In the city center it may be 100% complete but out where we are they are still working (slowly). There is one road here that they graded in November that is still sitting (I suspect they simply won't pave it). They are outside paving the road here that connects to the by-pass road. I'm hoping they take it all the way into town as that road has two sections that were simply skipped.

Overall things look nice. I am expecting that there are going to be a lot of accidents with the new traffic design around the traffic circle along the river as you go down Sivatha south out of town. Otherwise the only real negative I see is that there are still people parking on sidewalks - half on sidewalk/half on road. We'll see how well the construction was this time next year.

Imagining a better way of living in Siem Reap...

“Placemaking” a key ingredient to make Siem Reap more attractive and liveable
Emphasis on public spaces and physical connectivity can help Cambodia's cultural capital thrive.
Ses Aronsakda
December 12, 2022

A stroll in Siem Reap’s neighbourhoods reveals much about its unique character. Artists live and paint along the road to Angkor, their works displayed nightly at local galleries. Theatres and performance spaces dot the city, hosting a variety of both traditional and contemporary shows. And the city’s historical downtown is replete with restaurants and stalls offering a range of delicious local dishes and vibrant nightlife. 

Siem Reap can leverage these rich cultural resources to enhance liveability and boost recovery, but to succeed it must also increase the share of public spaces, foster targeted initiatives, and emphasise physical connectivity in its street network.

A city’s sense of place is determined by amenities and activities which makes that city feel unique. This is what urban planners refer to as “placemaking”.

Placemaking is a powerful tool to enhance a city’s liveability, which in turn contributes to economic prosperity. This is because high liveability attracts skilled individuals to live, study, and start businesses that directly contribute to productivity and human development growth. 

Public Spaces are Crucial 
Charles Landry, who champions the concept of cities driven by creative abilities and potential, wrote that “placemaking should create spaces of communication, where it is easy to socially connect, interact, and physically move around.”

Yet the current layout of Siem Reap is not not ideal for this concept of placemaking.. Structurally it offers inadequate public space, which hinders the city from truly harnessing its potential. Only the Royal Independence Gardens serves as the city’s primary public green zone, which is inadequate to support Siem Reap’s steadily growing population of 300,000 inhabitants. 

In order for Siem Reap to thrive this needs to change.
Siem Reap officials recently unveiled creative ways of expanding public space by completing a new linear park. This park, which sits on top of a formerly open sewer canal, serves as a pedestrian thoroughfare and will stretch 625 metres from National Road 6 to Samdech Preah Moha Sangkhareach Tep Vong street, adding much needed public space. 

Similar pedestrianisation efforts should be examined elsewhere in the city. Pokambor and Achar Sva avenues which flank the Siem Reap River can be fully pedestrianised. A project like this could turn a 3.3 kilometres stretch from Wat Damnak to the Angkor Conservation Center into 19.8 hectares of public green space.
More here: https://southeastasiaglobe.com/placemak ... -liveable/

Interesting that Cambodia Hotel Association President David Piot states that Cambodia has the opportunity to rid itself of its mass-tourism image and focus more on long-stay, high-margin, quality tourism.

That said, it would be advisable to visit the tourist visa regime. Long stay, high-margin tourists to Siem Reap do not want to be limited to a 30 day stay on initial entry. Long stay tourists typically would stay longer but don't want to be deprived of their passport for 10 days while it is conveyed to Phnom Penh and back for the EOS process as I was last month. That deprives the long stay tourist from doing anything more than day trips since hotels are required to copy a client's passport. Consequently, a side trip to Mondulkiri or Ratanakiri during the 10 day period is out of the question.

A sensible solution would be to add a 3 month tourist visa to the visa menu and to make the tourist visas multiple entry. Charge more for the longer duration tourist visa if revenue is the consideration. Most people would pay a reasonable amount simply to be assured of no need to navigate the government bureaucracy during longer stays in the country or repeated visits during the duration of the visa.

By the way, the makeover was impressive. It was gratifying to have sidewalks throughout the city that I could actually walk along without, for the most part, having to detour onto the road.