Sacred Land, Religious Land Use, and Sustainable Urban Development

The urban land question is undeniably a pressing societal problem. Criticisms of the financialization of urban land continue, much like the challenge to land grabbing. Questions about alternatives are relatively rare, so this article addresses the following questions: What does sacred land mean in the Thai Buddhist context? How has the belief in sacred land influenced the ethical considerations of religious land use in Thailand? Important in themselves, these questions also invite consideration of how religious land use addresses the challenge of sustainable urban development. Empirical data from interviews were gathered from Buddhist senior monks in five Thai cities and representatives from the Land Development Department and the National Office of Buddhism. Systematic and document analyses of these data show that the notion of sacred land in the Thai Buddhist context is contested. Nonetheless, the belief in sacred land has made Thai Buddhist temple land distinctive and, at the same time, influenced landowners and land users to follow ethical equitable considerations that have substantial ramifications for economy, society, and environment.