Bangkok’s skyline is being reshaped by two giant developments – One Bangkok and Dusit Central Park – each promising new public spaces but sparking questions about who truly benefits. These mixed-use “mini-cities” flank Lumpini Park at the heart of Thailand’s capital, an area where land prices “defy gravity”. As The Thailand Advisor has noted, luxury real estate remains “central to wealth creation” in Bangkok, even as the economy cools. We take a data-driven look at these projects’ public spaces and social impact, comparing One Bangkok’s vast ground-level plazas with Dusit’s pioneering rooftop park, and asking whether local communities will really gain from these luxury megaprojects.
One Bangkok: A Vertical Village by Lumphini
One Bangkok is a 104-rai (~167,000 m²) complex where Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi’s TCC Assets and Frasers Centrepoint plan offices, retail, hotels and condominiums. Framed as a “vertical village,” its eight residential and commercial towers are set around lush plazas and pedestrian avenues. In design plans, more than half the land – about 8 hectares – is devoted to public plazas and gardens, intended to weave the city’s green lung into the project. The developer even touts LEED Platinum and WELL certification targets for sustainability.
One Bangkok’s grand vision includes riverside promenades, art museums and weekend markets, aiming to ‘extend Lumpini Park’ into a car-free precinct. In practice, key conduits (the underground Petchburi-Lumpini MRT line and nearby BTS stations) will feed commuters and visitors into its core. The project officially opened its first phase in late 2024, and touts 50% open space to foster a sense of community. As promised, its shaded walkways and water features seek to “foster community” and “well-being” in the dense CBD.
Yet local groups have greeted One Bangkok’s rollout with skepticism. Even before construction began, the Bangkok Metropolitan Council was besieged with concerns about environmental impacts. Community leaders demanded details on how the developer would handle dust, noise, waste and traffic – things like “garbage and wastewater” – during the build-out. One councillor warned that residents were in the dark: “No one…received information on how the developer will deal with these problems”d. The city has since organized public hearings to “force a win-win solution” between the mega-project and neighboring districts.
Dusit Central Park: Heritage Meets Modernity
Dusit Central Park sits on a 23-rai site at the Silom–Rama IV junction, where Bangkok’s historic financial and business districts converge. A joint venture between Dusit Thani Plc and Central Pattana, it’s a roughly 36–46 billion baht project covering “440,000 sq.m.” opposite Lumpini’s trees. Its centerpiece is Thailand’s largest urban rooftop garden – a 7-rai, 11,200 m² elevated park atop the new mall. The design also includes a 39-story new Dusit Thani hotel (257 rooms), two 69-story residential towers, offices and high-end retail. Dusit markets it as a “new city landmark” that “links people with the natural splendour of Lumpini Park, aka the Lungs of Bangkok”.
The rooftop park at Dusit CP is explicitly intended for public access – a first for a prime Bangkok development. It will feature playgrounds, amphitheaters and herb gardens, with a large multi-level nursery and nature-play areas. Dusit’s CEO says it is “a place that gives back to society, welcoming people of all ages and lifestyles”. In other words, instead of private lawns, the greenery is a civic amenity. Access is via multiple elevators and ramps (the park is open 6am–10pm, six days a week), linking commuters and residents to green space far above street level.
The project’s stated aim is to “re-connect local communities and green space through a unique project where old meets new”. To that end, the old Dusit Thani hotel façade has been preserved in part as a cultural centerpiece. Dusit Central Park is scheduled for full completion around 2025, but even now it has transformed the skyline: its towers (the second tallest in Bangkok) loom over nearby Sathorn and Silom, while the sky-park promises an all-weather refuge.
Public Spaces: Ground-Level Plazas vs. Sky Park
At street level, One Bangkok and Dusit CP take very different approaches. One Bangkok’s public realm is a network of plazas and corridors at the podium level. By design it is meant to feel like an extension of Lumpini Park: landscaped lawns, water features and broad walkways “form a new center for social life in the city,” says the architect. This ground-level openness is intended to welcome joggers, families and street vendors – at least in theory. Pedestrians can access One Bangkok from multiple sides, and the plan even integrates a canal-side walk and bike lanes to nudge a car-free culture. In short, its parks and plazas are horizontal – the old-fashioned way.
Dusit Central Park’s gardens, by contrast, are seven stories up. Its jungle-in-the-sky offers a vertical experience: trees and lawns under open skies, but on a roof. This sky park is truly unique in Bangkok; it’s the first time a large mall/residential project has created a public green space on top. From the roof, visitors will enjoy panoramic city views and even vistas of Lumpini’s treetops. By placing the park above a retail podium, the designers argue they preserve precious land area while still providing communal nature. Whether office workers and condo-dwellers will flock upstairs remains to be seen, but the intent is to offer an oasis with “a direct connection” to Bangkok’s natural landmark.
Both projects also tout transit-oriented design. One Bangkok’s design emphasizes underground parking and pedestrian flow to deter cars. Dusit CP highlights walkways to the Lumpini MRT and Silom Skytrain, calling it a “Lifestyle and business junction”. Either way, urban planners will watch closely which model better spawns genuine “placemaking” versus simply gated corporate campuses. In practice, a mix of ground plazas (One Bangkok) and elevated gardens (Dusit) may well co-exist – but neither is a complete solution to Bangkok’s chronic shortage of open public space.
Social and Economic Impact: Who Benefits?
From a social perspective, the two megaprojects raise common questions about Bangkok’s future: will these developments serve the public or entrench private interests? In both cases, the touted greenspace – plazas or parks – is paired with luxury assets (multi-million-dollar condos, flagship hotels and global retail). One Bangkok, for instance, includes posh apartments and offices for international firms; Dusit CP similarly targets upscale residents and travelers. In a city where prime land is finite, critics worry new towers simply tax out local small businesses.
As context, note that Bangkok’s land market has been on a tear. “Prices in prime districts…keep climbing,” one TTA report warns. Scarcity and deep-pocketed investors drive record values even amid a slow economy. If true, a project’s social value ultimately depends on how the rents and revenues are used – something hard to quantify. The developers promise job creation in construction and hospitality, but these gains are typical for any large build. Less clear is whether middle-income Bangkokians will find affordable retail or community space inside these towers, or whether the projects mainly serve elites.
On heritage and identity, opinions diverge. Dusit Central Park’s narrative is explicitly about preserving culture (the old hotel) while innovating. By contrast, One Bangkok has demolished postwar low-rises and shifted a temple, which irked some urbanists (though it cleared land for the new project). Once completed, both projects will reshape neighborhoods: one replacing old street grid with malls and plazas, the other replacing a 50-year-old hotel with modern skyscrapers. As one resident put it on Bangkok Post forums, Bangkok loses “another part of its uniqueness” with each glass tower.
Finally, there is the question of everyday life. Will Bangkokians actually flock to the park at the top of Dusit CP, or will the ground-level malls be lined with expensive brands? Will One Bangkok’s plazas be vibrant meeting places, or cordoned-off promenades for office tenants? TTA’s analysis of property trends suggests both outcomes are possible – these projects tick all the boxes of high-end development. Neither developer has guaranteed public funding for schools or local clinics, for example. The region’s residents can only hope that “the new centre of the CBD” lives up to its buzzwords of connectivity and quality of life, rather than just another gilded edge of the city.
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