Local Project Planning Workshop, 12 - 14 July 2017 in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Urban transport planners and representatives of civil society and private sector from Chiang Mai Municipality in Northern Thailand and from Germany gathered on July 12-14, 2017 for a three-day workshop to discuss and advise the urban mobility planning of Chiang Mai and identify practical solutions for embarking on a low carbon mobility strategy.
The workshop was organized in cooperation with Thai Environment Institute (TEI) and the Local Government of Chiang Mai Municipality.
While good practices from Germany (Leipzig, Berlin) were exchanged and lessons extracted for possible transfer, the key objective was to provide recommendations to the Chiang Mai City Government on how to proceed with the strategy to strengthen the public transport system and reduce the use of private vehicles, i.a. by focusing on transit oriented development, providing alternatives to private cars and improving walkability and the use of bicycles.

The workshop provided a better understanding of the Low Carbon Mobility concept and its local application by learning from successful models in other places. By means of practical concepts, future transportation systems and related traffic infrastructures for Chiang Mai were conceptualized towards a long term integrated and sustainable mobility system including intelligent traffic planning and considering settlement development as well as land use issues.
Furthermore, the workshop supported consensus building in the current infrastructure planning process in Chiang Mai municipality and enhanced working relationships between and among different stakeholders that would lead to a more sustainable urban development. Three action plans were elaborated to be implemented in Chiang Mai, that are:

• enhancing the use of public transport system,
• supporting walkability and cyclability in the old town,
• developing sub-centers using transit oriented development approaches.

To enhance the use of public transport, it is suggested apart from raising awareness of benefits through various media including social media among local people, to increase frequency of public buses and improve connectivity among the existing public transportation systems. Moreover, cooperating with the numerous schools, colleges, and universities in the city to support the use of school buses and public transport is seen as a huge opportunity to reduce the number of private car use. Promoting of walking and cycling requires enhancement of safety measures for cyclists such as prioritized bike lanes, speed limit controls for motorized vehicles, and enforced restriction of car parking on bike lanes. Development of feasible sub-centers requires concentrating on the nodes and their functional uses as well as linking them with public transportation systems.
Local participants furthermore proposed to set up a working group, chaired by the Governor or Deputy Governor to start working on the details of each plan as well as to follow-up implementation, promote, and cooperate the plan with various stakeholders. This will include to check on technical and financial feasibility and to look for finance from third parties.

Lokaler Projektworkshop
Low Carbon Mobility Planning in Chiang Mai
12.– 14.Juli 2017 in Chiang Mai, Thailand
[pdf, 8 Seiten, 416 kb, englische Sprache]