Low Carbon Mobility in Chiang Mai

Low Carbon Mobility Planning for Chiang Mai Old Town Revitalization

Expert Mission from 9 - 11 January 2019 to Chiang Mai, Thailand

As a follow-up to the local project workshop on „Low Carbon Mobility Planning“ that took place from 12th - 14th July, 2017 in Chiang Mai (information can be found here), an expert mission took place from January 9 – 11, 2019 to further support local practitioners in Chiang Mai with regard to the formulation of a concrete project proposal.

The mission focused on the idea to transform the historic centre of Chiang Mai into a traffic-calmed (car-reduced) urban quarter by addressing a variety of practical approaches such as access restriction schemes, strategic cycling development and the promotion of e-mobility.

Two German urban practitioners from the cities of Bremen and Mannheim thus advised a local team of experts of the Municipality of Chiang Mai’s urban planning as well traffic planning departments and met with local stakeholders during a local planning workshop.

A current good practice from the City of Bremen presented 25 years of experience in transformation of public space for pedestrians and social activities as well as motorized traffic reduction to non-motorized modes. Bremen is a low congestion city (132 out of 215). The implementation of shared lanes between vehicles and pedestrians and cyclists, designation of a clean air zone, successful car sharing by 15.000+ users based on about 120 stations and about 400 car sharing cars, resulted in more than 5,000 cars taken off the road by car sharing users and those using public transport in 2018.

The City of Mannheim provided an analysis of city transformation from car-friendly urban design towards a city for everyone. After the 2nd World War, destruction of buildings created space for large-scale road infrastructure and multi-lane roads provided priority for cars; pedestrian footbridges or subways provided no place for bicycles. The lack of public space lowered the quality of housing due to noise and air pollution. The City undertook paradigm changes in 4 ways, namely creating pedestrian zones, improving public transport, making changes in urban design, and creating spaces for bicycles and pedestrians, including establishment of bike-sharing systems.

Today’s situation in the Old Town of Chiang Mai shows on one hand a lot of potential for both sustainable transport as well as for sustainable tourism. On the other hand, the current situation shows a number of severe problems –ranging from poor air quality, noise, safety issues and growing pressure with increasing ownership and use of cars. It is obvious that the situation will get worse when doing nothing – also affecting the quality as internationally recognised centre of tourism.

In the case of Chiang Mai’ old town, discussions focused on two major topics, firstly reducing private vehicles to schools in the old town area, and secondly, promoting a cyclable and walkable Chiang Mai Old Town.

During the mission the “pearls on a string“ concept was developed. ‘Pearls’ describe potential points of interest for tourists, as well as points of identification for citizens of Chiang Mai and the region. Sustainable tourism should attract tourists interested in history, culture and nature – and also be sensitive to the impacts of travelling. ‘Soft tourism’ should keep negative impacts low. Already, there are many tourists riding bicycles, buses, shared taxis and are walking – even though the current conditions leave much space for improvements.

The historic sites nearby such as temples include the famous 3-kings monument, museums and historic buildings (e.g. old city hall; former tobacco workshop), attractive gardens and examples of urban nature, cafés and shops related to local tradition. Further pearls are wellness oriented spots where people can be taught Thai cooking, Thai massage and Yoga.

The ‘pearls on string’ concept wants to fertilize some further debate and conceptual development. The basic ideas of ‘pearls on string’ for the Chiang Man area shows also starting points for further city-wide developments. A pedestrian and bike-friendly street design (with some low-cost design elements) can be used to establish some bike-routes with sheltered bike lanes in further streets – aiming at a network to make Chiang Mai more cycle-friendly.

Participants of the workshop agreed to draft action programmes on both topics and showed their interest to become members of working groups, led by Chiang Mai Municipality, supporting detailed planning and implementation of the action programmes. In addition, a working group on a pilot area for revitalization of the old town based on low carbon mobility will be established.

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