Problem Statement
Problem Statement, Objective & Goals
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The previous chapter described a rather broad problem field. This chapter defines the problem statement that narrows down the context of the problem towards a manageable context to research within this thesis. Within this delineated context the objective steers the direction of the research and leads towards the design goals and the intended output.
During monsoon seasons and during tropical storms, precipitation in the northern part of the river catchments area can lead to a larger flow of water in the rivers to the point that it becomes more than the system of dams and storage lakes can assimilate. In that case water flows to the central plain where the city of Bangkok is situated, just before the river reaches the Gulf of Thailand. During events of an (extreme) increased water discharge from the north, like in 2011, the flood defence mechanisms that protect the city proved to be insufficient. During the 2011 floods about 56.700km2 of land was inundated throughout the country (Setboonsarng, 2011). The network of canals in the city is incapable of processing a large amount of water and discharging it southward before it overflows the canals. In order to cope with larger amounts of water coming down from the north, many measures are planned or in effect (fig. 1.11). In the case of the cities canals, the Department of Drainage and Sewerage (DDS) has plans to clear and possibly widen them. But people living in informal settlements along these canals will then have to be evicted, which would affect the lives and the socio-economic state of the inhabitants but also the urban economy, since they are a part of the cities labour force (Vongkiatkajorn, 2015). Around these klong communities opposite interests are present, those of civil society (flood risk protection for the city) versus those of the inhabitants of the informal settlements (preserving their socio-economic state and community).
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Figure 2.1 Problem statement on three scales: the river catchment, the city and the individual klong. Water of the river catchment flows to Bangkok which the city is incapable of discharging through its water network. One measure to deal with this is to increase the discharge capacity of the canal system. In order to achieve this the canals have to be cleared or even widened and residents of illegal settlements along these klongs face eviction. (Source: Author)