adaptive necessity
Perception and Adaptation of Housing in the Flood-prone Area Along the Mahasawat Canal in the Border Area of Bangkok and Nonthaburi.
Thesis
The Mahasawat Canal sits at the boundary between Bangkok and Nonthaburi - a peri-urban landscape in transition, where a centuries-old waterway culture meets the expanding city, divided by a levee system that has quietly redrawn how people live, build, and relate to water.
This thesis investigates flood risk perception and housing adaptation across 25 households along the canal, using a mixed-method approach combining survey instruments, in-depth interviews, and architectural observation. Three composite indices were developed and applied:
Flood Risk Perception Index (FRPI)
Housing Resilience Index (HRI)
Waterfront Morphology Index (WMI)
Crucially, place attachment and socio-cultural capital emerge as stronger drivers of adaptive capacity than engineered protection alone.
The research offers a framework for architects and urban planners to design waterfront settlements that are both physically and socially resilient - moving toward a built environment that does not resist water, but coexists with it.
flood risk perception, housing adaptation, Mahasawat Canal, waterfront community, vernacular architecture, disaster resilience, living with water, Bangkok peri-urban, urban flood management, place attachment, socio-cultural capital, climate adaptation, waterfront morphology, community resilience, Bangkok-Nonthaburi border, flood-resilient housing, FRPI, HRI, WMI