Chulalongkorn Centenary Park (45,000 m²) can retain up to roughly 1 million gallons of stormwater, easing flood risk in a low-lying, subsiding city.
Figures reported by the city programme, verified against published case-study sources.
Background
Bangkok is low-lying, subsiding, and increasingly flood-prone as monsoon rains intensify. Landscape architect Kotchakorn Voraakhom and her firm Landprocess set out to prove that public parks can double as flood infrastructure.
The intervention
- Chulalongkorn Centenary Park (2017), about 45,000 m², tilted at three degrees so gravity moves rainwater across the site
- A sloped green roof, wetlands, and retention ponds that collect, slow, and treat stormwater
- Underground tanks store harvested rainwater — enough to irrigate the park for up to a month
Results
The park can hold up to around one million gallons of water during heavy rain, reducing runoff into surrounding streets. It has become a model for later Bangkok projects such as the Thammasat rooftop farm and Benjakitti Forest Park.
Lessons
Multi-functional green space delivers flood mitigation and public amenity — a compelling value proposition for dense, land-scarce cities where single-purpose drainage is hard to retrofit.
