My first experience with Bangkok was the cab ride to our hotel. On the highway onramp, I noticed a speed limit sign was boldly flashing the number 60. Then I looked at the driver's speedometer and saw that he was going 140. As we weaved in between lanes (and sometimes straddled two), I noticed the mix of buildings in Bangkok, from high rises to run down houses right next to the highway. Immediately, Bangkok felt much bigger and messier than Singapore. It also had an attitude (character?), which our driver exemplified when he sped toward our hotel and stopped the taxi within inches of the hotel lobby.
Driving into the city.At 5pm, we met the Thai students who are also in our workshop. Most of them are economics students from Chulalongkorn University, and some of them were with us in Singapore. With the Thai students, we went through introductions, provided our own impressions of Singapore, shared some pictures about Boston and MIT, and debriefed about what we learned in Singapore. The evening's goal was to update our new students on what we learned and of course to help us organize our own thoughts. In true Professor Goethert fashion, we worked in teams to distill our ideas on huge pieces of white paper. The new students had to present the posters.
Altogether, the presentations provided a great overview of Singapore and its housing issues. The nation's controlling government was the key factor that made it possible to implement such a program. A key problem is the lack of identity and community. Of the three housing types we visited (4-5 story walkup, 11-17 story mid-rise, and 40-50 story high-rise), the walkup seemed to have the most social benefits and the high-rise the least. But in areas where land prices are high, high-rises had more economic benefit (high return on land, more housed people to support nearby area).
Toon, our new Thai team member, presenting our posters.
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