Chulalongkorn University Centenary Park Forest in the City, an Accessible Green Space for All People in the Community
Chulalongkorn University has more than 29 rai or 46,400 square meters of green space in the central part of Thailand’s capital, which is part of its Green & Clean City Creation policy. The goal is to follow in the spirit of King Chulalongkorn’s royal intention when he offered land for the university to be used for learning, and to return the benefits of land use to society as a whole. It was in this spirit that CU Centenary Park was created and opened to the public on March 26, 2017.
The green space of Chulalongkorn University is open for all members of the public to use free of charge. People can come to breathe fresh air, walk or exercise while enjoying a cool breeze, watch a sunset amid a calm ambience, and stay close to nature in the heart of busy Bangkok.
CU Centenary Park was designed with a constructive idea to not only increase green space by planting many big trees for surrounding residential areas, but also to promote biodiversity through the use of various types of plants. These trees and plants are part of a naturally grown “Forest in the City”.
In line with a mission to provide surrounding communities with lush greenery, freshness and beauty, the park’s design was inspired by the way Chamchuri branches grow and expand. The Chamchuri (rain tree) represents Chulalongkorn University. In addition, the park was created with an aim to become a center for ecosystem connection at the level of urban green infrastructure. Architects cleverly considered how the park could help balance water flow by means of water resource circulation. The park has thus become a prototype for an urban public park that can contain water, creating a healthy ecosystem and providing recreational opportunities for surrounding communities. [https://pmcu.co.th/?page_id=9921 ]
Activities and Space Usage
[ https://www.facebook.com/chulalongkornuniversitycentenarypark/ ]
CU Centenary Park is a venue for recreation, exercise, and a place for get-togethers or hangouts for people of all ages, especially those living in nearby communities. It is open every day from 5am to 10pm and is free of charge.
The space in the park is designed for multiple forms of public activities. These include outdoor exhibitions, music festivals, social-impact activities, and campaigns by independent groups to disseminate public information. The university encourages the public to take the opportunity to make the most use of CU Centenary Park, creating a link between neighboring commercial and residential districts and the university compound with no boundaries. More importantly, the park helps reduce social inequality among community residents from different walks of life in a multicultural society. Below are examples of the variety of activities that took place in the park in 2021-22.
“Beauty of Opportunity” exhibition, August 22-26, 2021
The exhibition was a collection of artwork and designs by seven artists and prisoners in the Ten Artists Project of Special Prison Thonburi. By telling the life stories and expressing the ideas of prisoners, it provided the public with new insights. It was open to interested members of the public from August 22-26, 2021 from 10am to 7pm.
[ https://www.chula.ac.th/news/57798/ ]
Village Tourism Festival, June 18-19, 2022
The Village Tourism Festival offered new perspectives on local Thai-style tourism for Thai people. Visitors were able to learn more about traditional knowledge from local communities that showcased their unique identity through a variety of tourist activities. This helped generate income for local communities and promoted sustainable tourism under the Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) model. Several winners of the Thailand Tourism Awards were represented, helping to raise public awareness of quality village tourism and activities. The event was also useful in creating more marketing opportunities and adding value to local tourism products and services.
Source: Thansettakij Online
[ https://www.thansettakij.com/general-news/529373 ]
“Music in the Park” – a Joyful Entertainment and Environmental Conservation Event, August 4-6, 2022
“Music in the Park” featured a wide variety of international and local Thai music. Participants, who were students from many faculties, were offered a chance to showcase their musical skills on stage. Many different booths featured additional entertainment activities such as games, crafts, astrology, hand-made soaps, etc.
The event welcomed both students and the public to participate, including disabled people who were provided with a specially designed restrooms and wheelchairs to help them move around . The activity was also created with environmental concerns as a priority. For example, visitors were requested to bring their own water bottles and plastic bags were not allowed inside the park. In the waste disposal area, waste separation was required, with separate bins for recyclables, wet waste and food debris. All the waste was later recycled. [ https://www.chula.ac.th/news/80732/ ]
“Chula Sustainability Fest 2022”, September 2-4, 2022
Chulalongkorn University organized this special event as an exchange of knowledge, inspiration and public awareness about the importance of sustainable living according to the SDG guidelines. [ https://www.chula.ac.th/highlight/83534/ ]
Visitors had a chance to explore and enjoy a variety of projects and activities that have been continuously promoted by the university. These covered several aspects of sustainability including environmental development, health and wellbeing, and social development. Throughout the three-day event, there were a wide selection of activities: an exhibition and presentation to share knowledge on sustainability; forums and workshops on sustainability education; healing arts, music in the park, greenery markets, Chula SDGs, an outdoor theatre and more.
Chula Sustainability Fest 2022 was free of charge to all CU staff, faculty members, students, alumni and interested members of the public. The organizers intended to use the event as an exchange of knowledge in ways that made it easy to understand. By doing so, participants could learn and be inspired to adjust and change their perspectives on living and work. This will ultimately benefit them personally, along with society and the environment. [ https://pmcu.co.th/?p=25342 ]
BY
Office of Property Management, Chulalongkorn University
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