What’s urban’NICE’zation?

City or habitat is one of the factors that have a major impact on urban life which cannot be overlooked. Good management or proper urban planning will make people’s life much happier. As the city develops or grows alongside the world, the increased urban population within the city has become a great challenge that everyone has to find ways to handle and balance it. Though this seems like an overwhelming challenge, we believed it’s not out of the hands of Thai creatives. 

This year, Bangkok Design Week wants to invite everyone to join the discussion and imagine the possibilities for Bangkok, find out how to make the city an urban nice city. Making Bangkok a Nice city for people and business owners in various fields and occupations. Not only that, but also finding solutions, encouraging the Creative economy, creating a circular economy in Bangkok, and achieving this through the core idea of building a ‘Nice’ city for the people by building the people who are ‘Nice’ to the city.  The idea inspires the cooperation between sectors of small units in the community and larger entities such as the policy maker to join hands and pave the way towards possible solutions together.

For this upcoming year, Bangkok Design Week have defined the year’s theme “urban‘NICE’zation” into 6 aspects – Environment, Mobility, Culture, Business, Community, and Diversity.

Nice for Environment 

One of the first things that come to mind for young generations and city people is environmental problems. Air and water pollutions including plastics waste management are issues that hit close to everyone’s home. So, driving the Nice for the environment movement includes building a Circular economy aiming to have more public space in the city and solve pollution and energy issues. By emphasizing making fewer individual and industrial scale digital footprints and allowing every single city inhabitant including small creatures to live in the city harmoniously and happily. 

Nice for Mobility

A public utility like the transport system is another important factor contributing to people’s happiness living in the city because travelling is a major part of living in Bangkok. Students and office workers, especially those, who have spent most of the day on the road would agree that it is a serious issue. So,  this year’s challenge is to seek new ideas and creative solutions that would solve the public transport issue in the city. By tackling small things everyone encounters like organizing the footpath, traffic lights, and transportation including way signage and symbols for safe travels giving a Nice experience to the city.

Nice for Culture Preservation

Cultural development has been a hot topic in Thailand for a long time. For BKKDW urban‘NICE’zation there is more than being Nice to Culture in the traditional sense to protect and preserve disappearing culture. The goal is to recognize its importance and push the Soft power into a broader range and drives the economy and society forward. So, sparking new creative ideas including innovations that help adjust the traditional community to the changing time and continue to create a new business model as well as transform it into a product line and interesting creative local community district.

Nice for Business & Economy

Most of the time, tourism has been Thailand’s main income engine, but the effects of the COVID-19 forced local business owners and creators to look back and see how important the city development is, building an edge for Bangkok by developing an attraction for overseas business investment and adding more economic value to the city. Our goal to urban‘NICE’ the city, therefore, is about finding ways for the city to attract investors and create a good impact on Thailand’s labour market as well as driving online business platforms and city infrastructure suitable for the new generation market.

Nice for Community Living

The community is the smallest unit in the city, but it played a major role in building a Nice city. As the infrastructure is catering to the city, the development should benefit people and develop their livelihood resources as well. Because without the strong and happy people in the community the city cannot be better. This year we are aiming to focus on supporting the idea of producing people who

are Nice to the city and also elevate the urban lives. Creating the basic infrastructure development for the city’s communities and providing more public spaces for creative and recreational activities that will encourage urbanites to up their skills and knowledge. All this is so that urbanites will be happy, healthy, and safe within the community where they live.

Nice for Diversity 

Bangkok has always been known to embrace diversity, the melting pot of all kinds of diversity. Wouldn’t it be much better if we can make the city Nicer to the diverse inhabitants through new ideas and innovations or implementations?  It would be good to encourage movement within the social structure including various utilities that are truly convenient for everyone living in the city – no matter their gender identity, physical disadvantage, or vulnerability and support them to be able to live happily in their city.  

Up to now you might get excited about the possibilities and get a clearer dream of Nice Bangkok. Keep in mind that change starts small from each and every one, one can become a moving part in the movement of change in making Bangkok Nicer, starting today. Or join us and start the change with Bangkok Design Week 2023. With many helping hands and creative contributions from everyone, every sector, the movement is going to be strong enough to make Bangkok Nicer than ever!

Bangkok Design Week 2023

urban‘NICE’zation 

เมือง-มิตร-ดี

4-12 February 2023

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