A Multi – Level Perspective on Implementing a Pocket Park as a Social Innovation for Increasing Urban Green Space: A Case Study of Wat Hua Lamphong Rukkhaniwet Pocket Park, Bangkok, Thailand

Abstract

This research article aims to analyze urban green space implementation from a Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) framework, using the Wat Hua Lamphong Rukkhaniwet Pocket Park in Si Phraya Subdistrict, Bang Rak District, Bangkok, as a case study. The study employed a retrospective research technique. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with 12 key informants from five stakeholder groups involved in the project, including four representatives from the We!Park Project, two government-sector representatives, two civil society representatives, two professional practitioners, and two academics. The data were analyzed using substantive analysis. The findings revealed that (1) the study area, located in Bangkok’s inner city, is characterized by high population density and limited access to green spaces. Combined with policy pressures and urban development trends at the landscape level, these conditions generated demand for urban green spaces and created opportunities for community-based innovation; (2) at the niche level, the development process demonstrated the success of social innovation driven by multi-stakeholder collaboration, with the We!Park project serving as an intermediary mechanism that coordinated resources, knowledge, and public participation, resulting in physical transformation, social acceptance, and a stronger sense of local ownership; and (3) at the regime level, although public agencies increasingly recognized and supported this approach through institutional learning and expanded collaborative networks, the innovation continued to face regulatory and institutional constraints, leading to a gradual process of structural embedding. The study recommends that: (1) awareness and understanding of small-scale urban green spaces should be enhanced; (2) legal measures should be developed to support the scaling up of small-scale urban green space initiatives; (3) data infrastructures should be improved to facilitate the application of artificial intelligence in scaling green space development; and (4) participatory approaches to the management and governance of small-scale urban green spaces should be strengthened.