Transforming Bangkok’s Treescapes: Citizen-led translocal knowledge circulation for urban greening

Abstract

Since 2017, a group of actors, including civil groups, tree care experts, city and state authorities, frontline laborers, has collaborated to improve the urban tree care practices in Bangkok by introducing global arboricultural expertise. Following their learning journey, this thesis examines how, and to what extent, translocal knowledge circulation, fueled by mixed aspirations for global standards and recognition, transformed an urban environment.

The key findings suggest that the knowledge circulation was realized through a series of talent cultivation activities, including arboricultural workshops, tree climbing training and competition, an overseas study tour, and certification tests. Despite their efforts and progress in upscaling their influences towards nationwide policymaking, the Thai civil groups marginalized the voices of the frontline staff. Their knowledge conflicts resulted in overlooking the critical local context surrounding the treescapes, such as traffic, tree size and accessibility, and logistical limitations. As such, the application of tree climbing techniques on street trees in Bangkok was limited, resulting in the repeat of aggressive pruning practices. The setbacks redirected the actors’ search of specialist certifications for emerging Thai arborists and tree climbers at a later stage. The concerns about the local applicability of specialist certifications outweighed the desires for external recognition and opportunities to engage with the global arboricultural industry.

Based on these findings, I argue that translocal knowledge circulation can facilitate both ‘outbound’ and ‘inbound’ learning. The dialogues between global expertise and local experiences can prompt the actors to reflect on their existing understanding of the city, which matters as much as global recognition for better urban futures. More than urban greening programs, the implications of this thesis contribute to various urban projects that involve global knowledge exchange.