This paper addresses how capital can refashion landscapes and patterns of risk and vulnerability. Drawing on the emblematic case of the conversion of Thailand’s Cobra Swamp into Suvarnabhumi International Airport we argue that there is a fundamental clash between the internal logic of capital accumulation and the ecology of water that occurs in places in which land is under water for much of the year. Counterintuitively investment in public infrastructure such as airports targets locations that are exposed to flood risks. While the literature on capital fixes tends to treat “land” writ large, this paper adds a dimension that has been overlooked in the theoretical work, by highlighting the significance of the ecology of the land in which such fixes occur as a means of understanding patterns of investment, land use change and vulnerability. Our analysis draws on three separate but related concepts of capital “fixes”—spatial, technological and high/low road fixes. We argue the importance of recognising the specific ecological characteristics of land that capital “fixes”. This perspective has global significance in providing critical insight into the ways in which capital creates and accommodates the kinds of vulnerabilities and risks associated with climate change.

中文翻译：

---

解决眼镜蛇沼泽：塑造城市脆弱性时资本与水之间的冲突

本文探讨了资本如何重塑风险和脆弱性的格局和模式。借鉴泰国眼镜蛇沼泽转变为素万那普国际机场的标志性案例，我们认为，资本积累的内部逻辑与在大部分土地被水淹没的地方发生的水生态之间存在根本冲突。年。对公共基础设施（如机场）的违反直觉的投资将目标定为遭受洪水风险的地点。尽管有关资本固定的文献倾向于将“土地”的文字处理得比较大，但本文通过强调发生土地固定的土地生态学作为理解模式的手段的重要性，增加了在理论工作中被忽视的维度。投资，土地用途变化和脆弱性。我们的分析借鉴了三个单独但相关的资本“修复”概念，即空间，技术和高/低道路修复。我们认为认识到资本“固定”的土地的特定生态特征的重要性。这种观点具有全球意义，可为人们提供关键性的洞察力，以了解资本创造和适应气候变化相关的各种脆弱性和风险的方式。