The versatile new green bridge connecting Lumpini Park and Benjakitti Park is to bring a healthier lifestyle to the Bangkok residents in September 2022, after having deteriorated for 2 decades.
Many people are familiar with the name “Green Bridge”, especially those who are passionate about cycling or those who like to walk and take cool photos of urban views. The bridge is also considered the first sky-high bike path in Bangkok, connecting neighborhoods, communities, and people together from Lumpini Park (Lumpini) and Benjakitti Park (Phromphong). The past version of the bridge has deteriorated over 20 years; as a result, the policy by Pol. Gen. Asawin Kwanmuang, Governor of Bangkok with the concept “Revive the City, Connect the Neighborhood, Build the Future”, has driven the city development to the area to a whole new dimension. The transformation is expected to be completed in September 2022.
The Green Bridge Project is a project to renovate an old concrete bridge built in 1999 and related areas along the Phai Singto canal and to add more value to the place. The starting point is Ratchadaphisek Road, then traverses along the boundary between Benjakitti Park and Klong Phai Singto, and floats across the Chalerm Mahanakorn Expressway and Polo Community – Ruamrudee Community. It converges with Lumpini Park at the Sarasin Intersection of Witthayu Road. The total length is about 1.6 kilometers, with cooperation from UddC-CEUS with LRIC, Tai La Studio, ATOM DESIGN, LANDSCAPE COLLABORATION, QBIC, and THAITHARM who volunteered to help Bangkok design and improve. The goal is to improve the environment along the project to be more usable and connected to the surrounding communities with landscape architecture and lights, with a participatory process.
The goal of the Green Bridge renovation is to create a new place of the city or the landmark that will connect the city and people together, which gives access to the city’s main business roads, namely Ratchadaphisek and Witthayu Road. It allows people to roam in a dynamic way, and ecologically connect to the two large-scale urban parks to Central Park, providing equal mobility on foot and bicycle, providing seamless access to all groups of people from the city’s infrastructure, and the surrounding projects by designing civilized architecture and lastly, linking with multicultural communities.
The new green bridge will also include floating gardens that have the ability to treat wastewater. The bridge still maintains being home to bikers and activities above the water as well as on the floating path that is flexible according to tide levels. There is a bridge garden or a sky garden where people can walk, relax, go jogging or even cycle from Benjakitti Park to Lumpini Park, still giving you a feeling as if you were in a park. The project will as well transform bad and deteriorated areas under the bridge – over the Phai Sing Canal, to a multi-purposeful area that is clean, airy, and healthy space that the community can use to relax and trade things. This is to improve the quality of life and promote the social economy of the community.
Importantly, the improvement of the overpass area across Ratchada Road, Chalerm Mahanakorn Expressway, and Witthayu to the entrance of the project is to make the place the destination for people to remember where various festival activities can be organized. The place will be constructed on a light, airy sun protection structure.
