Udon Thani, Thailand, II
NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS PILOT FOR CLIMATE RISK RESILIENCE / 2023
In 2017 the UCRISP team, in collaboration with estudioOCA, the Rockefeller Foundation and other project partners, initiated the development of the Green Infrastructure Master Plan for Udon Thani project, from which the national government of Thailand provided significant funding for the development of some of the identified master plan projects. From this work the Nature-based Solutions Pilot Project for Climate Risk Resilience, developed between 2022 and 2023, has extended the scope of the first feasibility study to focus on the periurban areas of Udon Thani.
USACE TOPOGRAPHIC MAP, c.1960
AS BUILT DRAWINGS FOR IRRIGATION INFRASTRUCTURE, c.1970
SEVEN SUB-CATCHMENT AREAS OF THE PROJECT STUDY
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
The 2017 project study developed a methodology to implement Nature-based Solutions (NbS) projects in the context of a developing country. The approach used evidence-based tools such as hydrological modeling analysis to help assess flood risk in the urban areas of Udon Thani. In order to develop a better understanding of the ecological and hydrological aspects related to flood risk, as well as to help develop future growth sustainable planning strategies for Udon Thani, the results determined that a larger scale study was necessary in order to evaluate existing conditions more thoroughly. See more from the first project report here.
TOP: EXISTING LANDSCAPE CONDITIONS; BOTTOM: PROPOSED NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS
The 2023 feasibility study project provides this analysis. We used the same methodology as the 2017 study, across an area that spans urban and periurban contexts. The scope broadened to include both flood and drought scenarios exacerbated by climate change. Key baseline information was assembled through the analysis of old digitized USACE maps, past landscape patterns and processes, historical ecology studies and contextualized present conditions. Through modeling and visualizations we developed a range of hydrological, climate and urbanization scenarios that propose an array of NbS projects and strategies, appropriate mitigation measures, such as floodplain restoration, agriculture as NbS, canal restoration, retention areas, as well as sustainable transportation networks that connect periurban areas to the center and to each other, developing an effective, sustainable and safe alternative that reduces reliance on private cars, and promotes quality tourism for Udon Thani, we develop as well an in-depth cost-benefit analysis of all proposed NbS projects. These visualizations present sustainable alternatives developed through evidence-based tools that help underscore the impact of future urban growth and climate change on ecological and social conditions up to the year 2100.
This project is a critical addition to understanding near-future urbanization patterns in the context of similar secondary cities like Udon Thani across Southeast Asia and other regions of the world.
TOP: EXISTING CONDITION; BOTTOM: PROPOSED NATURE-BASED SOLUTION