The Concept of Inclusive City and Kathmandu Valley

October 2009

Abstract

The paper explores the characteristics of an inclusive city. It tries to show the relationship of inclusiveness with what makes a city more sustainable. It highlights some of the problems of sustainable urban designs; and explores the potentials of an inclusive city in making development more sustainable. It also shows the ways of using the experience of some inclusive cities in the shaping of new urban centres and in the renewal of traditional towns.  Recognizing that the government has not been able to appreciate the role of cities in the pursuit of goals for sustainable development, the paper underscores the need for raising awareness; draws inferences from the way such cities respond to state actions; and examines the role of the government in making cities more inclusive. It finally drives at policy-making for the promotion of such cities.

Keywords: inclusive city, sustainability, potentials, policy-making.

1.         Introduction

A distinctive feature of ancient towns in Nepal is their social cohesiveness. In the past, there was no polarization; the rich and the poor were integrated within the social system. Their inclusiveness was due to the fact that they were intertwined with the prevailing ways of life. The purpose of this paper is to explore how the experience of such towns can be used to further develop the concept of inclusive city for ensuring sustainability.

People organize themselves to create a community; a neighbourhood. They share their joys and woes in it. They fulfil their needs through it. They participate in the community activities. They serve their community according to their interest and ability. All, irrespective of their age, sex, and creed, will work to create a better environment to work and live in. A city is composed of many neighbourhoods. We will have a sustainable city out of several inclusive communities.

2.The Concept of an Inclusive City

In an inclusive city, all the sections of the population will be engaged in activities they like. It is based on the principle of co-existence. It reduces conflicts and crime; and thus increases security. It allows for an extensive use of social networks. It increases self-reliance. It will make the urban economy resilient, as the outside influence is likely to be resisted. It is easier to promote a more sustainable production and consumption system in such a city, as the people are encouraged to own and manage resources directly. It helps to revert to activities that are more sustainable.

The concept is also related with entitlements that will enable all to get integrated with the urban economy as a whole. There should be opportunities for everyone to participate fully with access to a variety of quality jobs. An inclusive city should thus generate a wide range of entitlements. It should be able to manage disparity and provide opportunities for a varied group of individuals. Failure to manage for disparity will limit the ability of the people to make choices about how and where they live. This will lead to polarization and conflicts impairing the social connections that are vital for living a vibrant and thriving life.

Communities must be able to influence and manage the space and activities themselves. People should be encouraged to participate in finding out the real causes of a problem and potential solutions. This will create a feeling of ownership to projects among the users.

The goal is to energize and regenerate a community; and to create pleasing environments that add value to cities. They provide residents with opportunities and choices to thrive and reach their full potential.

3.         Elements of Sustainable Urban Design

Designs should create inclusive spaces, which contribute to the fulfilment of the needs of all types of people, and make places and programs accessible to all. Humans have a diverse range of needs and abilities. These can be shaped and changed greatly through the promotion of inclusive design. It manifests the vision of an inclusive city in physical terms. Successful designs enable people across the entire social range to participate in and receive value from actions. It helps to create space that provides a sense of place that people identify with where they want to live and work. They generate consciousness on the need for human stewardship of the earth.

Actions emerge from the needs, assets and culture of the communities and the environment in which they exist. Their success should be seen in terms of their contribution in meeting the needs of the users, such as health, education, and safety. There must be good transportation and communication. Access to goods and services should be ensured in order to make these available to all the inhabitants regardless of age, sex, religion, or income, or power. A successful project is one that manages its impact and externalities on the entire environment. It ensures that the result actually becomes a net positive. Community involvement in the project will enhance its capacity to accomplish more. Sustainable actions will provide the people with tools they need to manage or control their environment. For making such designs, it is necessary to formulate and implement strategies to avoid:

  • Neighbourhoods with diverse qualities of life;
  • Conflicts between the physical environment and cultural values and vision,
  • Unequal access to education, health and jobs;
  • Urban slums; and
  • Environmental shortcomings such as lack of parks and open spaces, ugly landscapes, and polluted rivers.

The vitality of cities helps to make development more sustainable. It depends on the transformation of the culture, which is possible if their character and identity are not lost. Liveability depends on the ability to create an environment that depicts harmony between culture, built environment and nature. Every culture wants to retain its identity. If we fail to understand this, heritage sites will turn to problem areas with lost character. With the increase in the population and changes in values and aspirations, ecosystems change. There have always been resistances to changes. Sustainability of new changes depends on their compatibility with the existing culture.

The works done through external help may not add value to the local community to a significant level. It is not only fair but also cost effective to use the local community in the production, consumption, and in dealing with the impacts of their activities. The increasing cost of infrastructure and services under public undertakings also proves this point. External funding must provide a net gain to the community by creating new jobs and giving opportunities to spend earnings in the community itself. Cities must insist that new developments use local labour and skills. Training programs should be developed and run to raise awareness of community members.

4. Experience of Kathmandu Valley Towns

Culture is a major asset for towns and cities in Nepal. This is true in both crowded historic towns and isolated villages with people living in close harmony with nature. The Valley has numerous sites of great archaeological, historic and religious values. The major monuments are:

  • Pagodas, temples, shrines and stupas,
  • Ancient palaces, courtyards and statues,
  • Historic towns with residential buildings, squares, lanes, stone water taps, backyards, bahals and bahis and
  • Arts and paintings.

Its cultural charm is found in the form of diverse festivals around the year. The monuments are a part of the people’s daily life. Life is based on religious beliefs and sincerity to their tradition. The indigenous people have perpetuated the culture and helped the integration of their culture with the changing development trend. People’s daily life and the works of farmers, artisans, carpenters, painters and sculptors do represent living culture. The culture is reinforced by structure and settings; festivals, costumes, dances and music; ethnic diversity; religious philosophy and its practice; and legends and myths.

            From birth to death, special rites and celebrations mark the important events of one’s existence, assuming a symbiosis of body and soul with the divine. Festivals are expressions of life reflecting its joys and sorrows, and fears and dreams. They are interrelated and observed round the year. They are mysterious, colourful and full of fun. They have their roots and motives in the religion. They may reflect legendary belief and superstition and follow the seasons of crop harvesting. Some of the festivals are observed nationwide while some are unique to Kathmandu and some others are specific to a certain community, town or village.

            Historic cities should be looked as ecosystems. They are the product of the evolutionary process. They survived not because they are preserved. They survived enough to leave indelible marks on earth. Looking from the ecological perspective their sustainability can be understood against a variety of internal and external forces. It shows us how they can be managed in a sustainable manner. It is the local people along with their aspirations and energies, which can extend the life of their ecosystem with culture. Nepal’s experience in the conservation and upgrading of historical towns like Bhaktapur shows that it is necessary to:

  • Integrate culture and development through planning. Instead of controlling new developments, these should be made compatible with heritage sites for cultural transformation. In the process, the character and identity associated with the heritage should be retained.
  • Provide technological options to the people to make full use of the heritage sites.
  • Understand social changes before making physical changes. It is much more difficult to live in the cultural history than to appreciate the value and beauty of it. With the modernization, people will be forced to make changes in their social life that may not be compatible with the cultural needs.
  • Discourage modern development trends. Most of these might not be for the benefit of the people. In order to ascertain which modern changes are compatible or which elements can be well integrated, research on sustainable development becomes necessary. There is a lack of conservation techniques and knowledge. Cultural degeneration has taken place not because of ignorance, illiteracy and even poverty, but because of affluence and increase in economic opportunities due to commercialization. The lesson that can be learnt is that cities should not raise their standards just like that.
  • Develop a culture of working with the people. It is not possible to work against the people.
  • Encourage training and HRD activities and build capacity for inclusive designs.
  • Emerging Problems and Issues

Nepal’s traditional towns are becoming less inclusive over time due to the failure to transform in line with the modern trends. There is an erosion of cultural and religious values.

Shift to unsustainable ways of living such as high-rise apartment building at places where there is acute shortage of services and chaotic transport system has threatened the urban life in many ways. The exposure of ancient towns to outside economies has not only made them less inclusive but also weakened their economy.

Cities face increasing and a diverse set of problems relating to different groups such as the youth, senior citizens, and the disabled ands so on. Their needs and problems are naturally different. As inclusiveness depends on the ability to avoid the exclusion of any group, awareness on population programs will help to enhance it. It is necessary to satisfy the needs of different age-groups of the population. The perspectives of different groups of people are different. ”For what most people see and often want in cities is not what planners, decision makers and elite groups see and want. It varies for children, for workers, for immigrants for people of different ages, incomes, occupations, and cultural backgrounds.” (Rodwin 1981, 13).

The movement of people from one place to another for various purposes is increasing due to relative ease in travelling.  More and more people migrate to bigger cities to fulfil their rising expectations. Such expectations are alluring. They look for better opportunities in a new place. However, they might end up with living in slums and abject poverty.

Due to population movement, family is disrupted; migrants fail to take their family members along with them. The chances that the expectations of the migrants will be met are decreasing.  Most cities in developing countries have failed to include them in a meaningful way. Many face disasters of various kinds as they migrate leaving their native place. Being not inclusive is the root cause of the problem; and we see conflicts, crimes, sexual abuses, girl trafficking etc. as its symptoms.

The place of origin will be affected due to the loss of its frontier group of people. It will be also impoverished due to transfer of some assets. On the other hand, at the place of destination, because the entitlements required for survival are different, their life will not be easy. It takes long time for them to be integrated in the new place. It will depend on the ability of the place to include them. Moving to a bigger city means many problems apart from the feeling of alienation. This makes it necessary to dig deeper as to what happens to the receiving space and the one that is losing population.  While there is the need to retain people in the place of origin, making it more inclusive, the capacity to absorb the migrants need to be enhanced at the place of destination. We should develop necessary skill and training programs as a means to create a new set of entitlements.

By trying to meet the needs of the people confined within a place and for a given time, we are not considering the effects of our efforts on other spaces and in the future. Our ability to satisfy the needs depends on how we use the space and resources over time. We should use the resources in relation to the needs of the population.

The value system of the past is being replaced by a new one. There is a preference to wealth, although the satisfaction derived from it is declining. In poorer communities, most of the necessities are accessed through community efforts and through mutual help. Market provides only a few of these to the poor. Although the market tried to replace such a system, the poor generally do not have adequate access to most of the things they need for their survival and progress. Poverty, in other words, makes the settlement more cohesive with interdependency among its members. The need to depend on the community decreases as the family income increases but this is not the solution as the family during the transition sacrifices most of the things it had been enjoying. It is not necessarily good for a society in transition to move to modern ways that are more conventional. Moreover, the failure to retain social networks with mutual help leads to the loss of inclusiveness in the society.

Some of the problems of urban designs in responding to the sustainability issues are change in the values; threats of modern ways; increasing discrimination, limited awareness etc.

6.         Making Cities More Inclusive and Sustainable

The concept of sustainable development has deep implications on our way of doing things, our behaviours, and values. It is necessary to evolve a process where all will be integrated. We need to ensure that the results of our development are distributed in a fair way. Policy framework is required to help making decisions with a view to balance social good with theright to develop. Each project must be checked against the following:

  • Does it lead to form a real neighbourhood?
  • Has the community been involved;
  • Does it actually help to fulfil the community’s vision?
  • Does it respect social and cultural preferences?
  • Does it help to create a cohesive community?
  • Is it environmentally sustainable?
  • Will it allow all residents to make progress?

Population should be managed for creating sufficient entitlements for a diverse group of people residing in a geographical space that will enable them to survive and prosper. Most of the problems crop up due to lack of entitlements. As inclusiveness increases, the problem of entitlement ceases; they are correlated. To make it more inclusive, it is necessary to have special projects on entitlements for the excluded groups in any community. The following measures will help to make cities more inclusive:

  • Encouraging local activities;
  • Increasing awareness on community life;
  • Providing key services locally;
  • Engagement of the inhabitants in upgrading environment and social works;
  • Investing in cultural and religious features;
  • Pedestrianisation for sustainable mobility;
  • Forming cooperatives in the neighbourhood; and
  • Sustainable financing of infrastructure.

Inclusive designs should promote the access for all to space for diverse uses such as eating places and groceries at convenience, open space and parks, places for meditation, sports and recreation, etc. The city should be composed of safe neighbourhoods with a range of dwellings to accommodate diverse needs. Housing and building codes should focus more on health, safety and community quality of life.

There should be full access to quality education with choices. It should be realized that the physical condition of a school does have an impact on a child’s ability to learn.

In order to enhance access and mobility, viable public transit system should be developed. Cities can create incentives and promote policies that favour mass transit. Safe, functional and green connections will help to restore the public realm and make them more inclusive. Pedestrian streets will reactivate the public realm. These along with mixed land uses will help to reintegrate.

Heritage sites and well-maintained and usable open space are virtually the only urban places where people of different income level have equal access. Parks and open space are instrumental for improved air and water quality, for preserving rivers, and for city greening.  They provide community facilities and gathering spaces. Spaces and places are required to create and display social and cultural rituals that have meaning for all residents. Public events, such as street fairs and dramas, make neighbourhood life vibrant. Cities should provide space for grassroots and community organizations.

It is necessary to encourage the community-based initiatives and integrate these with the city level structures and networks. We should concentrate on making traditional towns more inclusive and provide necessary inputs there. We should also create new eco-towns.

As it is generally difficult to capture the changing needs of the changing population, flexible design should be adopted to accommodate the changing needs. In terms of form, culture and ways of life there should not be any compromise. It should be functional loved by its residents. It should adapt to the changes that are taking place.

The potentials of an inclusive city should be used in making development more sustainable. This can be done through the following measures:

  • Emerging urban areas should be planned and developed as eco-towns where relatively rural characteristics and lower standards could prevail.
  • Upgrading of old towns and settlements with a view to make them more inclusive is a sustainable strategy that needs to be pursued. The potentials of social network and the heritage can be used with the revival of indigenous activities.

There is a need for generating awareness and penalize those indulged in unsustainable patterns of development. Inclusive systems are more sustainable as these have less impact on the economy and are self-managed. Resources are not only used fully, but additional resources bound with the people are also made available. People being tied with their community are motivated to be happier as they have a purpose to make their place a better one and they are not allured to outside gold and glory.  Most of the services that are provided locally are likely to satisfy them more because they can be tailored to their needs. However, the policy is not strong to this end. The government itself is after short run returns in monetary terms.

The primary role of the government is to promote such cities. It should protect such cities from being affected by the outside influence. The local autonomy and self-reliance are critical to the sustainability of such cities. They should be encouraged to prepare and implement local agenda 21. They should be encouraged to provide infrastructure and services in a sustainable way.   State actions are shaped by the demands reflected in political terms by a community. In Nepal, they are not based on public welfare. Such cities adapt to what the state does. Most of the actions are not necessarily geared to enhance sustainability. This will threaten inclusiveness as well. The local conditions are generally ignored as the state has a standardized package. The experiences of such cities should shape state actions. Such actions need to be made promotional by playing a key role in localising Agenda 21. In specific terms, the government should:

  • Help such cities to pursue sustainable ways of providing services
  • Help facilitate autonomous development
  • Grants and subsidy
  • Protection from distortions
  • Respect the local authority by not exploiting the services created by it
  • Conclusion

The concept of an inclusive city is linked with a functioning and thriving community. An ideal society is the one where human needs are satisfied through the community efforts; and where they are inspired to add value to the community they belong to and they identify themselves with. Here the people live in harmony with their environment; and are less vulnerable to different types of risks. As they do not have to worry much to satisfy their own needs, they are enabled to contribute as much as they can. Their happiness depends on the services they are able to provide to their community. They find convenient environment to work. For emulating such a society, it is necessary to think of manageable communities. The answer can be found in the concept of an inclusive city. It should be designed to foster such communities in the form of eco-towns, eco villages or healthy cities. An inclusive city is a place where such a society thrives. It is inclusive also in the sense that whatever you contribute will add value to the social good. It is not like paying tax to a government which is busy in sustaining bad governance. For an inclusive design, we should therefore consider the way families in a community interact with each other. It should influence the process of their overall development and their engagement in different activities.

Although the historic towns of Kathmandu Valley are good examples of an inclusive city, there is an increasing threat. One can easily observe conflicts of interest between the global trend and the inherent primitive characteristics. Time and again, there had been attempts to impair their inherent characteristics for more than a century. Some of the factors that sustain their inclusiveness may be summarised as follows:

  • Primitiveness with strong resistance to change;
  • Cohesive and all-inclusive design;
  • Encouragements for pedestrians;
  • Culture of sharing poverty; and
  • Sharing of urban space with opportunities for mixing together due to cultural and religious activities throughout the year.

Due to primitiveness and the persistent resistance to change, large scale investments with ability to destroy the inherent character of the settlements never thrived. However this had immense costs and the life of the common person had not bee an easy one. The role of the government must change and help the community actions to transpire their inclusiveness. It should understand that modern changes will be resisted in absence of adaptation measures; and any sort of conflict of interest will make development more costly and unsustainable. “The conflict between the improvement in the living standard of the people and preservation of cultural heritage should be sorted out through working with the people and through technologies that allow a greater integration between culture and development.”  (Joshi 2000, 26). The government has no other option than to work with the people; and on policies that will make living in these cities easier and more pleasing.

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