During the past five decades, the development of modern retail has been one of the major forces shaping the urban form in Bangkok and its periphery. This development has emerged in preexisting retail areas of the city, followed residential and real estate markets, or forged into areas not yet urbanized, serving as a magnet for the urban development that came after. Over time, the relationships between modern retail and other types of urban development have become evident in the urban fabric and inform the future direction of growth. Bangkok's urbanism has been shaped by the expansion of the modern retailer on every scale, from convenience store to hyper-mart.; This research examines the historical development of retail in relation to urban development in metropolitan Bangkok. It includes an historical study of urban development and urbanization in Thailand; the evolution of retail in metropolitan Bangkok from the 1950s to the present (from the development of the department store by Chinese merchants, to the shopping center adopted from the west, to the rise of the shopping complex in the 1980s, to the development of a new retail landscape by foreign retailers in the past decade); a review of Thai planning law, policy, and legal mechanisms related to the development of modern retail; and a consideration of Thailand's future retail development. Three specific locations in the metropolitan area are identified as representative cases of major trajectories and trends; (1) Central Bangkok: Wangburapha to Siam Square-Rachadamri; (2) Northeast Bangkok: Rachadapisek-Ramkamheang-Bangkapi-Ladpraw; and (3) Rangsit.; This study reveals that the shaping and re-shaping of Bangkok's urban form has been influenced by various factors, primarily the locations of government offices and institutions, development of road infrastructure, housing, and retail trade. Over time, modern retail has attracted the subsequent development and established itself as the center of most urban areas. Various stakeholders, such as the government and Chinese-Thai business groups, have also been involved in the shaping of Bangkok's retail landscape and have been the primary beneficiaries of modern retail development one way or another during the last five decades. The turning point in the shaping of Bangkok's modern retail landscape and urbanism came during the 1997 economic crisis, when foreign retailers were given license to propagate their big-box retail stores throughout Bangkok. Furthermore, in the reciprocal relationships among modern retail, road infrastructure, housing, and urbanization, each has, in various instances, assumed the role of leader and follower, revealing the way in which the urban form was shaped. Today, as real estate and other types of urban developers deploy modern retail as an added value to their projects, they reinforce the dominant role of the modern retail store as the center of the community.
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