We believe that landscape architecture can lead the way towards a sustainable city.
Porous City Network works to increase urban resilience and adaptability to confront future climate uncertainty in vulnerable communities in Bangkok by reclaiming urban porosity through a network of public green spaces. We work to increase urban resilience and adaptability in vulnerable communities in Bangkok, Thailand. We tackle climate change through urban porosity. What is porosity?
PCN makes the city porous by transforming underused impervious surfaces into a system of productive public green spaces, and advocates maintaining threatened landscape infrastructure like agricultural land, canals, and ditch orchards, which help mitigate excess water. Our solutions call for permeable interventions like urban farms, green roofs, rain gardens, and permeable parking that provide needed space for water absorption.
PCN is different than other climate-focused organizations. We are a placemaking team of landscape architects, urban designers, and environmental designers. Instead of focusing on policy or training, we will provide real, built solutions to climate challenges that benefit vulnerable communities right away.
Porous City Network was established in 2016 in Bangkok, Thailand.
ABOUT POROUS CITY
PCN’s objectives are to increase climate resilience in Bangkok through a built network of permeable public space projects, and expand knowledge of design solutions for climate resilience through research, outreach, and public education. This increased resilience will beneft the city as whole, but the main benefciaries
of our built work are residents of vulnerable communities. Climate-vulnerable communities tend to be economically vulnerable as well, located in areas that are especially prone to fooding and
environmental hardship. PCN will focus our eforts on these vulnerable communities to add needed social space in addition to food-reduction strategies.
Bangkok, the city of three water sources: rain, sea (Gulf of Thailand) andmountains run of from northern Thailand. As for Bangkok, the city’salready-precarious position just 5 feet above sea level has, combined withland subsidence. Tropical location of Thailand and the infuence of seasonalmonsoon rains and local topography make it prone to foods. In Thailand,there are three large dams that help regulate water fow in the centralplains were unable to cope with the large amount of rainfall, but the management
of pumping station could not help, it more difcult to accommodatethe runoff of foodwaters from the north.