Resumen de Conflicting Green Landscape Ideologiesin a Tai Rural Town in Thailand
Sirima Tongsupa Nasongkhla, Sidh Sintusingha
This article discusses the conflict in ideologies between centralized policies, influencedby City Beautification and top-down comprehensive planning, and a local participatoryapproach taking account of multiple ethnic livelihoods, as played out at the municipallevel of Mae Hong Son town. These conflicting, complex urban–rural ideologies andcultural mixes are sharply revealed in this small town’s first formal public participatoryprocess conducted by the municipality for a proposed development along Nam Pu Creekto the north of the town. The process also publicly situated the debate on what definesa socially constructed ‘green’ planning policy for public open spaces, who decidesand who benefits? The article argues that the participatory process opens up planningand resource management to more sustainable, democratic and equitable practices,mitigating the adverse effects of conflicts in urban landscape development between localgovernment and the inhabitants.
