many links between communities seem weak and power relations between various actors have major impact on community-to-community cooperation. This can be seen through certain actors control in some districts, while other authorities are more lenient and supportive of the need for cooperation on a wider scale.

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The community-to-community level explores certain power relations that exist. While many communities have flourished through the Baan Mankong programme, from our site visits, city wide issues emerged. Four of those key issues are; trust amongst communities, (for example, regarding community leaders), difficulty in managing community members expectations of the Programmes tangible progression, consensus building and mediating between competing interests regarding community issues, and that the presence of conflicting ideals, needs or wants between generations.

7.1.4 Inclusion
Another element of this strategy relates to the importance of inclusion. From our experience in the field, we witnessed the exclusion of members of society from various elements of the process. This was most evident among the severely poor, migrant workers, and those fearing future debt. This strategy would provide excluded people with an opening to participate in the programme by 1) introducing more communities to the idea of a welfare fund to encourage those who are otherwise unable to join, 2) providing the extremely poor with flexible tenure over an extended period of time, 3) granting everyone the ability to participate in process during all phases, and 4) mobilising other community members to provide minimal

financial aid or other kinds of support to poorer families to assist in their inclusion to the programme.

There is also a special interest in increasing participation of younger generations in all stages of the process. The need to actively engage them in the programme from planning to implementation, as well as strengthening young peoples opportunities to seek employment, education, and leadership roles. By increasing participation of these individuals, whole communities can increase their opportunities for development and ensure long-term transformative change through the Baan Mankong Programme. Firstly, young people lack experience in engaging in policy and governance activities, and so strong information, training, and coaching elements are required in all approaches. Secondly the limited time span of any individuals participation in youth activities means that there is a higher degree of turnover among leadership than in other segments of society. This necessitates a unified focus on individuals recognising the need for enduring institutions. The approach must be on

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institutionalising youth engagements in all segments of society if long-term transformative change is to be achieved.

7.1.5 Opportunities
The main opportunity for enhancing relationships and communication at the city level would be to increase opportunities for dialogue between actors. This would also encourage reflexive learning to occur between actors which would create more empathy and the will to change current structures in the city. The strategic use of the media can be a powerful tool for

voicing the wants and needs of all the people across the city landscape. Relationships at the community-to-community level could be improved significantly through providing opportunities for support, increased training programmes, and the use of more forums for facilitating idea sharing. All of these approaches reinforce the need for more participatory exercises to enhance capacity building within and across scales in the city. This in turn, can prove very empowering and can influence change for transformative spatial justice at city-scale.

At the community scale, the main opportunities for creating increased cohesion between community members and improving current conflicting relationships could be to firstly, maintain a generational focus in community planning projects, pre, during, and post construction, which would ensure that all voices are heard, and secondly to build a long-term community vision.. Together, these two opportunities would ensure that all voices being heard in all levels of the process, as well as incorporating those visions into a solid development plan.

In terms of youth engagement, the opportunities here would be achieved through a wide range of actors for example NULICO, local governments, communities, etc. By utilising

NULICO as an advocate, through peer support, the importance of youth participation and the necessity to include all individuals who have been discouraged or excluded from the process up to this point can be addressed. CODI and local government authorities could work towards creating partnerships with the private sector. By reinforcing Baan Mankongs objectives beyond that of an upgrading programme, through the use of CDFs, initial financial support

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could be provided from a range of sources. This could facilitate actors to create capacity building opportunities for younger generations to actively participate, by providing them with the best available information, resources, and facilities, pertaining to various issues, such as employment, health, crime prevention, governance, and youth rights and responsibilities. It could also oversee the creation of a trust fund for younger members that could work towards progressive investment in projects or ideas, as well as social enterprise and entrepreneurial initiatives. This, in turn, would enable youth focused activities to take place where they could voice their needs and concerns in relation to the development of their communities.

7.1.6 Implementation
To implement this strategy, it will be crucial that the continual expansion of communities and networks is supported by funding and capacity building at both co-operative, city and national level. CODI has stressed the importance of communities leading the process. The development of CDF's will increase the ability for communities to further engage in city-wide processes. We have developed four sub-strategies/tactics to implement from the opportunities we have identified above. 1) Communities develop internal training capacity through the assistance of NULICO, CODI and other actors. 2) Communities strengthen their ability to influence and build partnerships with local government authorities by addressing issues beyond the community, existing policies can be challenged by effective mobilisation. (e.g Community disaster reduction tactics that compliment policies of local governments) 3) Communities and networks consolidate processes within Baan Mankong by attracting wider participation of members, thus balancing the role of the community leader and empowering members further. 4) Youth focused tactics that relay their aspirations by connecting financial and political incentives such as the Youth Trust Fund and ability to participate in governance issues.

7.1.7 Limitations
There are some key limitations arising from these strategies: 1) This is entirely dependent on community initiative. 2) Existing governance structures lack capacity to address all issues raised by communities as provincial and district budgets are restricted and hard to monitor.

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3) The role of migrants and sub-renters can still be difficult to include in the Baan Mankong process. 4) Youth involvement is dependent on creating incentives that will attract their interest, thus it may not be financially viable. A strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threat assessment of the NULICO network needs to be conducted and tactics developed to address the gaps. Overall, the limitations stress the fact that communities need to remain alert to both internal and external issues.

(Sorcha Cremin, 1,628 words)

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7.2 Strategy 2: Charter

Any serious struggle is a struggle for local demands and institutional change at the same time. (Unger, 2009).

7.2.1 Strategy Overview

Image 27 The collective power of people

This chapter of the paper will focus on the strategy to incrementally develop a national charter for Thailand. It will focus on the rationale for the strategy and possible tactics for implementation as well as citing evidence from the field and clarifying any assumptions used. The chapter will conclude by addressing the limitations and challenges that could arise.

The strategy is to create a national charter that unites citizens, civil society and government under a framework for supporting transformative spatial justice in rural and urban areas through grass-roots action and institutionalization. The purposes of the charter is to firstly, provide an ethical orientation for grass-roots action by capitalizing on the existing networks and communities that are mobilized; secondly, to articulate the collective demands of the citizenry regarding land and development, especially for the urban landscape; and finally to provide a framework and vision for institutionalizing transformative spatial justice into policy at all levels, with a focus on national land reform.

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7.2.2 Strategy Relevance

Transformative spatial justice as we have defined it embodies the importance of active citizenship at the grass-roots level as well as the need institutional change. The strategy looks to address this by building on the success of the Baan Mankong programme and the work of CODI across different scales and different political and spatial arenas. Baan Mankongs intention is to change the relationships between urban poor communities and local governments so these communities become accepted as legitimate part of the city. (Boonyabancha, 2005 pp.1). Its intention thus is to empower people to negotiate at the scale of the city.

To do this, leveraging existing collective power within networks and guiding it towards influencing institutional change is crucial. The impact of Baan Mankong at policy level in the future will be indicative of its desire to create a socially just society for the urban poor of Thailand through continued participation beyond secure housing and tenure.

7.2.3 Point of entry in Bangkok, Thailand

The strategy responds to challenges we have identified in our findings for increasing participation and appropriation. Specifically, two main challenges have been identified

related to the inherent scalar/ political limitations of Baan Mankong, which become evident during the post-construction phase. Firstly, individualized participation post-construction limits the potential of the programme to foster a process that builds cumulative political influence at higher levels. Secondly, claims to inclusion in the prevailing system through slum upgrading do not challenge the dominant economic order (Mayer, 2009).

These challenges reflect the structure-agency gap between citizens and the levels of government that set planning, design and broader economic policy. Often, these policies, particularly those set by central government, fail to mitigate poverty and exclusion. Thus, there is an opportunity to strengthen vertical linkages by scaling-up participation to higher levels where structural reform can be achieved. Reform will be challenging to pursue and institutionalise, since it necessarily confronts dominant power relations. However, pro-poor

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policy reform will ultimately enhance accessibility to active and legitimate negotiation within the wider city. This strengthens poor peoples' claim to participation and appropriation.

The initial entry point for such a strategy is through the existing NULICO network where it will set a precedent initially at micro scale and later build up to city, provincial, and national government levels. The charter needs to be developed over an extended period of time, ensuring it entails enough flexibility for future adaptability, developing precedents over time. Short term goals will require precedent setting at community and district levels, taking further the ability for citizens to influence local governments and policy agendas. The longer term focus, to develop a legally binding charter requires an iterative process to ensure that momentum and the document produced is clear and structured towards socially just aims which represent the will of the Thai people. A strong team of mixed disciplines as well as strong lawmakers will be required to create this legal document. In order to support this progressive social movement, local governments must possess the capacity (and political willingness) to implement the charter. The charter is of greatest value when used as a legally binding instrument at the local level.

7.2.4 Evidence Supporting the Charter

The flexibility and adaptability of both CODI and the programme entails the need for institutional grounding of the rights to the city. As the programme grows and more

participants join, a growing concern will be to address the desire to exercise existing political capital. A reliable and secure tool such as the Charter provides a formal platform for exercising these rights, the political capital exists both within communities and the wider networks that they have created. Observations in the field supporting waning participation post construction revealed two issues. Firstly, community leaders become absorbed in local issues, which limits the time

available to participate in city-wide decision-making (e.g. City Committee). According to one Wangthonglang community leader, community leaders wear too many hats. Secondly, after upgrading is complete, community savings groups tend to disaggregate to the household level. This poses both a threat to the investment committed by communities as well a potential wane in communal activities. Figure 7.2.4 shows possible impact post-construction phase in

59

the programme.

Figure 7.2.4 Social, economic, political capital versus participation in Baan Mankong

7.2.5 Implementation
The strategy requires a parallel number of actors all working towards the same goal. The role for communities, NULICO, CODI, ACHR, Local Governments, Lawmakers, amongst others is crucial to institutionalise the charter. To begin the process, there are three potential opportunities we have identified. First, the existence of the national reform assembly, which Boonyabancha is a member, provides a platform for negotiating structural reform with central government. Secondly, the efforts by CODI to unify the rural and urban landscapes as rural areas contain the majority of Thailands population. As a result, the rural populace commands the most political influence at national level, which is where economic policy is set. Thirdly, there is an ever growing civil society (notably NULICO) that is becoming an important site of oppositional politics. This then becomes our vehicle for institutionalizing rights and
60

principles of transformative spatial justice. Implementation should be led by communities and NULICO.

7.2.6 When
Baan Mankong and CODI have already assisted in increasing rights for citizens through the upgrading process. The participation levels waning post-construction, and the

non-diversification of the saving groups in certain communities, means that the incentive to continue active participation is limited. If the charter is used as a mobilization tool, its timeframe needs to be reflective of the everyday lives of the people it will represent. While it will be a legal document, it must operate at a pace that will not hinder its merits but instead builds steady momentum.

7.2.7 How should this happen?

The most revolutionary idea concerning city planning derives neither from urbanism, nor from technology, nor from aesthetics. I refer to the decision to reconstruct the entire environment in accordance with the needs of the power of the established workers councils (Debord 1995, pp126) CODI and others who have been involved in the realisation of Baan Mankong have stressed the importance of collective organisation and securing rights via the upgrading process, this, in short, is a long term vision, or perhaps more succinct is to call it the revolution of everyday life in Thailand. With the power of the network, as well as locally empowered communities, the ability to reconstruct elements of the institutional framework is becoming possible.

7.2.8 Limitations / Anticipated problems

The ultimate need for such an instrument of institutionalised rights to the city incurs some crucial opposition. Thus, taking into consideration the temporal and spatial elements, the practical application and ability to influence change at the institutional level requires both commitment and vision. As community members and citizens of Baan Mankong have been so focused on delivering practical and tangible rights (secure tenure, housing, active participation with local governments etc), the process of developing a Charter needs to build

61

on, rather than work parallel to this. The notion of rights must also be clarified through the process. A key limitation is the ability for visioning and going beyond community and district scale development and working on a national charter. As participation in the political sphere wanes after securing land and housing through the Baan Mankong programme, an assumption is that communities will not consider the importance of the charter to be a tool that will enhance further their everyday lives (they have already secured what they deem most important). However, the strategy as a whole looks to complement the existing work of CODI, as well as strengthening the need for people to continue demanding their rights not just through activism and mobilisation, but also through institutional processes that will act as a further catalyst to an already active community.

(Mohammad Ruhul Abdin, 1,568 words)

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7.3 Strategy 3: Finance and Technology

7.3.1 Strategy overview

Image 28 Saving groups' book and community members' communication tools

Wireless communications can expand the transformative power of Baan Mankong (Castells, 2004:232, Appadurai, 2001:31). Two new crowdsourcing tools (Appendix 11.1) the Community Development Fund 2.0 (CDF 2.0) and the Public Learning, Appropriation, Participation 2.0. (PLAP 2.0) can launch a civic movement that can contribute to scale up transformative change. The Community Development Fund 2.0 (CDF 2.0) is a non-profit-led online platform that allows various actors mainly Baan Mankong communities across Thailand to contribute to the revolving fund enabling the finance of projects with a potentially high social return on investments (SROI).

63

ZOOM

64

65

Figure 7.3.1 PLAP 2.0 and CDF 2.0s activity

A CDF 2.0 committee will be in charge of implementing social audits*,2granting loans to maximize the SROI of the supported projects and writing a charter about datas privacy and confidentiality for e-panels. Urban and rural e-community committees representatives will constitute it.

To join the CDF 2.0, a community must be in the process or have finished upgrading; it should also have an active technological group contributing to the PLAP 2.0. members will elect an e-community committee and will transfer funds via mobile or internet to the savings account. The e-community committee will then transfer it to the CDF 2.0s platform.

Finally, the community can ask for a loan to finance projects generating a SROI. If granted by the CDF 2.0 committee, the loan will be delivered to the community that will pay it back via the platform. Interest will be divided into management cost, technology fund and revolving fund. Its rate will depend on the number of communities willing to join the CDF 2.0 and of the amount of savings. Community members will have to assess the social value-added of the financed project. (Figure 7.3.1) The Public Learning Appropriation Participation 2.0 (PLAP 2.0) is a scalable online platform on which actors can share content. CODI, universities (according to Brueckner, Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok can develop GIS tools) and experts can support ongoing development. This public learning tool favours technology democratisation, participation enhancement - especially the youth and working people - and appropriation. (Figure 7.3.2).

* See Glossary 66

Figure 7.3.2 PLAP 2.0

The content will depend on peoples creativity. However, a Local Exchange Trading System* (LETS) is one possible track to follow. It is a powerful tool to boost the local economy in a context of funding scarcity and to increase social cohesion. It has been experimented in the North-East of Thailand (Bia Kud Chum, ibid).

7.3.2 Strategy Relevance

There is a need to think about the processes that would ensure that all slum and squatter households in a nation achieve the significant improvements that the Millennium Development Goals demand (Boonyabancha, 2005:3).

CODI uses finance as the starting point to bind the community together. Baan Mankong is a corrective programme that offers more than restoring the link between informal and formal finance as it secures land and upgrades dwellings. This is a necessary but insufficient condition to empower communities. Thus, a strategy based on finance and technology has been developed to enable people not only to implement a physical transformation of their environment but also the social and political.
67

Wireless communications can be used to overcome issues such as funding dependency, scale, and participationparticularly concerning the socio-economic and political legacy in the post construction phase.

In 2008, CODI faced a funding crisis, which was solved by signing an agreement with the Government Housing Bank. Financially, room for manoeuvre is severely limited at the top level and CODI favours community-led solutions that build financial independence.

The CDF 2.0 is one such solution where communities become their own bankers. The use of a revolving fund is an incentive for communities to pay back since a community pawns its social capital (reputation effect) by loaning money to other communities via the CDF 2.0 thereby strengthening horizontal linkages. Interest will partly feed and scale-up the size of the Fund. Moreover, the use of wireless communications will reduce the long-term management costs. LETS may also contribute to the local economy without depending on money.

Wireless communications makes the information exchange more fluid between communities whereas the multiple CDFs are relatively isolated. The global nature of the CDF 2.0 and the PLAP 2.0 strengthen networks power and enhance their reactivity.The content of the communication flows defines the network, and thus the space of flows, and the territorial basis of each node (Castells, 2004:232). Rural communities that may have seasonal income can benefit from more stable funding thanks to urban communities that joined the CDF 2.0.

On the field, it has been noticed that community leaders were more empowered than other members. The PLAP 2.0 addresses this issue by improving community members representation and increasing their effective participation. Finally, little attention has been paid to the socio-economic and political legacy of the post-construction phase. It is a long-term issue that should be addressed. Economic capital could decrease if people have to pay for services that they informally accessed without associated raises in income. The political capital could wane too, if people perceive the saving groups as a periodic social contract that will stop after paying back the loan. The CDF 2.0 can launch a long-term impetus through financing projects (income-generating, welfare or educational projects) that
68

maximise the SROI.

It also introduces the notion of social impacts assessment while

building peoples technological capital.

7.3.3 Target Groups

Young and working people may not participate as much as they want or can. The former does not have financial and political autonomy to take part in community decision-making although they will lead the movement in the coming years. However, their creativity and access to technology can help empower them. They can actively contribute to the PLAP 2.0, which will increase their human capital* through learning-by-doing. Working people who may suffer from time constraints, may also find that new e-tools give them more flexibility to participate.

7.3.4 Strategys implementation and timeline

The first year will be crucial for implementing the strategy (Appendix 11.2). It has to be understood that the PLAP 2.0 is a public-learning and participative tool that prepare citizens to use the CDF 2.0 - the extension of the Baan Mankong programme in the post-repayment phase.

Thus, it is a long-term strategy that cannot be applied to communities in the same way because they are not at the same stage in the process. The PLAP 2.0 can be applied by most of the communities but, so far, only the most advanced communities will implement the CDF 2.0. Ideally, as other communities begin upgrading, they too will join (Appendix 11.3).

69

7.3.5 Possible limitations

Participation may be an issue. During the fieldtrip, some communities said that joining the CDF was not their priority. The same issue can arise for the e-tools. The challenge is to have a catalyst to build understanding that these e-tools are vital for overcoming the post-repayment phase. Moreover, if some members only participate online, these e-tools may lead to two-tier participation between members who are online and those who are not. It is all the more true if the access to technology is not equal among people because of gender, income, education or geography. Some people may be reluctant to use technology and may not trust the confidentiality rules of the online platforms. Financially, the programme could have difficulties to start because it requires investments. Furthermore, LETS should use intangible currencies to avoid any conflict with the Bank of Thailand (Hepworth, 2008:8).

(Pauline Richir, 1,533 words)

70

8. Conclusion
This paper has highlighted the many challenges of pursuing socially just change in a fast-paced and profit-driven political economy like that of Bangkok, Thailand. Simultaneously, it has shown the potential for the actions of coordinated organisations of the poor, such as those men and women involved in CODIs Baan Mankong Collective Housing Programme, to build progressive momentum while bringing about precedent setting instances of spatial justice. Transformative spatial justice is, after all, not simply an outcome but a three-fold process where empowered urban citizens 1) negotiate with government, private sector and civil society actors for their rights to appropriate space, 2) collectively influence the production of space to sustainably meet their needs and 3) build agency through reflexive learning.

The main objective of the three-month investigation on which this paper is based was to determine the transformative potential (as described above) of the current Baan Mankong Programme. Combining desk-based research with data collected during 15 intensive days of fieldwork enabled our team to make several critical observations as we began to unpack the meaning of the programme. The most influential thing to arise was the programmes ability to use innovative financial tools to respond in different ways to the diversity of sites within and beyond Bangkok. While variances were anticipated, the degree to which site-specific

conditions such as programme triggers, development phase, site location (central vs. the outskirts of Bangkok), and landownership (CPB, Treasury Bureau, Private Owner, etc.) affected the perceptions and experiences of those involved far exceeded initial expectations. Addressing such diversity, both in terms of the sites visited and through the mechanisms used to gather and collate information from multiple communities, various government officials and interviews with related industry representatives proved challenging. However, by

examining the different scales (individual, community, district, city, national, global) and the linkages between each, important themes with citywide implications began to emerge.

One of the first themes to arise across sites concerned the conditions under which communities mobilised to legally secure land and housing. For the vast majority of sites

visited, an imminent threat of eviction, fire, or other natural disaster was required to spur
71

individual families to take collective action. Where districts lacked concrete triggers and strong local government support, the likelihood for Baan Mankong Programmes to influence neighbouring communities was minimal. Interviews with non-Baan Mankong residents

portrayed an overwhelming desire to stay in current residences, avoid multi-storey living arrangements (beyond two), and prevent additional costs related to upgrading. While

increasing growth pressures will inevitably force more communities into action, a more proactive and clearer long-term vision shared by the poor men and women of the region appears necessary for achieving wide-scale transformation.

A second major finding relates to the nature of participation. Not only were some groups, such as migrant workers and short-term renters less involved, participation levels amongst the programmes partakers varied significantly. During analysis and as presented in the findings section, time appeared as a crucial factor such that different stages of the programme (i.e.

pre, during-construction, and post-construction) were characterised by different patterns of participation. For example, widening inclusion in early stages and maintaining community

cohesion during later phases were discovered to be common problems. Even more pertinent to considerations of transformative potential, however, were findings that individuals failed to perceive any significant increase in political influence throughout the process. While communities like those in Pattaya benefited from strong local authority support and the willing participation of landowners, the ability to appropriate and influence the production of space for sites in prime development locations and/or under the control of the Crown Property Bureau remained severely limited.

A third key theme to arise concerned the way in which learning was wisely built into different aspects of and contributed to the programme. NULICO for example showed itself to be a strong asset, facilitating knowledge and information sharing. Beyond collecting data on various learning mechanisms, however, we also witnessed first-hand how knowledge evolved through the programme. Our own field visit sparked meetings and the brainstorming of ideas between diverse actors like local authority representatives, banking experts, architects, students and community members. This type of learning and co-production of knowledge is critical for achieving synergy and quickly emerged as one of the programmes strongest features and opportunities.
72

8.1 Significance:
Overall the findings of this study suggest that under the right conditions (i.e. strong incentive, knowledge sharing, political will, etc.), the Baan Mankong Programme offers the necessary momentum to bring about pockets of spatial justice. In just nine years it has impressively extended to some 91,986 households in Thailand (CODI, 2011). In Bangkok, however, unaddressed structural limitations and the challenge of maintaining long-term momentum continue to restrict the programmes reach. Fortunately, the way in which Baan Mankong centralises learning, continuously adapts, reflects the interests of the local people, and builds trust between actors suggests great transformative potential at and beyond the city-scale.

In order to contribute to the positive actions of Baan Mankong affiliated actors and respond to opportunities relating to finance, communication and institutional reform, a strategy set has been proposed. As described in greater detail in Section seven, these strategies to 1) build and maintain relationships, 2) increase the use of finance and technology, and 3) develop a national charter reflect current conditions while also emphasising the importance of preparing for future opportunities. They are intended to function as an interconnected set that expands political space for the urban poor of Bangkok. As Sandercock (1999) reminds us, justice is only achievable when it is accompanied by changes in dominant values and institutions, shifts in relationships of power, and ultimately a transformation of the state apparatus (as cited in Levy, 2007, p. 23). As it stands, CODI and Baan Mankong play a critical role in

building space for action. While maintaining that careful balance between working within and challenging dominant systems remains crucial, so too does preparing to strategically take advantage of new windows of opportunity whenever they arise.

Bangkok is unique but the challenge it faces as it seeks to balance modernisation and economic growth with sustainable and socially just development is a challenge faced by cities worldwide. In this sense, the experience of progressive community mobilisation presented here has far-reaching value. More specifically, these findings contribute to a growing body

of research exploring how civil society in developing contexts can mobilise and lessen injustice. The innovative way in which CODI reaches beyond its institutional constraints

to help build an independent grass-roots movement is, for example, worthy of additional
73

study and reflection.

8.2 Research Limitations:

This report, which seeks to evaluate the transformative potential of the Baan Mankong Programme, recognises several limitations. Firstly, the short time framejust three months

with 15 days in the fieldrestricted the absolute amount of information gathered and the depth to which it could be analysed. A second related concern is the sample size. While our group of ten managed to conduct interviews with various government officials and members of 28 different communities, this still represents a relatively small percentage of actors when working at the city-scale. Third, a variety of methods were employed in the field do to the need to divide into secondary groups. This complicated both the collation and

comparability of information. A final and significant limitation worth noting concerns the way in which the site visits were arranged. Rather than at random or according to our teams framework, site visits were organised by CODI and the communities. While understandable considering the group size, having predetermined sites chosen by programme participants makes it difficult to assure the sample is truly representative. Structured visits, often characterised by group meetings, also restricted researchers from observing typical day-to-day activities and complicated the task of acquiring individual perspectives.

8.3 Recommendations for Further Work

A critical review of both the limitations and findings of this study suggests a number of areas warranting additional study. personal interviews For example, information obtained through a wider sample of Baan-Mankong and non-Baan Mankong affiliated

(spanning

communities) could fill in gaps and support or re-direct new strategies. Other issues to be explored further may also include: Strengths/weaknesses and impacts of the recently established CDF Changing perceptions of rights through involvement with Baan Mankong Technology access and comfort levels amongst communities Incentives/positive mobilisation triggers

74

9. Dissemination
Over the past three months professors, government officials, and communities themselves, have generously opened their doors and shared with us their struggles and triumphs. Especially while in the field, few days passed when we were not moved by some evidence of innovation, courage, or kindness. Through our own personal reflections about this

experience, we realise just how much we have learned and look forward to sharing our insights with the same respect and openness found in the communities. This report is thus intended for all actors involved, and will be made available through an accessible web forum. By posting the document online and sharing the link with UCL, CODI, NULICO, ACHR, and communities we hope to attain feedback and spark discussion. For access to a digital copy of this report, please visit:

http://toscalewithbaanmankong.wordpress.com/

(Abigail Shemoel, 1,508 words)

75

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Guidance Notes. , pp.1-20 www.sed.manchester.ac.uk/research/iarc/ediais/word-files/LETS.doc [Accessed on the 25 May 2012] Hox, J. & Boeije, H., 2005. Data Collection,Primary vs. Secondary. Encyclopeadia of Social Measurement, 1, pp.593-599. Huerta, A.D., 2010. Microfinance in Rural and Urban Thailand: Policies , Social Ties and Successful Performance. , pp.1-55. Isin E., 2000. Introduction: democracy, citizenship and the city. In: E. Isin ed. 2000. Democracy, citizenship and the global city. New York: Routledge, pp. 1-21.

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Rawls J,. 1971. A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Shaffer, P., 2008. New thinking on poverty: Implications for globalisation and poverty reduction strategies. Real-world economics review, (47), pp.192 - 231. Sheng, Y.K., 2010. Good Urban Governance in Southeast Asia. Environment and Urbanization Asia, 1(2), pp.131-147. UN-Habitat, 2009. Community development fund in Thailand, a tool for poverty reduction and affordable housing, The human settlement financing tools and best practices series Unger, K., 2009. Right to the City as a response to the crisis: convergence or divergence of urban social movements? <http://www.reclaimingspaces.

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11. Appendixes

81

Appendix 1: Field Report Template

GROUP FIELD REPORT I SITE #

82

83

84

85

Appendix 2: Participatory Mapping

1. The River of Dream Exercise in Site 1 Chatuchak (Photo by Cindy Tianran Chen)

2. Community mapping Nonthaburi (map shows the baan mankong communities relation to the province.

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Appendix 3: Rating Assessment & Interview

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Appendix 4:Interviews Information in 6 Sites: Who was interviewed?

SITE 1. Chatuchak 2. WangThonglang 3. BangKhoLaem 4. Pattaya 5. BangProng 6. Nonthaburi INTERVIEWEES OfficerofTreasuryDepartment/NULICORepresentatives/ CommunityLeaders/SavingGroupLeaders/LocalResidents/CODIArchitect LocalAuthority/CommunityLeader/LocalResidents/ SavingGroupLeader/ImmigrantsRepresentatives LocalAuthority/CPB'sRepresentatives/CommunityLeaders/ NULICORepresentatives/DistrictRepresentatives/CommunityResidents LocalGovernment/EngineeroftheGovernment/ UniversityProfessor/CommunityLeaders/LocalResidents/SavingGroup MayorofSamutPrakarn/CommunityLeaders/LocalResidents ProvincialGovernor/CooperativeManagers/TrainersfortheProvince/ CommunityLeaders/NULICOMembers/CODIArchitect/LocalResidents

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Appendix 5: Desk-based actor map analysis

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Appendix 6 the web of Baan Mankong Programme

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Appendix 7

The Capacity Comparison of Spheres

Policy Sphere

Organisational Sphere

Citizen Sphere

Delivery Sphere

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Appendix 8: Site Location

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Appendix 9: A3 Timeline

Appendix 10: Finding Table Part 1

Typology Site # and name Communities Chareonchai 1 - Chatuchak Nimitmai BorFarang Rimnam 1 - Chatuchak Patthana 1992 During(Not BMK) Reconstruction Upgrading, relocation and land 1 - Chatuchak Krungthep Patthana Rimkhlong Patthana 1 - Chatuchak Bangbua Lang Witthayalaikru 1 - Chatuchak Chankasea During Flood and land tenure During Flood 2003 During tenure Private owner Treasury Department Treasury Department Treasury Department Canal West of 2 - wangthonglang Ruamsamakee 2003 post land tenure CPB Bangkok Canal Canal lack Canal 1982 Post Pilot Project Private owner Canal BM started Stage of program Why did they join BM? Property owner (land)

Prob

Seco

diver

Parti

Com

comm

envir

finan West of 2 - wangthonglang Khao Patthana 2003 Post Infrastructure/Environment issues CBP Bangkok West of 2 - wangthonglang Sapsin Mai 2007 Post Infrastructure CBP Bangkok lack

prob

Pock

Upgr 2 - wangthonglang Thepleela 2010 Initiation Fire, high density, land tenure CBP Canal

withi

Typology Site # and name Communities BM started Stage of program almost shifting from pre to during 4 - Pattaya Kao Noi 2010 construction Why did they join BM? Fire, eviction, exploitative rental of 5 different communities, all to relocate to new site Bought from private owner Potential site selected, "heart contract" with private owner until November, eviction from railway site, threat for eviction from scattered 4 - Pattaya Baan Nern Rodfai 2010 pre-construction resettlements,3rd attempt to join attempting to achieve CODI financing Was the State Railway Department and Treasury Department, but after a slight locational shift, now only the 5 - Bang Prong, Samut Prakarn Klong Ta Kok 2004 During Eviction notice Treasury Department District to the South of Bangkok Former railway Property owner (land)

Prob

After

sites

Garb

settle

Sang Ton Eng 5 - Bang Prong, Samut Prakarn (means 'do it yourself') 2006 Eviction notice Treasury Department

District to the South of Bangkok

Befo met

are f

Typology Site # and name Communities BM started Stage of program Why did they join BM? Property owner (land)

Prob

District to the 5 - Bang Prong, Samut Prakarn Bang Prong 2 Relocation Private land owner South of Bangkok District to the 5 - Bang Prong, Samut Prakarn Bang Prong 1 Relocation Private land owner Private Land 6-Nonthaburi 2003 Eviction owner Private Land 6-Nonthaburi Khunsri. 2004 Eviction owner Private Land 6-Nonthaburi Fareast Banyai. 2004 Eviction owner Private Land 6-Nonthaburi fareast Banyai. 2004 post Eviction owner Private Land 6-Nonthaburi Inudom. 2005 post Eviction owner Urban Urban Peri-urban Peri-urban Peri-urban South of Bangkok See

Issue

from

parti

flood

Not m

6-Nonthaburi

Rattanatibet soi 14. 2005 -

2005

Eviction

Temple

Urban

Wate

Building started in 2010 6-Nonthaburi Ruamjai Saiyai. Phase 1 yet to join Eviction District Authority Private Land Peri-urban

Floo

Part 2
Site # and name Communities Unique factors Pilot project of Baan Mankong. Have paid back 10 years of 1 - Chatuchak 1 - Chatuchak Chareonchai Nimitmai BorFarang Rimnam Patthana debt and only 5 years left, facing 2nd eviction. Power relations Good relations among different actors

Part

Very

1 - Chatuchak

Krungthep Patthana

Extremely poor situation One of the members had awareness that they don't have

Lack

1 - Chatuchak

Rimkhlong Patthana Bangbua

right to decide, only leaders had right. Has been stuck in plan approval - one family didn't want to share land which cause the plan counldn't meet the

Treasury Dept. supports(land)

lead

1 - Chatuchak

Lang Witthayalaikru Chankasea

sandard of regulation.

Treasury Dept. supports(land)

midd

local authority help community attain temporary registration so it could trigger community - one of the first BMK pilot projects 2 - wangthonglang Ruamsamakee (relocation from city centre) some of the construction is sinking due to the cheap 2 - wangthonglang Khao Patthana material CPB introduced the programme ok move forward with infrastructure development

Pres

imm saving groups as their main platform to raise the issue to 2 - wangthonglang Sapsin Mai government Good relations with local authorities, big support from local politicians CPB driving reblocking agenda/ Good location along canal and close to local market/ over 2 - wangthonglang Thepleela 100 years old/ two orginal house from Lao forcing concensus within a conflicted community are

50%

20 h join

Site # and name

Communities

Unique factors

Power relations

Part

About to begin housing construction on new site, 1st site in 4 - Pattaya Kao Noi Pattaya to join Baan Mankong (hoping to be prototype)

Good relations with CODI, NULICO, local authority

Goo

4 - Pattaya

Baan Nern Rodfai

Third attempt to join BM

Trying to achieve CODI financing Local and provinicial authorities, as

Goo

5 - Bang Prong, Samut Prakarn Klong Ta Kok Lease the land because many are migrants and own land elsewhere. (Part of Nang Nual community but Nang Nual 5 - Bang Prong, Samut Prakarn Sang Ton Eng (means 'do it yourself') went for CODI while they saved independently because didnt want a loan).

well as the electricity and water departments are supportive.

Goo

Community leader is also a NULICO community builder. n/a

5 - Bang Prong, Samut Prakarn Nang Nual n/a 3 communities organised together - 2 with BM and one not. 5 - Bang Prong, Samut Prakarn Preagasaa The group from 20 years ago fought the land owner

Municipality is going to build the roads, local authority not supportive. OK

for the right to stay and he eventually agreed to support the purchase of the land. A blend of people from all over the district - heard an ad on the radio and came together. - Has now caused problems because no community cohesion as was no real participation in the process because they copied the

Site # and name

Communities

Unique factors Finished project - took them 8 months to finish the building

Power relations

Part

6-Nonthaburi

fareast Banyai.

- contracted the project out is a very successful example. Community enterprises, Urban Agriculture, Houses have setbacks and wide

Great relations with Local Authority Good working relations with NULICO / Other communities / Local Authority Complex relations within the community / good relations with landowner and NULICO Good relations with local authority/NULICO Good relations with local

Goo

6-Nonthaburi

Inudom.

streets, blends very well with rest of Urban Fabric Upgrading project on a flooded site (Rice field) and requires agreement by all members - not all members on

Goo

6-Nonthaburi

Rattanatibet soi 14.

the site are participants in BM Land is owned by Sub-District. They lease land to

goo

6-Nonthaburi

Ruamjai Saiyai.

community / still suffering from Flooding issues

Goo

6-Nonthaburi

Pak Chao

authority/NULICO

Appendix 11:

Finance and Technology

Source : ibid Appendix 2 :

Figure 1: The revolving scheme

100

2012-2013

101

Coordination of fictive communities with different priorities

Glossary : Human capital : the skills, knowledge, and experience possessed by an individual or population, viewed in terms of their value or cost to an organization or country (Source : Oxford dictionnaries) Local Exchange Trading System : It is a community orientated trading organisation, which aims to develop and extend the exchange of goods and services within a self-regulated economic network (Ekins, 1986; Schraven, 2001; Tooke et al, 2001) (Hepworth, 2002:8). Social audit : Process enabling an organisation to demonstrate its social, environmental and social benefits and limitations by systematically monitor the impact of non-financial objectives of an organisation as well as the stakeholders views (Souce : http://www.caledonia.org.uk/socialland/social.htm accessed on 29.05.12)

102

Appendix 12:

Analysis of the findings of different ways of participating in the

Baan Mankong program (Nonthaburi)

103

Appendix 13:

Contribution Table

WORD COUNT Introduction + Context Theoretical Framework Methodology and Overview of findings (first 2 paragraphs) Overview of findings and Pre-Baan Mankong During Baan Mankong Post Construction Baan Mankong Strategy 1 Strategy 2 Strategy 3 Conclusion Total

Agnes Nam Donald Brown Cindy Tianran Chen Dalia Chabarek Sophia Yin Cui Jing Zhang Sorcha Cremin Ruhul Abdin Pauline Richir Abigail Shemoel

1449 1474 1588 1566 1426 1537 1628 1568 1533 1508 15277

104