WEBVTT - Greening Cities with Kotchakorn Voraakhom 0:00:00.840 --> 0:00:06.120 We assume that and Co will be able to enlarge 0:00:06.160 --> 0:00:08.039 its capacity to our greed. 0:00:08.480 --> 0:00:08.680 Right. 0:00:09.160 --> 0:00:13.160 We want more people, we want more buildings, we want 0:00:13.680 --> 0:00:18.640 more economics, we want more tourists, and we assume that 0:00:18.760 --> 0:00:22.479 bank can handle it. Whereas the line itself, every line 0:00:22.600 --> 0:00:26.920 or every infrastructure is haves its capacity, and we also 0:00:27.000 --> 0:00:36.280 destroy the natural infrastructure to reduce its capacity without knowing. 0:00:38.600 --> 0:00:42.640 Greetings, I'm Chris Turny and this is Unfucking the future, 0:00:43.120 --> 0:00:46.440 and together with you, I'm here sorting through this maze 0:00:46.479 --> 0:00:51.280 of environmental challenges we're facing. It's easy to feel paralyzed 0:00:51.280 --> 0:00:54.840 by the climate crisis, but action is at the heart 0:00:54.920 --> 0:00:59.440 of this show. I'm Fucking the Future celebrates the remarkable 0:00:59.480 --> 0:01:02.480 individual who are paving the way for a better future 0:01:02.960 --> 0:01:06.560 and learning how we too can make a difference. Let's 0:01:06.640 --> 0:01:16.000 dive in Fucking the future. Weird a fucking the future. 0:01:18.400 --> 0:01:21.039 When you think of a climate crisis, what do you 0:01:21.120 --> 0:01:24.560 think of? For a long time, the image of climate 0:01:24.640 --> 0:01:28.840 change was that lone polar bear abandoned on a small 0:01:29.480 --> 0:01:33.240 and melting piece of ice. He looks so sad, doesn't he. 0:01:33.840 --> 0:01:37.440 It's true that polar bears are really suffering right now, 0:01:37.959 --> 0:01:41.160 and It's also true that the Arctic is melting. I've 0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:44.200 seen it for myself, but for a lot of people, 0:01:44.640 --> 0:01:49.400 climate change just doesn't look like that. In Southeast Asia, 0:01:49.600 --> 0:01:53.200 which has the most coastline of any region, climate change 0:01:53.240 --> 0:01:56.600 looks like biblical floods, which are becoming part of a 0:01:56.680 --> 0:02:00.200 new normal. Seriously, google it. I mean, don't google it 0:02:00.200 --> 0:02:02.240 now because I want you to keep listening. But if 0:02:02.280 --> 0:02:06.960 you search for flooding Bangkok, you'll see photo after photo 0:02:06.960 --> 0:02:11.800 of people using canoes to navigate flooded streets and desperately 0:02:11.800 --> 0:02:16.000 trying to push small motorbikes through waste high water. Bangkok 0:02:16.080 --> 0:02:18.120 is one of the many cities across the world that 0:02:18.280 --> 0:02:23.040 is sinking, and landscape architects that Kotcha Khan Voracom are 0:02:23.040 --> 0:02:27.480 fighting desperately to save the city from becoming completely uninhabitable. 0:02:28.200 --> 0:02:32.560 Kocha Korn our guest today, is using landscape architecture to 0:02:32.560 --> 0:02:36.840 build more resilient cities. In her hometown of Bangkok, she 0:02:37.000 --> 0:02:39.959 designed one of the most incredible parks in the world. 0:02:40.840 --> 0:02:42.240 Here's a clip from her ted talk. 0:02:42.680 --> 0:02:46.160 This park is not about getting rid of flood, It's 0:02:46.200 --> 0:02:49.360 about creating a way how we can leave with it. 0:02:49.400 --> 0:02:52.360 So all's to say the reason behind the design of 0:02:52.360 --> 0:02:57.520 that park is actually pretty sad. See Bangkok is one 0:02:57.560 --> 0:03:01.040 of many delta cities around the world, which means for 0:03:01.280 --> 0:03:04.480 autumn flooding, I'm a normal part of life there with 0:03:04.720 --> 0:03:09.400 many benefits for the ecosystem, but that normal flooding has 0:03:09.440 --> 0:03:12.600 become far more intense and disruptive as a planet is 0:03:12.600 --> 0:03:16.320 heating up. What Bangkok is dealing with now is something 0:03:16.400 --> 0:03:20.800 new and dangerous, and this demands radical adaptations. 0:03:21.400 --> 0:03:24.440 It's never been a small town when I was born, 0:03:24.600 --> 0:03:29.440 but to see the town's expanding and more dense, I 0:03:29.520 --> 0:03:31.920 just feel that this is kind of part of like 0:03:32.080 --> 0:03:37.520 growing up and seeing the city confronting with many challenges, 0:03:37.840 --> 0:03:41.240 like in terms of population, in terms of density, in 0:03:41.320 --> 0:03:45.760 term of the climate crisis, in terms of environmental degradation. 0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:49.600 So I think that's like who I am as well. 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:52.520 The city is like who you are as part of 0:03:52.920 --> 0:03:56.960 you as a person. So Bangkok is it's a fun city, 0:03:57.800 --> 0:04:03.160 lots of culture and you may not that Tailan hasn't 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:07.040 been coronized, so I think the culture is quite there. 0:04:07.360 --> 0:04:11.840 The city is there for probably two hundred plus years 0:04:12.040 --> 0:04:13.480 as the capital of Thailand. 0:04:14.080 --> 0:04:17.479 Like many cities that have grown fast. Bangkok has been 0:04:17.520 --> 0:04:21.160 paved over with a lot of concrete, but all that 0:04:21.240 --> 0:04:24.760 concrete has disrupted the natural cycle of flooding and the 0:04:24.839 --> 0:04:27.080 landscape's usual sponginess. 0:04:27.440 --> 0:04:30.839 Yes, so when it's flood, is actually flood on top 0:04:30.920 --> 0:04:35.880 of the concrete because the water don't know where to go. 0:04:37.040 --> 0:04:41.839 So we have this big path of huge urban setting 0:04:42.320 --> 0:04:46.440 that cover on top of this flood plain, and we 0:04:46.600 --> 0:04:49.520 cut off many canals and at some point we lose 0:04:49.560 --> 0:04:52.160 sense of how we connect to the land and then 0:04:52.200 --> 0:04:53.480 the cycle of the water. 0:04:53.960 --> 0:04:56.680 And growing up as a child in that environment, I mean, 0:04:57.440 --> 0:04:59.760 especially when the flooding was happening, was that something that 0:04:59.839 --> 0:05:01.920 was as a child? Was that fun when you had 0:05:01.920 --> 0:05:03.880 the flooding, Oh my gosh. 0:05:03.640 --> 0:05:07.400 She's the best part of the whole year. Because you 0:05:07.520 --> 0:05:11.000 need to go to school, school. 0:05:10.720 --> 0:05:15.000 Clothes, we don't know how to get there, because the whole. 0:05:14.839 --> 0:05:21.440 Story was like water that was fun. I think the. 0:05:21.440 --> 0:05:25.159 Water is quite clean enough that you know, like we 0:05:25.240 --> 0:05:28.080 can play and you know, like be part of life. 0:05:28.200 --> 0:05:32.640 And I think when it's flood we just take out 0:05:32.920 --> 0:05:34.960 the boat and then. 0:05:35.440 --> 0:05:41.960 You know, seeing or race boat racing and there's so 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:45.479 many other culture in Thai culture that relating to a flood, 0:05:45.640 --> 0:05:46.080 it's good. 0:05:46.920 --> 0:05:50.279 Water is a essential part of Thai identity and culture, 0:05:51.240 --> 0:05:55.200 like for Tongue is an annual nationwide festival celebrating the 0:05:55.279 --> 0:05:59.320 water spirits where locals and lanterns floating down the river, 0:06:00.279 --> 0:06:03.560 and the Thaire New Year Festival Song Kraan is a 0:06:03.680 --> 0:06:06.840 giant water festival where people throw water at each other 0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:09.480 in the streets in celebration of the New Year. 0:06:09.880 --> 0:06:12.560 And people call us amphibious. Right, you know how to 0:06:12.680 --> 0:06:13.919 leave it wet and dry? 0:06:14.680 --> 0:06:17.760 That's lovely, that's great. Let's say I think that's wonderful. 0:06:18.160 --> 0:06:24.920 It's a beautiful fort, isn't it. But as floodings become 0:06:25.000 --> 0:06:29.080 more intense and more frequent, water's influence on Thai culture 0:06:29.080 --> 0:06:33.880 has become less fun and more serious. In twenty eleven, 0:06:34.320 --> 0:06:39.000 Thailand experience the largest flood in a century. The entire 0:06:39.160 --> 0:06:43.560 Thai Floodplain, which makes up a central region of the country, flooded. 0:06:44.480 --> 0:06:47.800 It started in the less populated central north of Thailand. 0:06:49.040 --> 0:06:52.440 During that time, the government attempted to build makeshift dams 0:06:52.440 --> 0:06:55.560 and barriers that would stop the flooding from continuing down 0:06:55.600 --> 0:06:59.839 to Bangkok. This trapped water in impoverished areas in the 0:07:00.000 --> 0:07:03.680 countries north, but nothing can prevent the water from eventually 0:07:03.680 --> 0:07:04.720 coming to Bangkok. 0:07:05.400 --> 0:07:09.200 So Bangkok is of course delta city. Right. The whole 0:07:09.240 --> 0:07:11.640 water had to come through the city to go into 0:07:11.720 --> 0:07:12.640 the ocean. 0:07:12.520 --> 0:07:15.840 Which meant that the entire city had to evacuate. 0:07:15.520 --> 0:07:19.000 All the news, all the business had to close down, 0:07:19.280 --> 0:07:25.280 airport couldn't function, the whole cities become very empty. Because 0:07:25.320 --> 0:07:29.679 people like your neighbors living and yes, but for some people, 0:07:30.600 --> 0:07:35.720 poverty is become very part of the society, right, they 0:07:35.800 --> 0:07:38.720 kind of move any other place, so they and I 0:07:38.840 --> 0:07:42.360 have to stay in the flood, right, and you're thinking 0:07:42.360 --> 0:07:47.000 about electric city systems that you know, all this thing 0:07:47.080 --> 0:07:52.520 has very become very dangerous. So situation is getting like 0:07:53.160 --> 0:07:57.960 either you die or you survive. Millions of people have 0:07:58.160 --> 0:08:03.640 to move. And I think that's become like the deep 0:08:03.880 --> 0:08:08.920 fear of other Bangkokian that when it's going to happen again. 0:08:09.720 --> 0:08:13.560 And for Couchucorn, it was an alarm bell. Our country 0:08:13.640 --> 0:08:14.560 was in crisis. 0:08:15.320 --> 0:08:21.600 We assume that Bangkok will be able to enlarge its 0:08:21.760 --> 0:08:26.160 capacity to our greed. Right, we want more people, we 0:08:26.200 --> 0:08:33.200 want more buildings, we want more economics, We want more tourists, 0:08:33.240 --> 0:08:35.960 and we assume that Bangkok can handle it. Where it's 0:08:36.280 --> 0:08:40.160 the land itself. Every lane or every infrastructure is has 0:08:40.360 --> 0:08:44.800 its capacity, and we also destroyed the natural infrastructure to 0:08:44.960 --> 0:08:47.400 reduce its capacity without knowing. 0:08:51.160 --> 0:08:54.960 Bangkok is a city famous for its canals, which provides 0:08:55.080 --> 0:09:00.400 essential flood mitigation, irrigation, and transportation. But to make room 0:09:00.480 --> 0:09:03.600 for city life, developers have cut off many of the 0:09:03.640 --> 0:09:08.000 canals from the riverways. In other instances, the canals are 0:09:08.040 --> 0:09:11.720 being completely dredged and filled in with sand or concrete. 0:09:11.840 --> 0:09:17.240 We destroyed wetland, we destroyed canals. We didn't concern that 0:09:17.800 --> 0:09:20.840 the whole watershed have to go to. Bangkok is have 0:09:21.000 --> 0:09:25.360 to be a wet city, a wet design. It's signed 0:09:25.360 --> 0:09:28.520 to get wet and its signed to get dry. But 0:09:28.920 --> 0:09:33.960 when we want to be modernized, all this construction of 0:09:33.960 --> 0:09:37.679 the city like high rise and things is the language 0:09:37.720 --> 0:09:41.960 of commonality that we understand about the city, but we 0:09:42.040 --> 0:09:44.600 forget that the city is not a piece of paper. 0:09:45.120 --> 0:09:51.240 It's actually situated on the landscape is the wetland. The 0:09:51.280 --> 0:09:58.480 city has forget it's landscape, the land, the ground. 0:09:59.520 --> 0:10:04.079 To put the crisis in perspective, Cocha Corn offered this comparison, 0:10:04.440 --> 0:10:04.680 and the. 0:10:04.920 --> 0:10:09.920 Cellpa is getting melt. It's increasingly what quite one eighth 0:10:10.440 --> 0:10:17.240 or two millimeters per year? That's right, really yeah, but 0:10:17.440 --> 0:10:21.320 we sink two centimeters per year, So that's mean we 0:10:21.440 --> 0:10:24.920 sink for a time faster than a sea level is rising. 0:10:26.080 --> 0:10:30.520 So you've got storm surges and intense rainy seasons and 0:10:30.600 --> 0:10:33.400 at the same time we're drawing out more water from 0:10:33.400 --> 0:10:36.720 below the cities, and the number of people living there 0:10:36.960 --> 0:10:40.560 is increasing by the day. It's the perfect storm. And 0:10:40.600 --> 0:10:44.920 the practical upshot is the cities are actually sinking, and 0:10:45.000 --> 0:10:49.079 the big question is can we reverse it? Is anything 0:10:49.160 --> 0:10:51.160 we do going to be enough. 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:55.560 We have solar farms and many other sources of renewable energy, 0:10:56.720 --> 0:11:01.480 and of course we are talking about energy transition, but 0:11:01.720 --> 0:11:04.359 how fast we willing to change? 0:11:05.280 --> 0:11:08.800 Some delta cities are taking much more substantial measures to 0:11:08.840 --> 0:11:12.920 address for flooding issues. Indonesia has chosen to create an 0:11:13.200 --> 0:11:16.240 entirely new capital. The new city will be on a 0:11:16.240 --> 0:11:20.360 different island from today's capital Jakarta, one with high hills 0:11:20.400 --> 0:11:24.320 and far less people. But Kocha Korn says this idea 0:11:24.400 --> 0:11:26.760 is a non starter in Thailand. 0:11:26.920 --> 0:11:30.000 But for US we don't even talk about moving Bangkok 0:11:30.120 --> 0:11:36.040 right cusually or whatever. Politically is very sensitive and as 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:39.520 a politician, if you talk about I'm going to move Bangkok, 0:11:39.880 --> 0:11:43.760 You're not going to get any word from the day one. 0:11:44.800 --> 0:11:48.319 Right, it's a new capital. It's a new capital, isn't it. 0:11:48.400 --> 0:11:52.960 Chakata will remain as a city. But it's an extraordinary adaptation, 0:11:53.120 --> 0:11:56.000 isn't it? To a sinking city will move a capital. 0:11:56.840 --> 0:12:02.040 But I just feel that as the est used to 0:12:02.120 --> 0:12:06.680 call us amphibious, we have ability to be wet and dry, 0:12:07.559 --> 0:12:09.720 and I just feel that if you want to remain 0:12:09.800 --> 0:12:13.240 Bangkok as is, we need to go back to be 0:12:13.920 --> 0:12:15.920 more amphibious. 0:12:15.520 --> 0:12:18.440 Which would be a huge shift from what Bangkok looks 0:12:18.480 --> 0:12:24.880 like today. For most of it's modern history, Bangkok has 0:12:24.920 --> 0:12:30.359 dealt with flooding by building gray infrastructure or traditional engineering solutions. 0:12:30.840 --> 0:12:33.120 I think sea walls, ditches, and dams. 0:12:33.840 --> 0:12:38.319 Those solution is based on fear. So all the solution 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:42.760 is actually making us less resilience. 0:12:42.320 --> 0:12:45.480 Which seems incredible, doesn't it, Because you know, the traditional 0:12:46.040 --> 0:12:49.200 for me growing up, the view that was always pushed 0:12:49.320 --> 0:12:52.000 was we can just engineer our way out of these problems. 0:12:52.000 --> 0:12:55.800 We put more gray engineering in We're putting more dams, 0:12:55.840 --> 0:12:58.160 more sea walls, and we'll be all right. And what 0:12:58.160 --> 0:13:02.360 we're realizing increasingly is it's just that's that's a dead end, 0:13:02.400 --> 0:13:03.800 that is not going to get us out of this. 0:13:03.920 --> 0:13:06.400 It's all built for resilience we so desperately need. 0:13:06.600 --> 0:13:09.640 Yes, I just feel that we are so caught up 0:13:09.640 --> 0:13:14.080 into like this number. The bigger, the better, the stronger, 0:13:14.280 --> 0:13:17.280 the more concrete, the better, the safer we will be. 0:13:18.400 --> 0:13:21.479 And it's proved us wrong right throughout. 0:13:21.160 --> 0:13:25.000 This and we've had in mind. Koltchakn decided to create 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:30.240 a completely new park in Bangkok. As a landscape architect, 0:13:30.480 --> 0:13:33.000 she's focused on addressing boath for needs of the people 0:13:33.040 --> 0:13:36.360 who will use the space and also the needs of 0:13:36.400 --> 0:13:37.400 the city itself. 0:13:37.480 --> 0:13:42.760 We use nature as our mediums like architects they use concrete, 0:13:42.760 --> 0:13:47.280 they use class that use structure right before landscape architects. 0:13:47.320 --> 0:13:50.720 We have trees, we have soil, we have plants, we 0:13:50.840 --> 0:13:57.160 have biodiversity. This is the language of our professions, and 0:13:57.360 --> 0:14:02.199 how can we use the design to enhance those materials 0:14:02.840 --> 0:14:05.360 is living materials. 0:14:05.120 --> 0:14:06.480 In this urban setting. 0:14:06.880 --> 0:14:10.560 So landscape architects is actually the job that kind of 0:14:10.640 --> 0:14:15.240 like finding the balance between cities and the nature and 0:14:15.320 --> 0:14:19.840 its landscape. Event it has been destroyed, we help to 0:14:19.880 --> 0:14:25.640 re claim. Event it has been forgotten, we helped to recreate. 0:14:26.000 --> 0:14:28.440 And that's what culture Corns set out to do. When 0:14:28.520 --> 0:14:33.120 Chula Longkorn University, the oldest university in Thailand, put out 0:14:33.160 --> 0:14:36.480 a request for proposals, but what to do with eleven 0:14:36.520 --> 0:14:39.720 acres of land in central Bangkok as part of their 0:14:39.840 --> 0:14:41.119 centennial celebration. 0:14:41.560 --> 0:14:44.960 And the plot of land is actually in the middle 0:14:45.000 --> 0:14:47.560 of the city. The price of the land itself right 0:14:47.600 --> 0:14:53.040 now is probably one billion US got people, yes, So 0:14:53.120 --> 0:14:56.880 it's like at at the heart of Bangkok, and people 0:14:57.400 --> 0:15:00.480 might assume it can be many other things. I'm not 0:15:00.600 --> 0:15:04.200 a shopping malls and do you think we need my 0:15:04.280 --> 0:15:07.479 shopping mill in Bangkok? 0:15:08.120 --> 0:15:12.120 Okay, We've got to pause here for our segment. Holy fuck, 0:15:19.600 --> 0:15:24.360 Bangkok has almost sixty males. The largest is over five 0:15:24.400 --> 0:15:28.360 and a half million square feet. That's bigger than Vatican City, 0:15:29.080 --> 0:15:33.280 and they just keep coming. Bangkok hadn't opened a new 0:15:33.320 --> 0:15:38.000 park for thirty years until Kochakorn created hers. But during 0:15:38.000 --> 0:15:42.040 that same length of time, Bangkok built a whopping thirty 0:15:42.160 --> 0:15:47.160 six mega malls. These babies are multiple flaws, tricked out 0:15:47.200 --> 0:15:50.280 with the latest trends and cooled down the best air 0:15:50.360 --> 0:15:53.640 conditioning in the city. But it's not just the energy 0:15:53.760 --> 0:15:56.840 they used today, it's the energy and pollution caused to 0:15:56.920 --> 0:16:01.760 build these monstrosities. Cement is a super polluter. If the 0:16:01.760 --> 0:16:04.560 cement industry were a country, it would be the third 0:16:04.680 --> 0:16:08.600 largest emitter in the world, after China and the US. 0:16:10.840 --> 0:16:14.240 So when Kolchakor makes this quip about shopping malls, she's 0:16:14.440 --> 0:16:19.040 totally serious. They really are a huge climate issue in Bangkok. 0:16:19.280 --> 0:16:22.840 It's the kind of fact that makes you say, holy fuck. 0:16:30.840 --> 0:16:35.400 So we propose to have like an architecture for some function, 0:16:36.240 --> 0:16:41.920 but the main concept is actually creating mitigation for flood 0:16:42.440 --> 0:16:44.960 to adaptive design of the park. 0:16:45.360 --> 0:16:49.000 The entire park is built with floods in mind. One 0:16:49.120 --> 0:16:51.880 end of a park is elevated, sitting on the top 0:16:51.920 --> 0:16:56.240 of a small museum, and the hill serves an important purpose. 0:16:56.720 --> 0:16:59.240 It allows the water to drain down to the retention 0:16:59.440 --> 0:17:03.680 ponds that Cochacorn built throughout the park. Because Bangkok was 0:17:03.720 --> 0:17:07.240 built on a floodplain, it has no hills. The water 0:17:07.440 --> 0:17:10.080 used to be absorbed into the wetlands, but these have 0:17:10.320 --> 0:17:13.480 long been paved over, So the water needs a place 0:17:13.520 --> 0:17:15.639 to go, and it needs a bit of help figuring 0:17:15.680 --> 0:17:19.000 out where to go once it hits the ground. The 0:17:19.119 --> 0:17:23.879 hill solves that problem. It's an incredibly simple idea, but 0:17:23.960 --> 0:17:29.000 it looks elegant and it complements the landscape beautifully. And 0:17:29.040 --> 0:17:30.840 then can you tell me a bit about how the 0:17:30.920 --> 0:17:33.679 rain water is actually cleaned by the plants in the park. 0:17:34.119 --> 0:17:37.960 So when you tilt the whole park, you have the 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:42.440 highest point and then the lowest point, so that drainage 0:17:42.520 --> 0:17:45.840 pattern is actually equipped with the wetland and with the 0:17:45.840 --> 0:17:50.320 water plants that can help and clean up the water, 0:17:51.080 --> 0:17:55.159 and you can just loop that circulation back and forth 0:17:55.400 --> 0:17:59.240 as part of the recreation areas in the park. That's 0:17:59.280 --> 0:18:03.600 how the water plants become a major part of how 0:18:04.200 --> 0:18:05.880 this park function. 0:18:07.160 --> 0:18:10.040 And one of the things I think that this park 0:18:10.160 --> 0:18:13.960 shows so beautifully is it's how we can adapt to 0:18:14.040 --> 0:18:16.960 climate change. And it's this idea that we can't fight 0:18:17.080 --> 0:18:18.560 all the changes we're seeing. We're going to have to 0:18:18.840 --> 0:18:22.040 learn to live with them, or even even thrive amongst them. 0:18:22.920 --> 0:18:25.840 And one of the aspects of that which I really 0:18:26.440 --> 0:18:29.439 I just thought was incredible is the bike design you 0:18:29.520 --> 0:18:32.960 have for the retention ponds in the park, Can you 0:18:33.000 --> 0:18:35.240 explain what these bikes do? 0:18:36.040 --> 0:18:39.880 Soide the level part of the park is this retention pond. 0:18:40.440 --> 0:18:44.520 So I put like eight bike cycle. It's a water bicycle. 0:18:45.240 --> 0:18:47.600 And when you come to the park you have to 0:18:47.640 --> 0:18:51.600 exercise anyway, So we're thinking like how can we make 0:18:51.720 --> 0:18:56.280 that exercise be part of the urban water system. So 0:18:56.480 --> 0:19:01.600 when you exercise, you burn your carry and by that 0:19:01.600 --> 0:19:06.680 that pedal of that bicycle can actually errate it that 0:19:06.720 --> 0:19:09.359 retention on the energy that you have to put to 0:19:09.400 --> 0:19:12.880 the bike depends on the water level. It's different every day. 0:19:13.760 --> 0:19:16.840 So did you encounter any resistance to your ideas? 0:19:16.840 --> 0:19:17.680 How was it? 0:19:17.840 --> 0:19:20.919 What was it like actually getting this being built up? 0:19:21.160 --> 0:19:26.080 Of course isn't that easy. We probably have a new 0:19:26.119 --> 0:19:30.879 park every every year. Right, it has been like thirty 0:19:31.000 --> 0:19:34.600 years without a new park in the Central bankrupt years. 0:19:34.640 --> 0:19:35.800 Thirty years good. 0:19:36.160 --> 0:19:42.600 Yes, some of our audience hasn't hasn't been born yet, Yes, 0:19:42.760 --> 0:19:46.800 so thirty years ago, like no more park and you 0:19:46.840 --> 0:19:49.919 can see how big the city, how dense the city. 0:19:52.359 --> 0:20:01.520 We're fucking the future, We're work in the future. 0:20:07.000 --> 0:20:11.560 Culture Corn faced enormous challenges getting the park opened but 0:20:11.680 --> 0:20:15.520 today it is considered a huge success and a case 0:20:15.600 --> 0:20:19.120 study for how to make cities more resilient to flooding. 0:20:19.600 --> 0:20:24.240 It's become a very popular place for the youngster, especially 0:20:25.080 --> 0:20:30.000 through this pandemic period that mental health becomes such a 0:20:30.119 --> 0:20:33.919 very important thing. So just to have an open space 0:20:34.040 --> 0:20:36.440 to park that you can come and join and relax 0:20:37.080 --> 0:20:42.000 is very valuable. And with the purpose of this flooding mitigation, 0:20:42.600 --> 0:20:45.480 I think if people just come to the park because 0:20:45.520 --> 0:20:49.399 it's nice, that's the footstep. But when they start to 0:20:49.480 --> 0:20:52.679 understand why it's be designed the way it is, I 0:20:52.680 --> 0:20:56.679 think that's then another way to invite them to understand 0:20:57.480 --> 0:21:00.119 and be part of this climate solution. It's also or 0:21:00.560 --> 0:21:04.280 help reduce the ourban heat island in that area. With 0:21:04.359 --> 0:21:07.520 the research, with the temperature around the park is actually 0:21:07.520 --> 0:21:12.359 getting better than other block of the concrete buildings. 0:21:12.640 --> 0:21:15.680 The park holds up to a million gallons of water, 0:21:16.119 --> 0:21:19.760 which is so important right now because Bangkok is experiencing 0:21:19.800 --> 0:21:23.120 some of the most intense rain seasons in its history. 0:21:23.680 --> 0:21:28.159 Last year we experienced one hundred years of rain period 0:21:28.359 --> 0:21:29.920 twice in one season. 0:21:30.400 --> 0:21:36.400 Really, the park has also contributed to increase biodiversity in Bangkok, itself. 0:21:36.920 --> 0:21:41.359 Natural infrastructure has many co benefits. I'm not only talking 0:21:41.400 --> 0:21:45.440 about my park to solve flooding, It's also talking about 0:21:45.480 --> 0:21:48.000 the health of the city, the health of the citizens, 0:21:48.000 --> 0:21:53.119 the mental health, the open heat island, the biodiversity increased 0:21:53.240 --> 0:22:00.399 in that surrounding area. We found more thirty type of 0:22:00.440 --> 0:22:04.159 birds coming. So I just feel that this kind of 0:22:04.200 --> 0:22:09.040 like nature based solution has mountain beneficial that every city 0:22:09.760 --> 0:22:15.080 should reclaim, recall, regenerate, regenerate, whatever your nature is. 0:22:15.680 --> 0:22:20.040 Cotchacorn is just getting started. All her projects share the 0:22:20.119 --> 0:22:24.040 same guiding principle. We should rely on the natural environment 0:22:24.080 --> 0:22:26.639 to guide the way for design. Not if you have 0:22:26.680 --> 0:22:27.960 a way around, I'm not. 0:22:27.920 --> 0:22:30.399 Going to be Not if they stop every development, damn 0:22:30.520 --> 0:22:33.800 is bad. No, But how can we work to hybrid 0:22:34.480 --> 0:22:38.720 these two things together. It's about how we can work 0:22:38.760 --> 0:22:43.600 better with conventional engineer. I think when you work with nature, 0:22:44.359 --> 0:22:48.359 you need to work with hope, right because you know 0:22:48.440 --> 0:22:51.080 that the plan that you grow, you're not going to 0:22:51.119 --> 0:22:56.320 be completely benefit from it because it takes time. The 0:22:56.359 --> 0:22:59.399 plan that you grow today is actually not only gonna 0:22:59.560 --> 0:23:03.480 be fit your lifetime, but it's going to benefit other 0:23:03.520 --> 0:23:07.280 people's life and continues. 0:23:11.200 --> 0:23:16.320 Wow. I absolutely loved my conversation with Kochacorn. I was 0:23:16.440 --> 0:23:20.400 so impressed by how much she is thinking long term 0:23:20.680 --> 0:23:23.399 about the unique history of the land she comes from 0:23:23.840 --> 0:23:27.480 and what she can do to protect its culture generations 0:23:27.520 --> 0:23:31.080 into the future. And while not all of us are 0:23:31.160 --> 0:23:34.800 visionary landscape architects, there are still a lot of ways 0:23:34.800 --> 0:23:38.320 that we can learn from her example, which brings us 0:23:38.359 --> 0:23:40.880 to our final segment today. 0:23:41.800 --> 0:23:43.000 Fuck can I know. 0:23:44.760 --> 0:23:46.680 This is a part of a show where we talk 0:23:46.760 --> 0:23:49.160 about what you at home can do to help fight 0:23:49.200 --> 0:23:52.520 for climate crisis, and joining us as always is our 0:23:52.560 --> 0:23:56.679 good friend and activist Maggie Baird. Hi, Maggie, are you 0:23:56.760 --> 0:24:00.119 ready to create a new Cotchacorn inspired park in Los Angeles? 0:24:00.920 --> 0:24:03.880 Well, Chris, I am not there quite yet, but I 0:24:03.960 --> 0:24:08.160 really wish I could be. I was really inspired by 0:24:08.240 --> 0:24:12.560 Catchihorn's designs. In our own lives, we can do small 0:24:12.640 --> 0:24:15.680 things like this. For example, in our house, we took 0:24:15.720 --> 0:24:18.040 out the grass in our front yard and put drought 0:24:18.080 --> 0:24:21.000 resistant plants, and in every area of the country it 0:24:21.040 --> 0:24:24.120 will be a little bit different. But this also goes 0:24:24.160 --> 0:24:26.879 to show you how important it is to raise your 0:24:26.960 --> 0:24:31.000 voice and keep talking about the climate in every aspect 0:24:31.000 --> 0:24:34.439 of life, and beyond that, I want to direct people 0:24:34.600 --> 0:24:39.080 to the Nature Conservancy. If you're in the US, you 0:24:39.160 --> 0:24:41.920 might live in one of the many cities where their 0:24:42.359 --> 0:24:46.480 North American Citi's network partners with local orgs to co 0:24:46.600 --> 0:24:52.840 create equitable conservation practices and nature based solutions that address 0:24:52.920 --> 0:24:57.080 the voice and the vision of local communities. We can 0:24:57.119 --> 0:24:59.760 put some links in the show notes because, as we've 0:24:59.800 --> 0:25:04.080 heard word, nature based solutions can make a tremendous difference 0:25:04.359 --> 0:25:07.159 in helping alleviate climate extremes. 0:25:07.720 --> 0:25:11.560 Thanks so much, Maggie. I love that I'm equally inspired 0:25:11.600 --> 0:25:13.359 by a story, and I'd love to see more people 0:25:13.400 --> 0:25:16.679 start working sustainably in their cities. And that's what the 0:25:16.680 --> 0:25:21.000 fuck you can do? What the fuck can I do? 0:25:22.680 --> 0:25:24.880 I want to close in this message of hope from 0:25:24.960 --> 0:25:27.880 Kochacus ted talk she gave back in twenty eighteen. 0:25:28.920 --> 0:25:32.399 No matter how rough the path, how big the crack, 0:25:33.080 --> 0:25:36.879 you push to your goal because that's where your heart is. 0:25:39.600 --> 0:25:45.600 And yes, Thailand is home. This land is my only home, 0:25:47.640 --> 0:25:54.119 and that's where I firmly stand my heart. Where do 0:25:54.240 --> 0:25:54.680 you stand? 0:25:54.760 --> 0:25:55.320 Yours? 0:25:55.920 --> 0:25:59.600 Thank you? Thank you? How path? 0:26:00.440 --> 0:26:03.359 I think we can all learn from Culture Corn's inspiring 0:26:03.440 --> 0:26:06.520 vision and words. I'm so grateful we were able to 0:26:06.600 --> 0:26:10.080 have her on the show. That's all for this episode. 0:26:10.680 --> 0:26:13.439 Next time on I'm Fucking the Future, I'll talk with 0:26:13.760 --> 0:26:18.280 m Sanjan, the CEO of a world's leading conservation organization, 0:26:18.760 --> 0:26:22.480 Conservation International, about how we can harness a power of 0:26:22.560 --> 0:26:24.560 oceans to save our planet. 0:26:25.040 --> 0:26:28.960 If you don't have a healthy ocean, you are making 0:26:29.000 --> 0:26:34.639 it impossible to have a healthy planet. And you know, 0:26:36.000 --> 0:26:42.040 I think we have spent so little effort focusing on oceans. Generally, 0:26:42.520 --> 0:26:45.280 the amount of conservation dollars going into it is tiny. 0:26:45.720 --> 0:26:49.000 Until then, I'm Chris Turney signing off from Sydney, Australia. 0:26:49.800 --> 0:26:53.840 Thanks for joining me in I'm Fucking the Future. We're 0:26:55.240 --> 0:27:03.240 Fucking the Future. I'm Fucking the Future is produced by 0:27:03.320 --> 0:27:06.960 Imagine Audio and Awfully Nice for iHeart Podcasts and hosted 0:27:07.000 --> 0:27:11.040