cacruden
Senior Member
Regarding the Bangkok photos. I agree it doesn't look lively and urban. I don't think a place can be too clean though. I think the problem is that it looks too institutional and non-pedestrian in scale. Having large areas of marble sidewalks set back from a road with one heck of a lot of lanes only looks pedestrian in scale when there are kiosks, tables, chairs, and of course people filling up that space. It looks pretty dead.
Bangkok is a very fast growing city, and there are lots of people everywhere in the city. There are often stalls -- all over the city. I believe this is the shopping centre just north of two 5 star hotels, and the area where the photo was taken is the centre of where the New Years celebrations take place.
Bangkok's economy has gone through several cycles, including fast growth and the crash of 1995? when almost everything stopped dead. You will still see some buildings that were under construction at that time -- not finished - just standing there. Basically when you stop building a building part way through - you cannot finish it later - it has to be demolished and a new building put up. It costs money to bring demolish buildings - so they stand there until new building plans are drawn up for that lot. Thailand has typically been a very agricultural society and Bangkok has grown up mostly in the last 30 years. There are ultra-new - really nice buildings -- and there are buildings that are older and utilitarian. There is no lack of life in the streets.
It is nice to have a few squares and maybe a nice park (Bangkok does have some nice parks) - but really, I like cities where people are living. They are not always the most polished - with fountains, and decorative.... they are where people live, where you have good food (variety), entertainment, shopping. It is one reason why I like Toronto - it is not necessarily the most beautiful - or "cultural" -- but it is a great city to live.