City Profile: Khon Kaen, Thailand

This city profile focuses on the patterns of growth, challenges and urban renewal in Khon Kaen
Metropolitan Municipality located in Thailand’s north-eastern region. It is presented in the global, AsiaPacific regional and Southeast Asian context, where the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable urbanization are in a flux. After the Second World War, Khon Kaen emerged as a
regional urban centre due to the Thai government’s anticommunist campaign and it being military base
to US camps in the US-Vietnam War. As the city rapidly urbanized, it faced diverse challenges, ranging
from an influx of rural migrants to environmental degradation. Today, Khon Kaen’s urban challenges
are different. As the economy shifts from manufacturing to services, metropolitan government leaders
and their constituents seek to transform Khon Kaen into a smart city with a transit-oriented development strategy. Climate change has also affected the city, causing devastating floods and prolonged
droughts. Residents in squatter settlements are highly vulnerable to these climate-induced disasters
and are under constant threat of eviction. Informed by the development trajectory outlined above, this
city profile starts by laying out the global, Asia-Pacific regional and Southeast Asian context, and then
discusses Khon Kaen’s rise to prominence as a regional economic and logistic hub in Thailand’s northeastern region. The city’s current conditions, such as its geographical, historical, economic, social,
environmental and administrative and governance contexts, are considered. Then, contemporary challenges of sustainable urban development are explained. This city profile culminates in a discussion of
future development strategies for Khon Kaen as a bellwether secondary city in Thailand..