JOURNAL ARTICLE: “The Imaginaries of Urban Agriculture and a Livable City Shaping Bangkok’s Urban Governance and Design”

Publication date: 07 May 2025

Authors: Chanatporn Limprapoowiwattana, Carl Middleton, Orapan Pratomlek, Marvin Joseph F. Montefrio

Further details on the article, visit the journal Journal of Urban Affairs. 

Urban imaginaries illustrate how city residents engage with the past, present and future urban environment, yet they remain underexamined in the context of urban agriculture (UA) in the Global South. This paper investigates multiple imaginaries produced through five types of UA in Bangkok, Thailand. Drawing on a co-production of urban imaginaries lens, we examine how the material and immaterial dimensions of imaginaries within UA in Bangkok contribute to reimagining the future(s) of a more livable city through UA practices, knowledge production, networking and values. We identify the compatibilities and tensions between UA network’s future imaginaries for a livable city, and how these imaginaries shape urban design and planning. We argue that to build on compatibilities and address tensions to better promote equality and justice in the city, more ambitious and multilayered policies on UA are needed that can be achieved through deepening effective participatory governance and critical anticipatory governance.

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Citations: Limprapoowiwattana, C., Middleton, C., Pratomlek, O., & Montefrio, M. J. F. (2025). The imaginaries of urban agriculture and a livable city shaping Bangkok’s urban governance and design. Journal of Urban Affairs, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/07352166.2025.2493345