Activating Cultural Capital through Public Space: Learning City Approaches to Socio-economic Development in Chachoengsao Old Town, Thailand

Limited scholarship has examined how secondary cities with rich cultural heritage can mobilise cultural capital within public spaces to generate socio-economic outcomes. This study addresses this gap by investigating how cultural public spaces in Chachoengsao Old Town, Thailand — a UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities member since 2020 — can be activated as place-based, intergenerational learning environments contributing to local socio-economic development. Employing a three-phase qualitative methodology integrating secondary data review, systematic urban mapping, and comparative case analysis of Khon Kaen as a benchmark UNESCO Learning City, the study identifies three interconnected deficiencies: spatial disconnection between cultural assets and learning infrastructure, programmatic over-reliance on festival-based activation limiting year-round learning continuity, and institutional fragmentation between municipal governance and community actors — collectively constraining the socio-economic contribution of Chachoengsao's tangible and intangible cultural capital. Drawing on Bourdieu's cultural capital framework, Oldenburg's third place theory, and UNESCO lifelong learning principles, evidence-based spatial, programmatic, and institutional recommendations are proposed for urban planners and policymakers seeking to leverage cultural public spaces as drivers of inclusive socio-economic development. Findings offer transferable principles for secondary cities navigating the intersection of cultural heritage conservation, Learning City policy, and urban economic regeneration.