0:00:01.318,0:00:04.088
At this very moment,

0:00:04.112,0:00:07.011
with every breath we take,

0:00:07.035,0:00:11.958
major delta cities[br]across the globe are sinking,

0:00:11.982,0:00:14.674
including New York, London,

0:00:14.698,0:00:18.344
Tokyo, Shanghai, New Orleans,

0:00:18.368,0:00:21.389
and as well as my city, Bangkok.

0:00:23.017,0:00:27.009
Here is the usual version[br]of climate change.

0:00:28.602,0:00:30.030
This is mine.

0:00:30.594,0:00:31.744
Nothing much,

0:00:31.768,0:00:33.612
just a crocodile on the street.

0:00:33.636,0:00:35.154
(Laughter)

0:00:35.178,0:00:38.499
This is an urgent impact[br]of climate change:

0:00:38.523,0:00:40.355
over sinking cities.

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Here, you can see[br]the urbanization of Bangkok,

0:00:46.373,0:00:49.401
growing in every direction,

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shifting from porous, agricultural land --

0:00:53.894,0:00:57.161
the land that can breathe[br]and absorb water --

0:00:57.185,0:00:59.446
to a concrete jungle.

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This is what parts of it look like[br]after 30 minutes of rainfall.

0:01:06.733,0:01:08.553
And every time it rains,

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I wish my car could turn into a boat.

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This land has no room for water.

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It has lost its absorbent capacity.

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The reality of Bangkok's[br]metropolitan region

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is a city of 15 million people

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living, working and commuting[br]on top of a shifting, muddy river delta.

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Bangkok is sinking[br]more than one centimeter per year,

0:01:42.983,0:01:49.949
which is four times faster[br]than the rate of predicted sea level rise.

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And we could be below sea level by 2030,

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which will be here too soon.

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There is no coincidence that I am here[br]as a landscape architect.

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As a child, I grew up in a row house

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next to the busy road[br]always filled with traffic.

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In front of my house,[br]there was a concrete parking lot,

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and that was my playground.

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The only living creature I would find,

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and had fun with,

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were these sneaky little plants[br]trying to grow through the crack

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of the concrete pavement.

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My favorite game with friends

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was to dig a bigger[br]and bigger hole through this crack

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to let this little plant creep out --

0:02:49.637,0:02:51.642
sneak out more and more.

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And yes, landscape architecture

0:02:56.925,0:03:02.012
gives me the opportunity[br]to continue my cracking ambition --

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(Laughter)

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to connect this concrete land[br]back to nature.

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Before, Thais -- my people --

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we were adapted to the cycle[br]of the wet and dry season,

0:03:19.206,0:03:22.920
and you could call us amphibious.

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(Laughter)

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We lived both on land and on water.

0:03:26.841,0:03:29.254
We were adapted to both.

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And flooding was a happy event,[br]when the water fertilized our land.

0:03:37.115,0:03:38.819
But now, flooding means ...

0:03:40.493,0:03:41.643
disaster.

0:03:42.654,0:03:44.337
In 2011,

0:03:44.361,0:03:51.107
Thailand was hit by the most damaging[br]and the most expensive flood disaster

0:03:51.131,0:03:52.382
in our history.

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Flooding has turned central Thailand[br]into an enormous lake.

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Here, you can see the scale of the flood[br]in the center of the image,

0:04:03.940,0:04:06.662
to the scale of Bangkok,[br]outlined in yellow.

0:04:08.401,0:04:10.866
The water was overflowing from the north,

0:04:10.890,0:04:13.900
making its way across several provinces.

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Millions of my people,

0:04:20.071,0:04:23.311
including me and my family,

0:04:23.335,0:04:25.946
were displaced and homeless.

0:04:27.300,0:04:29.318
Some had to escape the city.

0:04:30.259,0:04:35.199
Many were terrified of losing[br]their home and their belongings,

0:04:35.223,0:04:40.838
so they stayed back in the flood[br]with no electricity and clean water.

0:04:43.392,0:04:45.969
For me, this flood reflects clearly

0:04:45.993,0:04:49.364
that our modern infrastructure,

0:04:50.597,0:04:55.716
and especially our notion[br]of fighting flood with concrete,

0:04:55.740,0:05:01.517
had made us so extremely vulnerable[br]to the climate uncertainty.

0:05:03.758,0:05:07.358
But in the heart of this disaster,

0:05:07.382,0:05:08.740
I found my calling.

0:05:09.477,0:05:13.689
I cannot just sit and wait[br]as my city continues to sink.

0:05:15.171,0:05:17.141
The city needed me,

0:05:17.165,0:05:21.200
and I had the ability to fix this problem.

0:05:22.949,0:05:24.393
Six years ago,

0:05:25.574,0:05:27.486
I started my project.

0:05:27.510,0:05:33.859
My teams and I won the design competition[br]for Chulalongkorn Centenary Park.

0:05:34.810,0:05:40.548
This was the big, bold mission[br]of the first university in Thailand

0:05:40.572,0:05:44.597
for celebrating its hundredth anniversary

0:05:44.621,0:05:49.754
by giving this piece of land[br]as a public park to our city.

0:05:51.493,0:05:56.840
Having a park sounds very normal[br]to many other cities,

0:05:56.864,0:05:59.992
but not in Bangkok,

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which has one of the lowest[br]public green space per capita

0:06:05.925,0:06:08.129
among megacities in Asia.

0:06:09.833,0:06:14.664
Our project's become[br]the first new public park

0:06:14.688,0:06:17.238
in almost 30 years.

0:06:17.712,0:06:20.149
The 11-acre park --

0:06:20.173,0:06:24.258
a big green crack[br]at the heart of Bangkok --

0:06:24.282,0:06:26.032
opened just last year.

0:06:26.950,0:06:28.215
(Applause and cheers)

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Thank you.

0:06:29.458,0:06:33.546
(Applause)

0:06:33.570,0:06:38.483
For four years, we have pushed[br]through countless meetings

0:06:38.507,0:06:42.071
to convince and never[br]give up to convincing

0:06:42.095,0:06:47.707
that this park isn't just[br]for beautification or recreation:

0:06:47.731,0:06:50.424
it must help the city deal with water,

0:06:50.448,0:06:53.424
it must help the city[br]confront climate change.

0:06:53.991,0:06:55.615
And here is how it works.

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Bangkok is a flat city,

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so we harnessed the power of gravity[br]by inclining the whole park

0:07:03.783,0:07:06.346
to collect every drop of rain.

0:07:08.490,0:07:12.029
The gravity force pulls down[br]the runoff from the highest point

0:07:12.053,0:07:13.607
to the lowest point.

0:07:14.551,0:07:19.102
This park has three main elements[br]that work as one system.

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The first -- the green roof.

0:07:22.594,0:07:25.748
This is the biggest[br]green roof in Thailand,

0:07:25.772,0:07:29.337
with the rainwater tanks[br]and museum underneath.

0:07:30.880,0:07:32.261
In the dry season,

0:07:32.285,0:07:37.775
the collected rain can be used[br]to water the park for up to a month.

0:07:39.313,0:07:42.733
The runoff on the green roof[br]then falls through wetlands

0:07:43.646,0:07:47.402
with the native water plants[br]that can help filter

0:07:47.426,0:07:49.061
and help clean water.

0:07:50.223,0:07:52.049
And at the lower end,

0:07:52.073,0:07:56.366
the retention pond[br]collects all of the water.

0:07:57.466,0:08:01.014
At this pond, there are water bikes.

0:08:01.604,0:08:05.682
People can pedal and help clean water.

0:08:06.260,0:08:12.025
Their exercise becomes an active part[br]of the park water system.

0:08:13.698,0:08:15.619
When life gives you a flood,

0:08:15.643,0:08:17.520
you have fun with the water.

0:08:17.544,0:08:19.293
(Laughter)

0:08:20.608,0:08:24.950
Centenary Park gives room for people[br]and room for water,

0:08:24.974,0:08:28.488
which is exactly[br]what we and our cities need.

0:08:31.114,0:08:35.038
This is an amphibious design.

0:08:35.466,0:08:38.336
This park is not[br]about getting rid of flood.

0:08:38.753,0:08:41.963
It's about creating a way to live with it.

0:08:42.741,0:08:47.194
And not a single drop of rain[br]is wasted in this park.

0:08:48.133,0:08:54.135
This park can hold and collect[br]a million gallons of water.

0:08:56.873,0:08:58.023
(Applause)

0:08:58.047,0:08:59.237
Thank you.

0:08:59.261,0:09:03.319
(Applause)

0:09:03.343,0:09:07.207
Every given project, for me,[br]is an opportunity

0:09:07.231,0:09:11.311
to create more green cracks[br]through this concrete jungle

0:09:12.441,0:09:16.902
by using landscape architecture[br]as a solution,

0:09:16.926,0:09:22.041
like turning this concrete roof[br]into an urban farm,

0:09:22.065,0:09:25.064
which can help absorb rain;

0:09:25.088,0:09:27.248
reduce urban heat island

0:09:27.272,0:09:29.676
and grow food in the middle of the city;

0:09:31.112,0:09:34.684
reuse the abandoned concrete structure

0:09:34.708,0:09:37.961
to become a green pedestrian bridge;

0:09:38.923,0:09:43.940
and another flood-proof park[br]at Thammasat University,

0:09:43.964,0:09:49.780
which nearly completes the biggest[br]green roof on an academic campus yet

0:09:49.804,0:09:51.426
in Southeast Asia.

0:09:54.807,0:09:59.366
Severe flooding is our new normal,

0:09:59.390,0:10:03.306
putting the southeast Asian region --

0:10:03.330,0:10:06.617
the region with the most coastline --

0:10:06.641,0:10:08.329
at extreme risk.

0:10:10.039,0:10:13.128
Creating a park is just one solution.

0:10:14.685,0:10:16.319
The awareness of climate change

0:10:16.343,0:10:22.555
means we, in every profession[br]we are involved,

0:10:22.579,0:10:27.590
are increasingly obligated[br]to understand the climate risk

0:10:27.614,0:10:33.251
and put whatever we are working on[br]as part of the solution.

0:10:34.386,0:10:38.902
Because if our cities continue

0:10:38.926,0:10:40.672
the way they are now,

0:10:41.854,0:10:45.179
a similar catastrophe[br]will happen again ...

0:10:45.964,0:10:47.452
and again.

0:10:49.531,0:10:52.779
Creating a solution[br]in these sinking cities

0:10:52.803,0:10:58.429
is like making the impossible possible.

0:10:59.909,0:11:01.059
And for that,

0:11:02.070,0:11:07.638
I would like to share one word[br]that I always keep in mind,

0:11:07.662,0:11:10.277
that is, "tangjai."

0:11:11.968,0:11:18.150
The literal translation[br]for "tang" is "to firmly stand,"

0:11:19.942,0:11:23.079
and "jai" means "heart."

0:11:24.723,0:11:28.128
Firmly stand your heart at your goal.

0:11:29.325,0:11:33.939
In Thai language,[br]when you commit to do something,

0:11:33.963,0:11:37.096
you put tangjai in front of your word,

0:11:37.120,0:11:41.085
so your heart will be in your action.

0:11:42.023,0:11:44.223
No matter how rough the path,

0:11:44.247,0:11:46.230
how big the crack,

0:11:46.254,0:11:48.119
you push through to your goal,

0:11:48.143,0:11:50.637
because that's where your heart is.

0:11:52.720,0:11:55.537
And yes, Thailand is home.

0:11:58.107,0:12:00.180
This land is my only home,

0:12:01.648,0:12:06.826
and that's where I firmly stand my heart.

0:12:07.637,0:12:09.296
Where do you stand yours?

0:12:09.954,0:12:11.105
Thank you.

0:12:11.129,0:12:12.146
(Applause)

0:12:12.170,0:12:13.321
Thank you.

0:12:13.345,0:12:14.496
Kòp kun ka.

0:12:14.520,0:12:17.738
(Applause and cheers)