Research Grant Program for Young Researchers
The Center has established a research grant program designed to support young researchers in their pursuit of cutting-edge and unique research. The following two scholars are the recipients of this grant for 2025. Their findings will be made public through CAS News Letter or Asian Review.
■Saori Kashihara
(Researcher / Assistant Professor, Faculty of Architecture and Building Engineering)
Research Title
A Study on the Contemporary Relationship between Craft Villages on the Outskirts of Hanoi and the Ancient Quarter
Purpose of Research
The Ancient Quarter of Hanoi (AQ) is a historic residential-commercial area that originally developed as urban villages formed by villagers from peripheral craft villages to serve the adjacent royal citadel. This process gave rise to “trade streets,” where artisans of the same profession clustered along each street. These urban villagers organized trade guilds and inherited not only traditional craft techniques from their home villages but also intangible cultural heritage (ICH) such as beliefs and rituals. Even after migration, the villages and streets maintained socio-economic ties while evolving together. Although these connections weakened following the socialist reform in 1954, some merchants and artisans with roots in craft villages still operate in the AQ today, and others maintain business relationships such as product manufacturing orders. Thus, the relationship between craft villages—bearers of ICH—and the trade streets of the AQ continues to exist, retaining traditional elements while adapting to modern contexts. Based on the above background, this study aims to clarify fundamental information about the contemporary relationship between Hanoi’s craft villages and the trade streets that have historically underpinned the AQ’s ICH value.
The methodology includes: 1) policy and literature review to understand existing frameworks for supporting craft villages and traditional industries; and 2) semi-structured interviews with artisans through fieldwork in selected craft villages. These include Dinh Cong Village, historically linked to Hang Bac Street and known for silver work, and Phu Thu Village, which maintains ties with Hang Thiec Street and continues metal product manufacturing. These interviews will gather information on artisans’ basic profiles, social aspects such as rituals, religious facilities, and kinship ties with shops and workshops in the AQ, as well as business aspects including methods of inheriting traditional craft techniques, changes in techniques, and business relationships with the AQ and other areas.
The output of this study is expected to provide basic insights into sustaining the essential values of ICH in urban areas that characterize historic districts while enabling the sustainable development of ICH. Furthermore, by highlighting the adaptive changes in traditional trades and the systems that support their continuity in modern contexts, it is expected to provide applicable insights to other historic districts.
■Takashi Nishibori (Visiting Researcher)
Research Title
A study on small-shared spaces in low-income residential districts in Bangkok, Thailand.
Purpose of Research
Thailand has maintained its independence primarily due to its strategic role as a buffer zone between colonial territories. Consequently, numerous aspects of its distinctive historical and social context endure, even amidst the rapid urbanization and proliferation of modern architecture in Bangkok. The economic disparity within Thai society is pronounced, leading to significantly different living conditions for high- and low-income populations. In areas inhabited by low-income individuals, the transformation of living environments occurs at a slower pace. These environments, shaped by local ecological, cultural, and social factors, continue to exist in diverse forms, albeit with modern adaptations. This study aims to elucidate the characteristics of urban spaces and living environments in Bangkok, where multiple living conditions coexist, that would be achieved through systematically organizing and analyzing the origins, locational attributes, usage, and status of living spaces and small-shared spaces created by residents in low-income neighborhoods.
The Makkasan district is a low-income residential area in Bangkok, where the pace of change is slower. It is located northeast of Siam in central Bangkok and comprises a residential area built by the government to recruit factory workers of a railway factory located north of Makkasan Station, as well as the surrounding densely populated residential areas. Currently, there are many areas in the Makkasan district where the development of the living environment has not been carried out due to divisions within the district caused by major roads and other factors, as well as changes in the role of railways and government involvement resulting from the development of other transportation infrastructures. Additionally, individuals who contributed to the development of social welfare and education in other low-income residential areas are now working for the residents of the district.
The study of the Makkasan district would provide material for understanding one aspect of urban space in Bangkok by examining the actual living environment of the district, including the surrounding various types of residential areas, while considering a comparative analysis of the living environments in other low-income residential areas of Bangkok that have been studied thus far.
2024
■Risako Ishii (Researcher / Associate Professor, Faculty of Law)
Research Title
Development and business: A case study of collaboration between local governments and businesses in the Philippines during and after the COVID-19 pandemic
Purpose of Research
This research examines the role that businesses can play in solving development issues, taking collaboration between local governments and businesses in the Philippines as an example. It is an extension of the applicant's ongoing research on collaboration between local governments and external actors in local government service delivery in the Philippines. The term "businesses" refers to the corporate entity itself and its CSR department, as well as foundations established by companies as CSR actors. This research will focus in particular on cases of collaboration between local governments and businesses during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Zoom interview survey conducted with local actors from 2022 to 2023 using a research grant confirmed that the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the trend of businesses and their CSR-related organizations replacing roles traditionally played by aid agencies and NGOs. Cases of local governments strategically seeking collaboration with businesses are also becoming more prominent. These collaborative relationships have not only been used for emergency support during the COVID-19 pandemic, but also have continued to the present day in the post-COVID era, potentially changing the way government services are provided.
Based on the above concerns, this granted research project aims to clarify how the collaborative relationships between local governments and businesses formed during the COVID-19 pandemic have been inherited and developed as of 2024. To this end, the applicant will conduct field surveys and interview those involved in cases where collaborative relationships have been confirmed in previous surveys to understand the current state of the collaborative relationships, as well as interview the beneficiaries of the services provided to consider the effectiveness of the collaboration.
■Takashi Nishibori (Visiting Researcher)
Research Title
A study on small-shared spaces in low-income residential districts in Bangkok, Thailand.
Purpose of Research
Living environments built up from environmental, historical and social backgrounds remain in the recent transformation of the urban spaces in Asian countries. These living environments have the spaces with regional characteristics based on locational and physical characteristics and usages such as “Small shared spaces with the ambiguous boundaries between public and private”, “Spaces with the ambiguous boundaries due to changes of building composition and social background”.
The purpose of the research is to be use as a part of understanding of the locational characteristics of urban landscapes and living environments in Asian cities, by classification and analyzing those spaces, not only from the aspect of improvement of functional quality, but also from the aspect of the importance of the local habits and cultures.
The international influenced has been noticeable in Thailand through the recent years, although there have been changes in dynasties and the territory occupied. Western countries have not colonized Thailand; many parts of its original culture remain. It can be confirmed that there are many living spaces with special characteristics due to environmental and social background remain, in particular, the area where low-income people are living in.
The boundaries in public places are ambiguous in these areas where many low-income residents living in Thailand such as “A space where a part of public land is semi-enclosed and is used by a limited number of surrounding residents”, “A space formed by a series of buildings such as row houses that is belong to the limited number of people, but is also open to the public”, “A space that is used on a limited basis by surrounding communities in publicly specified spaces such as public roads and railways”, “A space where public land is used as if it were part of a private space”.
In order to systematically organize these small shared spaces, which are usually used by a limited number of people, taking the Klong Toei district, which is close to the center of Bangkok and has been researched in recent years as a large residential area for low-income people, as an example, to investigate usage classification, usage status, building layout, alley formation, survey of distribution within district, and interview with residents. Including analysis of the relationship with local historical and traditional buildings formation and communities, to make lead understanding of one aspect of the urban landscape in Asian cities.
