NAVIGATING TOWARDS ASPIRATIONS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF HUMAN ACTION SPACE IN GUANGZHOU AND BANGKOK

Abstract

This thesis examines the aspirational capacities of individuals in two different cities in Asia through the notion of “action space”. The notion of action space is extended beyond planning frameworks by engaging with more human-centred work on social navigation, collective action, and social networks. This extended conceptual framework is operationalised in a comparative ethnographic study of Shipai village in Guangzhou, China, and Khlong Toei slum area in Bangkok, Thailand. This thesis contributes to the understanding of how people navigate and effect transformation in two key ways. Firstly, the perceived temporariness of involvement in a local community by individuals affects the types of social networks they form and hence their human action spaces. Secondly, in addition to local, geographically-proximate networks, human relations that extend beyond the boundaries of housing communities or cities, such as families and friendship, influence individuals’ perceived room for manoeuvre and their action spaces.