NIKKEN SEKKEI THAILAND CELEBRATED THE FIFTH ANNIVERSARY BY HOLDING A SEMINAR TO EXCHANGE IDEAS OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT BETWEEN THAILAND AND JAPAN
TEXT: NATHATAI TANGCHADAKORN
PHOTO COURTESY OF NIKKEN SEKKEI THAILAND
(For Thai, press here)
Recently, there has been significant progress in Bangkok’s public transportation system with the arrival of new train lines, the pink (Kaerai – Minburi) yellow (Ladprao – Samrong), and red line that was launched before, with the route that connects the capital city to a neighboring province. What these developments bring are more commuter options and more comprehensive and interconnected destinations.
The public transport system is pivotal to a city’s development. The arrival and settlement of people led to social activities, which birthed a community and eventually a ‘city.’ On the fifth anniversary of Nikken Sekkei Thailand, ‘Urban Innovations/TOD and Beyond’ was brought up as the topic of the international seminar, diving deep into TOD, which stands for Transit – Oriented Development.
Masakazu Kimura, Managing Director of Nikken Sekkei Thailand
The Nikken Sekkei International Seminar & Nikken Sekkei Thailand’s 5th Anniversary Celebration, held on November 24th, 2023, at the Waldorf Astoria Bangkok, aimed at promoting a better understanding of the Japanese’s TOD and Beyond approach, while speakers from Thailand helped illustrate the application of such an approach in Thailand and how to prepare a city and its people for future developments.
The seminar began with Wataru Tanaka, Executive Director of Nikken Sekkei, and Thanicha Noyomwan, Deputy Vice President, Research & Development, Architects One Hundred and Ten Co., Ltd., gave viewers an introduction, a brief history, and possibility for the development of TOD and Beyond in Japan and Thailand, and ultimately its role in keeping a city evolving and expanding with a consideration of factors related to sustainability and other aspects.
Wataru Tanaka, Executive Director of Nikken Sekkei
Thanicha Noyomwan, Deputy Vice President, Research & Development, Architects One Hundred and Ten Co., Ltd.
The four-hour-long seminar was packed with new, exciting, and interesting information spanning across the three topics. Growing with Sustainability by Yushi Yoshida from Nikken Sekkei Researcher Institute (NSRI) and Sompatsorn Punyaratabandhu, Senior Vice President, PD Design, Project Development Department of Nebula Co.,Ltd.; Regenerating Public Space by speakers Masaya Sato from Nikken Sekkei and Assoc. Prof. Niramon Serisakul (Ph.D.) from Chulalongkorn University; and lastly Exploring Value by DX, where the two speakers, Takahiro Kawayoke of NSRO and Asst. Prof. Komgrij Thanapet from Chulalongkorn University navigated the possible incorporations of modern technology in assisting urban development.
Throughout the three sessions, we witnessed constructive exchanges of ideas. While the two capital cities differ in terms of modernity, organization, and preparedness to accommodate future investments and developments, the seminar presented us with future trajectories and possibilities of Bangkok’s potential development paths that can be far more valuable than just adding another commercial mall in a residential neighborhood.
Miyashita Park in Shibuya district, a case study in Nikken Sekkei International Seminar