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1. What would a new urban ethos be?

A new urban ethos should realise the linkage between rural and urban issues. We just entered the urban millennium. Despite the rural concerns of the last century, urban issues and problems have dominated the human life. With the shift to an urbanizing world, human challenges have immensely increased. More recently, we realized that urban development is linked with rural potentials. The last few decades dwelt on urban development without directly ignoring rural issues. We failed to
ensure rural development because we remained largely anti-urban. Cities that can adjust to modern changes without giving away the traditional virtues could respond to the urban challenge. We should recognize that cities would no longer be for the few. They have to be increasingly inclusive. This century will see cities becoming more competitive. Urban governance will become more and more difficult. Residents will have to spend more time, money and efforts to get the minimum services and amenities. There is increasing threat of insecurity and crimes. An increasing number of the city residents would have nostalgic feelings for the rural virtue. Liveability of our cities will depend on their “ruralness”. People will crave to be nearer to nature. Cities would be encouraged to have more and more rural elements. More liveable spaces would be required. Good governance, access to all, and peaceful environment would be the urban ethos. It will be necessary to redefine what is urban.
2. What are major obstacles in making the global transition to an urban ethos?
The concept of ecological footprints has underpinned the need of rural areas for sustainable cities. When will urban consumers realize the ecological footprints of their way of life? When will urban governance be prepared to realize the environmental costs of urban ways of life? Hastening to an urban world would ignore the balance between rural and urban areas. This will increase environmental problems like solid waste management and air pollution in cities. It has become difficult to enhance our ability to use land with rural and urban characteristics in a balanced way. In the recent past obsession towards cities raised standards and hence costs. Behavioral changes became difficult. Cities ceased to be manageable or viable.

3. What should the role of the United Nations be in the process of transition?
Develop an integrative system
The transition is a change in the pattern and style of development. Urban style as perceived in the last century is not a sustainable style. UNCHS should help the global community to redefine this style to make it sustainable. An integrated system should be developed where cities would be supported by the hinterland they serve. It can help member countries to identify city regions and encourage their development. They should aim at increasing the total carrying capacity on a sustainable manner. It can also help them establish good governance at the level of identified regions. And the goal should be equitable access of all to urban amenities and regional resources.
Jibgar Joshi

jibgar-joshi ppt.presentation slides

Abstract
The purpose of the paper is to explore what elements lead to policy formulation and how to improve it. For solving the problems of the society and for satisfying the needs of its people, any nation creates some mechanisms to help it to make policies; and takes decisions that facilitate actions. Even today, the government plays a primary role. And others, people as well as their organizations, are governed by the government to do what it prescribes in the form of its policies. With the increasing complexity in project implementation, the government has invited the private sector to be partners in its pursuit for development. Both the government and the private sector carry out their jobs through appropriate institutions, which enjoy the status of legal entities. This led to a new paradigm in the process of implementation. The politicians as well as the professionals who are playing the key role in the transformation of the Nepali society have used institutions to protect themselves from any sort of risks. It has become difficult to make any one accountable. As a result, the gap between what is planned and what is done has widened; and implementation continued to be weak. With more and more intricacies coming up in the system, the number of institutions grew; and accountability became more and more difficult to be enforced. There is thus the need for the creation of a system where, service provision is encouraged; better services should mean better returns and better incentives. Recognizing this, the paper looks at an alternative to institution building. It works on exploring the ways of transforming institution for evolving appropriate policies at different levels to alleviate poverty by increasing access of the people to services.

The value of governance in general and policy in particular is measured in terms of the quality of the services that the people receive and their level of contentment. The faith of the people in the government policy is eroding. Institutions will thrive only when they do not hinder personal development. The convergence of the individual goal and that of the organization as a whole is necessary for an effective delivery of services. Organizations can shape its members and align them to its goals. They should enjoy autonomy for better performance. We have created organizations under a divide and rule policy for so many years. This means it will not be easy to change the organizational culture in a short span of time. Policy formulation for enhancing social good in any form should therefore deal with institutional requirements at the same time. The paper deals with the limitations of the public and the private sector in enhancing the social good; and highlights how civil societies, NEA in particular, should and could build pressure for change. Instead of working for institutions that are involved in making more rules and regulations that make the system complex and reduce the access of the people to services, NEA should motivate engineers to work with community driven initiatives. The paper underscores the role of technology and the need for efforts on R & D. It focuses on community-based approach as a means of evolving sustainable policies.

Keywords: social good, policy, institution, NEA, civil societies, community initiatives.

Abstract

The paper views urbanization as a driver of economic growth as well as poverty alleviation in Nepal. It will analyze the urbanization trend in Nepal focusing on the following three issues in particular:
1. Competitiveness of cities,
2. Inclusive service, and
3. Fiscal sustainability of municipalities.
Nepal has natural resource advantage; but this is not fully used due to lack of market coordination and low productivity. The pace of urbanization is highest in Nepal among the countries of South Asia. It has led to economic growth. There is a high correlation between the two. The contribution of the urban sector to GDP is increasing fast. However, there is a lack of a holistic approach to positioning cities as engines of economic growth, business incubation and skills enhancement. The only way to raise and sustain economic growth of Nepal is to enhance the competitiveness of her cities by using their comparative advantages. She has not been able to make use of such advantages due to lack of infrastructure and institutional constraints. Cities are suffering from acute shortage of infrastructure and services. They compete in attracting investments. Urban infrastructure is not adequate to sustain the growth impulses, which has led to the erosion of competitiveness of cities. The paper will make a rigorous economic analysis on the competitiveness of cities. Based on the analysis, it will explain what has limited their competitiveness and what has hindered the economic transition of the country.
Urbanization in Nepal has helped to reduce poverty. However, one of its challenges is growing exclusion. There is a lack of inclusiveness in service delivery as evidenced by poor services and slum areas. It has become difficult to sustain the inclusive nature of traditional towns. There is an increasing exclusion of the poor from service delivery. There are problems related to fiscal sustainability. Failure to mobilize the private sector has slowed down economic growth. The purpose of the paper is to address such issues and challenges of managing urbanization in Nepal. It aims to explore ways and means of transforming Nepal’s economy through increased investments in the lead activities of urban regions that have comparative advantages.
The paper will begin with an analysis of the trend of urbanization in Nepal and explain its economic causes and impacts. Due to constraints in connectivity and power shortage, it has become difficult to use the linkage opportunities and growth impulses. This has led to import-intensive activities at the cost of basic industries. As a result, the economy has become less resilient and less competitive. The paper will explore how infrastructure can be better planned to sustain growth impulses in order to make cities economically more competitive. It will deal with how to make cities more competitive in attracting investments. The role of the cities as the engines of economic growth with the use of their comparative advantages has been threatened by the growing deficits in infrastructure. Recognizing this, the paper will deal with how to manage infrastructure to enable cities to attract investments.
Every part of the nation is urbanizing in its own way. In the process, opportunities are created; but they are not shared equally. The access of the poor to services has decreased over the years. The paper will explore the effect of urbanization on the increasing trend of exclusion in service delivery. It will discuss the impacts of global economy and exposure to outside culture on the livability of cities. It will assess the extent of exclusion of slum areas and the poor in the urbanization process. It will explore ways and means of halting the trend of increasing disparity with regional imbalances and formation of slums and squatters. It will explore the economic causes of increasing exclusion. It will assess how the participation of the people in service delivery will reduce this. It will address the issues of slums and their challenges.
Based on the analysis of the comparative advantages of cities, the paper will explore the causes of failure in utilizing these for development. In order to use the opportunities created by urbanization, it is necessary to invest in lead activities with high forward and backward linkages. It will be based on an analysis of the multiplier effects of lead activities of different cities. It will work on how to make a breakthrough in creating more resilient and more self-reliant urban economies. This will be directed towards making economic transformation through the creation of export base. Finally, the paper will deal with the required changes in institution related to governance and financing. Future costs of urbanization are likely to increase at a rapid rate because of depletion of resources. The paper will explore ways and means of providing infrastructure in a more productive, affordable and inclusive manner. It will assess the fiscal deficit of municipalities. It will suggest strategies for improving their fiscal sustainability.
Research Methodology: For the preparation of the paper, rigorous research will be carried out. It will be primarily based on secondary data and information. Available data will be analyzed to show the trend of urbanization in Nepal. Preliminary findings of the research will be discussed with the concerned stakeholders. Consultative processes will be followed to finalize the outputs of the research.
Urbanization is easily understood and accepted as an inevitable process. However, where the population will be located in the future is not easy to predict. This will depend on economic opportunities that are created through investments in infrastructure and industry as well as policies on trade and transit. Investments in areas with greater growth potential and higher multiplier effects will yield greater return in the long run. Efforts will thus be made to link these together. This will make urban development more effective and inclusive.
Forward and backward linkages of some of the lead activities will be assessed with a view to build up of the competitiveness of potential sectors. The research will aim to identify economic activities with comparative advantages to trigger economic growth and create jobs for both urban and rural poor. It will help to prioritize investments in infrastructure that are needed to support the potential growth sectors. Efforts will be made to prepare a framework for prioritizing activities on the basis of potential for growth impulses and multiplier effects. Besides, it will address the following issues:
• How can cities help the integration of the economy of Nepal in the wake of growing competitiveness?
• How should the sustainable use of domestic resources and the impacts of globalization be considered in the process?
As a case study, an urban region will be selected and analyzed considering several issues including the following:
• Poverty and population dynamics;
• Unleashing economic growth in relation to resource base and potentials;
• Rural-urban linkage potentials;
• Locational analysis and identification of lead activities;
• Investments in infrastructure; and
• Alternate forms of entitlement (e.g., vocational training, urban skills etc.) in growth centers.
The research will be directed to explore the possibility of enhancing its economic base and resilience. It will use quantitative and/or objective methodology to identify investment areas for maximizing impacts with minimum resource and to find out an inclusive development strategy to boost up both urban and rural growth. Existing linkages will be measured in terms of growth, equity and sustainability. Efforts will also be made to link these with enhancing linkages with the outside economy. The different factors that determine the competitiveness of cities will be identified. This will be related with the needs of the global economy and tied up with the integration of Nepal’s economy with the same.
The research will relate service delivery with affordable standards and access as well as pricing policies. It will be directed towards increasing competitiveness in the supply of infrastructure and services and ensuring equitable pricing and fiscal policies. It will deal with issues of cost sharing through a rigorous study of innovative approaches like land pooling. For an analysis of fiscal sustainability, how investments are planned and made will be studied. Ways of monitoring the costs of urbanization will be devisd in order to recover the costs. Various tools of impact analysis with a focus on the role of participatory planning will be used to increase affordability and reduce exclusion. It will devise tools to identify feasible projects and ways of financing them.

Abstract
The paper views urbanization as a driver of economic growth as well as poverty alleviation in Nepal. Nepal has natural resource advantage; but this is not fully used due to lack of market coordination and low productivity. The only way to raise and sustain economic growth is to enhance the competitiveness of cities using their comparative advantages. Nepal has not been able to make use of such advantages due to infrastructure deficit and institutional constraints. Cities are suffering from acute shortage of infrastructure and services. This has limited their competitiveness; and hindered the economic transition of the country. There is a lack of inclusiveness in service delivery as evidenced by poor services in slum areas. It has become difficult to sustain the inclusive nature of traditional towns. There is an increasing exclusion of the poor from service delivery. There is a lack of a holistic approach to positioning cities as engines of economic growth, business incubation, and skills enhancement. Urban infrastructure is not adequate to sustain the growth impulses, which has led to the erosion of competitiveness of cities. There are problems related to fiscal sustainability. Failure to mobilize the private sector has slowed down economic growth. The purpose of the paper is to address such issues and challenges of managing urbanization in Nepal. It aims to explore ways and means of transforming Nepal’s economy through increased investments in the lead activities of her urban regions that have comparative advantages.
The paper will begin with an analysis of the trend of urbanization in Nepal and explain its economic causes and implications. The pace of urbanization is highest in Nepal among the countries of South Asia. Urbanization in Nepal has led to economic growth. There is a high correlation between the two. It has helped to reduce poverty. The contribution of the urban sector to GDP is increasing fast. However, the access of the poor to services has decreased over the years. The paper will discusses the inclusive nature of traditional towns of Nepal and explore the economic causes of increasing exclusion. It will explore the implications of urbanization on the increasing trend of exclusion in service delivery. It will discuss the impacts of global economy and exposure to outside culture on livability. It will assess the extent of exclusion of slum areas and poorer people in the urbanization process. It will explore ways and means of halting the trend of increasing disparity with regional imbalances and formation of slums and squatters. Due to constraints in connectivity and power shortage, it has become difficult to use the linkage opportunities and growth impulses. The sudden openness after the change of 1990 and the growing remittance led to increase in dependency on outside economies. This led to import-intensive activities, real estate development, and housing at the cost of basic industries that enhance economic resilience. As a result, cities’ competitiveness has decreased. The paper will investigate how infrastructure can be better planned to sustain growth impulses making cities economically more competitive. It will deal with how to make cities more competitive in attracting investments. It will discuss the products of urban planning efforts and show how these can be made more useful in sustaining economic development through the delivery of infrastructure and services for housing and business. The growing economic role of the cities with the use of their comparative advantages has been threatened by the growing infrastructure deficits. Recognizing this, the paper will deal with how to make investments in infrastructure more result-oriented. It will show how infrastructure should be managed to enable cities to attract investments.
The paper will identify urban regions of Nepal. It will then explore the causes of failure to utilize their comparative advantages for development. In order to use the opportunities created by urbanization, it is necessary to invest in their lead activities. It will assess the impact of planning efforts on shaping the urbanization. Urbanizing rural areas in a planned way is the shortest way to urban growth and to sustain national productivity. It will try to show how to foster and sustain the growth of Nepal’s urban regions and enhance their competitiveness in ensuring sustainable development. It will suggest strategies to increase their competitiveness. It will work on how to make a breakthrough in creating more resilient and more self-reliant urban economies. This will be directed towards making economic transformation through the creation of export base. Finally, the paper will make an analysis of institutional set-up. It will deal with the required changes in institution related to governance and financing. It will suggest strategies for improving fiscal sustainability.

ABSTRACT
The pace of urbanization is highest in Nepal among the countries of South Asia. This has led to economic growth. The contribution of the urban sector to GDP is increasing fast. Cities compete in attracting investments. They are suffering from acute shortage of infrastructure and services. This has made it difficult to sustain the growth impulses, which have made cities less competitive with increasing exclusion. Adjustments take place to sustain competitiveness at the cost of inclusiveness.
Urbanization has helped a key role in reducing poverty in Nepal. The inclusiveness of cities has helped to make it sustainable in the past. However, the opportunities created by it are not used for making cities more inclusive. One of its challenges at present is growing exclusion. There is a lack of inclusiveness in service delivery as evidenced by the poor level of urban services and ever-growing slum areas. The paper deals with urbanization process in Nepal and analyzes the trend. It views inclusive development as a necessary condition for managing the provision of urban services. It explores the causes of the increasing trend of exclusion in service delivery. It highlights the distributive role of the cities and tries to show how the poor and peripheral regions are mainstreamed into the national development process.
The paper deals with the emerging issues of inclusive development in the context of rapid urbanization in Nepal. It highlights the inclusive element of urban development as an integral part of the larger urbanization process. It explores the characteristics of an inclusive city. It highlights the potentials of an inclusive city in making development more sustainable. It works on the relationship between inclusiveness and city clusters. It shows how inclusive nature of urban development helped the growth of the Kathmandu Valley in the past. It also shows how this can be replicated in the shaping of new urban centres and in the renewal of traditional towns.
Cities were never found to show any diseconomies of scale, as they became able to contain and sustain the growing disparity in a political way. In the wake of global competition, the costs in terms of human sufferings of rapid urban growth are generally ignored. The notion of competitiveness is a potent one. Its adverse impacts on the poor will be reduced through inclusiveness. Cities should rely on their collaborative advantages in order to sustain their competitiveness. The towns in the foothills and the terai could be encouraged to form city clusters and growth corridors to enhance inclusive urban growth. The paper suggests for the inclusive development of the Biratnagar corridor based on trans-boundary collaboration.
The paper aims to explore ways and means of transforming Nepal’s economy through increased investments in the lead activities of urban regions with comparative advantages that promote inclusiveness. It deals with the ways and means of halting the trend of increasing disparity with regional imbalances and formation of slums and squatters. It explores the causes of increasing exclusion. It shows how the participation of the people in service delivery will reduce this. In order to use the opportunities created by urbanization, it is necessary to invest in lead activities with high forward and backward linkages. The paper works on how to make a breakthrough in creating more resilient and more self-reliant urban economies. Future costs of urbanization are likely to increase at a rapid rate because of depletion of resources. The paper examines the fiscal deficit of municipalities; and suggests strategies for reducing it. There are problems related to fiscal sustainability due to exclusion. The situation will improve as more and more people get integrated into the process of service delivery. For this, it is necessary to support cities’ to build inclusiveness into their investment agenda. The paper tries to identify what investments would make them more inclusive. It deals with the changes in governance and financing required for enhancing inclusiveness. It deals with how investments should be planned for inclusive service delivery and fiscal sustainability of cities.
The government has not been able to appreciate the sustainability role of cities. The paper underscores the need for raising awareness; draws inferences from the way 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 through a two-pronged strategy. The first is managing the cluster economy of Kathmandu in the light of increasing exclusion and the need for deconcentration. The second is the promotion of inclusive city clusters along the viable corridors.

This book is concerned with housing and urban development in Nepal. Nepal is urbanizing fast. The level of urbanization was only 3.6% in 1971. It is, at present, about 17%. During the period, the total population increased from 11.6 million to about 26.5 millions.
The urban sector contributes significantly to national development. Not only that the contribution of the sector to the national GDP is high, most activities take place in urban areas. It is but natural that problems of coordination are nowhere as acute as in the urban areas. Urbanization has influenced human life in many ways not only in urban areas but also in the rural regions of the world. To-day almost all the aspects of development respond to new demands that it has urged.
After the mid 1980s, there had been many positive changes as regards to housing and urban development in Nepal. Enormous investments were made in the sector. Savings are mobilized through housing finance and infrastructure investments. There is an adequate increase in human resources engaged in urban development. Local resource base has been widened. People have become more aware and empowered. The absolute poverty level in urban areas has dropped significantly. More of the financial resources have been drawn to urban centers. There has been a growing realization of the need for decentralized government action. People are empowered as they become engaged in community action on the provision of urban services. This has also urged political changes. It is becoming more difficult to provide infrastructure d services to the growing population. Housing conditions, in both rural and urban areas, have deteriorated. As a result, poverty has increased; and living environment has not improved.
The purpose of the book is twofold. The first is to present the existing situation of housing and urban development and to analyze the trend of urbanization. It makes an analytical review of the experiences and efforts made since 1976. After dealing with the problems and issues, it attempts to suggest strategies to facilitate housing and urban development in the country. The second is concerned with the process of implementation. It works on governance; and shows why we ought to pursue a participatory process of development. It tries to link governance with the provision of housing and urban services in Nepal.
The concept of housing should be comprehensive. People migrate to towns and cities for jobs and income. As they earn, they build their houses in towns and cities. Housing process initiated by the people influences the development of human settlements markedly. Towns and cities are created, shaped, and molded by their actions.
When people are engaged in the production of goods and services, there are more jobs, production, and economic growth. With the increasing cost of the provision of services, poverty will be more linked to these in the coming days. The cost of service provision will also increase as natural resources get used up. People should be encouraged to invest in their settlements and use their resources, talents, and skills. It should be realized that the cost of getting services through other means is costly and will be still more costly in the future.
Chapter I gives a general profile of Nepal and deals with the increasing importance of human settlements development. Housing process helps the development of towns and cities. With the increase in the level of services, settlements should be developed as viable economic entities. Recognizing its role in rural and national development, urban development is getting more and more attention.
Chapter II is concerned with urbanization in Nepal. It provides the distribution of urban population over the nation; and presents the trend to the year 2021. It explores the relationship between urbanization and development. It deals with the linkages between urban and rural areas.
The next chapter puts forward the concept of housing and housing process. The changes since 1976 are also presented with a view to evaluate the progress made in the sector. It depicts the existing situation of housing in Nepal. It makes a general assessment of the existing level of urban services. It also shows that, despite many positive changes, living and working environment in urban areas has not improved. Housing is being considered more as economic goods to be produced and traded.
Chapter IV gives a review of urban policies and programs. It discusses the problems and issues of urban development. It works on the goals and objectives of urban development. Urban policies and strategies are viewed at two levels: the urban level and the supra urban level. Even though the pace of urbanization is rapid, Nepal is still predominantly rural. Urban areas by definition are more developed and hence more capable of exploiting the benefits of urbanization. The spatial dimension of an urban strategy has a direct bearing on the formation of a viable national urban system. To reach the rural areas, one has to pass through a system of urban settlements. Cities should provide services to their hinterland and the resources should be used in a sustainable way. It is necessary to develop city regions.
Chapter V deals with housing strategies and different options of housing delivery. The importance of standards and norms is discussed and criteria for setting these are analyzed. The key components of housing are land, finance, building materials and construction technology. Organized housing and land development, upgrading and owner-builder housing are the major options of housing delivery. The large proportion of the population in our cities can be called slum dwellers; the worst manifestation of urban poverty, deprivation, and exclusion in the modern world. The chapter also deals with urban upgrading and regeneration. Chapter VI deals with land as a key element of housing. It gives different perspectives on land and discusses different land development strategies. Chapter VII deals with technology and building materials as important building blocks. For housing and urban development, technology is critical. Nepal has a good potential to develop local resources for housing. However, the progress is slow; and much needs to be achieved in terms of building materials and construction technology. On one hand, it is necessary to transform the traditional ways to make them more sustainable. On the other hand, it is necessary to adapt modern alternatives to local conditions. Chapter VIII deals with housing finance and analyzes the problems of urban financing. Housing and urban development policies are presently not backed by investment commitments; and financing mechanisms are not clear. In order to get more resources, it is necessary to enhance the returns to investments and contribute to poverty alleviation. Based on the returns that would be generated, future investments become available. Infrastructure costs need to be recovered to make their production self-financing. Resources need to be drawn from the market for the construction and maintenance of infrastructure. When the costs of these can be recouped through the use of the infrastructure, sustainable funding will become possible. The people at large have found it increasingly difficult to meet their housing needs. The widening gap between the investment required and the affordability of the target group is the major problem. The ever-increasing land prices, inadequate housing loans, and poor cost recovery on urban investments are the major problems in the provision of housing and urban services. It is necessary to enhance fiscal sustainability.
The government makes policies but is not committed to their implementation. Irrespective of what the government does, changes do take place and policies must be responsive to changes. In view of these, chapter IX tries to analyze the implementation process. Implementation analysis will help to identify the problems and issues relating to the management of urban services. It is necessary to understand how the process is being implemented to make any sort of intervention. It should be linked with the formulation of policies in order to make them clear and consistent. Understanding of the policies and their evaluation in terms of the realization of goals and results are essential since development takes place because of several conflicting forces. It is necessary to make goals and polices explicit and clear. Some of the policies are not intended to be implemented. It is not easy to ensure coordination as many actors are managing the process of urban development. It is necessary to mobilize resources owned by all for urban development. It should influence other policies for ensuring sustainable provision of goods and services in a fair manner. After making an implementation analysis, the chapter deals with some institutional requirements.
Chapter X gives a historical perspective and a review on efforts towards decentralization. It deals with strategies for deepening it. The need to link it with local empowerment is highlighted. It is concerned with strategies for strengthening local government action.
The implementation of policies, plans, and programs rests on governance. The subject matter of chapter XI is urban governance. It deals with the changing role of government. The role of the national government is changing rather fast. It is necessary to emphasize on local governance. Instead of controlling, good governance depends on influencing the actors that their actions become compatible with agreed goals. The concept of good governance needs to be linked with effective delivery of services. It is necessary to strengthen the local base. The goal of decentralization should be to improve people’s participation. It should promote inclusive development and ensure access of all to services. Institution evolves through the working of key players, the government, business, and the civil society. It must deal with the people and their organizations. It suggests strategies for enhancing participation and privatization as well as partnership building.. Cities should work closely with urban planning agencies. Cities develop from a multiplicity of large and small initiatives and investments. There is an increased sharing of power between national and city government. With this, cities have to guide, support and encourage families, community organizations, and private sector to contribute to housing and urban development. It is essential that all the territorial controls within their areas should be exercised either by them or with their consent. They should be encouraged to produce and sell services and recover costs. To sustain the business of urban goods and services, it is necessary to satisfy the service takers; and this is not happening. By providing services, we have to make our cities more competitive. Most investments are made in real estate for making returns in a short period. The challenge is how to use the limited resources in more productive ways. Urban financing mechanisms need to be improved for the sustainable provision of infrastructure and services with adequate cost recovery. Self-financing schemes such as land readjustment projects should be promoted. As a public good, infrastructure is most needed; and in most cases provides more benefits to the society compared to others. This is why the private sector needs to be attracted more to investing in infrastructure. Chapter XII is the concluding chapter with a summary drawing the main points of the book.

Urbanization is a major determinant of economic growth in Nepal. Howeveer it has increased inequality, particularly in terms of access to urban goods and services. Most people are coping with differnt types of pressures due to urbanization to get access to essential services while a few are consuming the bulk of the urban goods and services. This is the major challenge of sustainable development in Nepal and the new urban agenda should address this issue.
Just a few years ago, I have mentioned in my book “Managing Environment and Cities for Sustainable Development” that the balancing of the three elements of sustaiable development – growth, equity and environment, is specific to the stage of development of a particular country and a poor country cannot afford to contribute to equity or environment much. The principle of CBDR also shows that the richer nations who are more responsibe in depleting the Planet’s resource should have mroe responsibility. If urbanization makes some people more fortunate, they should be encouraged to contribute to social capital. The implementation of this requires governance with an objective towards inclusion and an commitment to realize the costs of the consumption of environmental resources. Urban legislaton should be construed towards this end to make urbanization and the new urban agenda work for inclusive sustainable growth,

REGIONAL STRATEGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN NEPAL

2009

This book of Dr. Joshi is a comprehensive work on regional strategies that should be followed to make development more sustainable in Nepal. It shows how space and environment should be considered in the preparation of sectoral policies. It describes regional and sustainable development strategies; and shows how these can be applied for making sectoral plans more effective. It describes the urbanization process in Nepal. It presents a growth centre strategy for Nepal; and describes national urban system for organizing the national space based on the proposed strategy. It explains the role of cities and towns of different hierarchy. It shows how rural urban linkage potentials should be harnessed to ensure balanced development of urban and rural settlements. It deals with governance at different levels.

Dr. Joshi elaborates the underlying concepts of linkage centers; and shows how investments should be allocated to key sectors of different regions. He shows how strategic activities should be identified in different regions. He puts forward the concept of city regions and resource regions for pursuing the goals of sustainable development. The model he suggested has 15 planning regions. He argues that the federal structure of Nepal should be guided by the concept of such regions. He has used the principle of regional planning to elaborate the role of federal government.

Abstract

The central concern of this paper is urban governance. It reviews urbanization in Nepal and examines the response made to face the problems it has caused. For an emerging economy, its impact extends to the nature of governance. It deals with the evolution of urban governance in Nepal and pleads that it is due to urbanization.

The general premise of the paper is that the best way to ensure good governance is to produce and distribute urban services and goods to the people in the manner they want. It thus recognizes the role of urban governance in development.

Key words: good urban governance, urbanization, local government action and urban services.

I. Introduction

The purpose of this short paper is to examine how urban governance should be shaped in Nepal to cope with the challenges brought about by urbanization. It is an inevitable phenomenon and must be accepted as such. With the democratic changes of 1990, local governments are empowered. The local resource base has widened and more resources are now available for development. But there has not been a proportional change towards good governance. Expenses increased but services per capita decreased. The governance has become too costly, as people have to pay more for less. The willingness to serve the people is lacking and we have not been able to develop mechanisms to provide services in the manner the people need them.

The paper is organized in six parts. Part II gives a glimpse of urbanization in Nepal. The next part tries to depict the impacts in general and in the mode of governance in particular. It also shows how Nepal has been able to cope with it so far. Part IV tests the sustainability of the trend and argues that the strategies of the nineties will not be sustained without an added impetus towards good governance. In the next part, good governance is explored at length and strategies for it in the context of rapid urbanization is discussed. In the last part, the paper concludes that good urban governance is a key to development.

II. Urbanization

Although Nepal is a country of villages, she is urbanizing fast. The urban population as the percentage of the rural population has increased from 3.7 in 1961 to 16.2 in 2001. The level of urbanization is 14%. Apart from 58 municipalities, there are 132 small towns and market centres in Nepal (NPC, p. 349, 2002). If these are also considered, it will be around 23%. The change is manifested in the structure of employment as well.

Table I. Urban – Rural Population of Nepal, 1961 – 2001
(In thousands)

In Nepal, the process is characterized by

· rural to urban migration
· change from agricultural land use to non agricultural
· change from agricultural jobs to off-farm jobs
· change in the level of services and urban amenities
· change in values, behaviors and institutions and
· change form sparse settlements to dense ones.

Table II. Percentage distribution of economically active population by occupation

Nepal, 2001

A good measure of urban development is the level of urban services available therein. Production, job opportunities, urban environment, housing depend on the level of infrastructure and services. The affordability also depends on the income level. The production, distribution and use of urban services should be integrated with urban development process to be able to provide adequate services to the growing population. Despite urbanization, the level of services in our towns and cities are not adequate.

II. Impacts and Response

Urbanization has created enormous wealth and the need for infrastructure and services has also increased. Land prices increased dramatically over the years. Thee number of the homeless have also increased. Planned development became rather difficult. Cost recovery for most of the services is poor. It gave rise to slum dwellers and illegal settlements. It became more and more difficult for the informal sector to get integrated with modern systems.

With the development of crowded areas, the problems of pollution and solid waste management have increased. Carbon emissions and poor sanitation have caused health hazards.

Social polarization is another consequence. The poor work in an informal sector and live in slums with unhygienic environment. Transportation has become more and more difficult. The community form of development is slowly vanishing.

Urbanization brings institutional changes as well. With it, the ability to provide services and urban amenities needs to be enhanced. Most rural ways of doing things need to be integrated with the modern changes.

One of the major consequences of urbanization is the change in the mode of governance. In a rural setting, most of the urban services are locally managed without any support from the State.

The role of the government in Nepal slowly changed with urbanization. Half a century ago, the function of the State was to maintain law and order and to collect some revenue. With the start of the First Five Year Plan in 1956, the government began to launch development activities. It also started to provide infrastructure and services. Over the years, the role of the national government has changed markedly.

But it was not easy to cope with urbanization. The government turned out to be a bad manager in the context of service delivery. It became too costly and unaffordable for the people to receive the services provided by the government. Then the government looked for other partners of development. The involvement of the community, joint ventures and privatization and ultimately partnership formation became the changing mode of governance.

At the same time it tried to decentralize most of the development functions. While activities are shifted to local bodies, tools and resources remained with the centre. Only during the last few years, local government had a better access to different resources.

Despite an adequate institutional and legal back up also, Nepal has been successful to cope with urbanization. How has this been possible?

The integration of culture and rural ways of life with the modern changes are remarkable. Land development projects helped to integrate the new areas with the old cities. We have resisted the encroachment of outside influences. But we have not been able to emulate good urban governance.

Most of the changes thought to be good in the eighties have been realized. Some of these are:
· Local autonomy,
· Widening local economic base
· Decentralized government action
· Community involvement
· Private sector involvement
· Partnership

Nepal has so far, somehow, coped with the urbanization.

IV. Sustainability

However it may be difficult to sustain the changes in a positive direction. Without providing services, revenue collection cannot be continued. Most projects deemed successful in the nineties are no more replicable. The cost of providing services is increasing rapidly. The problem of solid waste disposal is accentuated. The rapid disappearance of rural areas from our towns and cities has made development almost impossible.

Only a couple of decades ago, most urban services are supposed to be provided free of cost. Today, the local revenue base has increased many folds. Democracy has brought lots of resources out. Decentralization was to a large extent successful and lots of resources are now available for development. These are encouraging but we failed to be accountable. Even when services are not provided, we collect revenue.

Urban financing is a major area of public policy. Only when the municipality will operate as a development management unit to produce and sell the urban services, it becomes self-financing. City marketing helps to attract industries that can pay for the services. It is the ability of the urban government to produce and sell services that the process becomes sustainable. In doing so, it is necessary to mobilize all the sectors in the pursuit of urban development. The way the size of the cities is increasing, it will not be possible to accommodate the increasing population and provide them with sufficient shelter, jobs, infrastructure and services.

With urbanization, more and more people come to live in cities. It is becoming more and more difficult to absorb the migrants to the cities. To provide them with jobs, shelter and services is a major challenge. Access to these to the poor and vulnerable becomes limited. Through urban governance, we should make our cities inclusive, which means that everyone in the city should have access to these.

In the past, it was possible to maintain rural areas even in cities. This has helped to make towns and cities more sustainable. It is necessary to make our cities green to ensure sustainable development.

V. Urban Governance

Whenever we talk of governance, the presence of a government is implicit. And when we think of it, we presume that its function is to rule. It is not possible to rule without a government. When people at large are happy and receive necessary services, we have good governance. At the same time, it also means the access of the people to the services without any discrepancy in terms of creed, sex or religion. It is just like stewardship. Those with power talk with those without power. Stewardship depends on the willingness to be accountable for results. Urban governance is a new area of development administration. The main objective is to serve the people. It recognizes those being served as partners of development.

The goal of urban governance is to create liveable spaces with good environment. It works for a balance between the urban and rural areas. The externalities created by investments in cities have to be evenly distributed. Poor people provide environmental services that go unnoticed. The rich build bigger houses and are more wasteful. Their ecological footprints are much more. They consume more but they do not pay.

Good governance at the settlement level is essential. City administration is taking after the evils of central government bureaucracy. It is more after financial returns than the sustainable use of resources.

Urban governance should be directed towards the creation of livable cities. Livability is the test of poverty alleviation. It should extend beyond the boundary of cities. It should harness the potentials of the associated region. It should create channels of communication among actors and stakeholders. People find ways to hold officials accountable. They learn to communicate and advocate change. Actors should be brought together for a consultative process. More transparency means better governance. It is complex in that it is collective governance. It is based on partnership. Development is not possible if we exclude any sector.

When a debate on decentralization takes place, the discussion generally centers on the issue of sharing power between the local authority and the national government. But there is no point in devolving power to the local level if power is going to be retained there only. The goal of decentralization is building sustainable partnerships. All should be empowered to act as partners in the total process of urban development. In the process, it is necessary to generate resources bound with every sector.

The ultimate goal of urban governance is to provide services to the people. It must be forward looking and build on partnerships to satisfy the needs of the ever-growing population. Being nearer to the people, it must function in a more transparent manner and be more accountable as compared to the national government. People will always be urging for the provision of services. Cost recovery becomes possible through such strategies.

The role of the national government should be to empower the urban government and make it operational. The partners of development should be brought about under a single umbrella and through consultative mechanisms; development should be initiated under a general consensus. Stakeholders forum will give rise to collective governance. This should be the form of urban governance.

Instead of controlling good governance depends on the ability to influence all the actors that their actions become compatible with the agreed goals. The quality of urban governance depends on the ability to produce and distribute urban services on a sustainable manner. This requires sustainable financing and city marketing approach. By increasing the quality of services, people can be made to pay for the services.

Local government is an elected authority with responsibility for a given area. It is a general organization formed to carry out many functions. It works beyond its statutory responsibilities covering the administration of different services. It is a political institution for the local choice and a development management unit for the provision of services. Its legitimacy depends on the nature of its representative characteristic. Its executive autonomy could be improved by
· Working on poverty alleviation programs
· Providing urban infrastructure, shelter and services’
· Managing urban environment
· Promoting the role of the private sector and civic societies.
· Building partnerships at local levels. (Joshi, 1999, p. 84)

It has already become necessary to examine how the power the local bodies already have is being used. More power may result in the abuse of power. Through actions and by serving the people the urban government should be made powerful. It is not the devolution of power from the centre. It is the strength derived from the bottom that is the test of good governance.

VI. Conclusion

It is a paradox that although Nepal talks much about good governance, the concept has not been brought to the action level. Good governance is possible only when people in need of services get them. Where do the people go for services and what they need? How can we satisfy the needs of the people locally and how can we serve the people at the local level are the key issues. When people get these services, good governance is ensured. Thus urban governance is the backbone of the concept of good governance. Strategies to ensure sustainable production and distribution at the local level will enhance the people’s willingness to pay for the services. The major thrust of decentralization is also to provide services at the local level.

The evolution of local government towards a strong local action is indeed a very good response that Nepal made to urbanization. But we should understand that a fair distribution of wealth created by it is possible only through good governance. The cost of urbanization and social impacts should be fairly shared and pricing of infrastructure and services should not exclude the weaker section. It is high time that we quickly move towards good governance in order to provide
· equal access to social goods and services,
· enhance local ability to satisfy needs over a longer period of time,
· entitlements for all to get integrated in the development process and
· access to environmental resources.

References

CBS (Central Bureau of Statistics) (2003). Population Census, 2001, Selected Tables, Kathmandu: National Planning Commission
Joshi, Jibgar. (1999). Housing and Urban Development in Nepal, Revised Edition, Kathmandu: Lajmina Joshi.

__________. (2000). Planning for Sustgainable Development urban management in Nepal and South Asia, 1997/2000, Kathmandu: Lajmina Joshi.

___________. “Partnership in Urban Governance” in Sahabhagita, Vol. I, No I, May 1997.

NPC (National Planning Commission) (2002). The Tenth Plan in Nepali, Kathmandu: NPC.

Van Sant, J. (1996). “Governance as Stewardship” paper prepared for the Asian Ministerial Conference on Governance for Sustainable Growth and Equity, Lahore, Pakistan, 18 – 21 Nov. 1996.

Synopsis
The general premise of the presentation is that cluster-based potentials can be harnessed through collaborative efforts among cities in proximity. It focuses on CCED related experiences of Nepal. It briefly describes urbanization trend in Nepal; and presents viable city regions and economic corridors. It dwells on their competitiveness in terms of their driving sectors and clustered economies. It shows how Kathmandu region developed as a vibrant cluster despite the government’s attempt to deconcentrate its activities. It highlights the relevance of CCED approach in changing Nepal’s comparative advantages into competitive advantages. It suggests for trans-boundary collaboration in the application of CCED in eastern Terai.
Cities of Nepal have distinct comparative advantages in cultural tourism, services, crafts, and agro-processing; but they have not been able to turn them into competitive advantages. Nepal needs to foster the sustainable growth of its urban regions, and enhance the competitiveness of strategic urban clusters in such lead activities. This will help to unleash urban-based growth and shape the spatial transformation in a sustainable way.
Nepal had a long experience in regional development strategies based on growth centres and rural-urban linkage studies. The country has five development regions, each divided into its ecological zones: mountain, hills and the terai, making the total number of regions 15. Of them, central hill and terai, eastern terai and western hill have more than three fourth of the total urban population. The potential growth corridors are:
▪ Bhairahawa-Butwal-Pokhara
▪ Janakpur-Birgunj-Hetauda-Kathmandu Valley
▪ Biratnagar-Itahari-Dharan-Dhankuta
Kathmandu Valley is the only region where competitiveness is showing the attributes of industrial linkages, cluster development and collective risk sharing. It has utilized its comparative advantages in the form of cultural heritage and tourist potential, crafts and agglomerative economies in enhancing its competitiveness. Due to clustering of different activities mainly through the presence of government as the principal buyer, its economy is flourishing.
Despite strategic location and potentials, Biratnagar is relatively stagnating at present. The influence of Kathamndu on it is relatively less. It is identified as the major regional economic centre. Its economy is going to be transformed with the implementation of projects like airport extension, ring road construction, Special Economic Zone, Dryport, Integrated Check Point and Railway. It is likely to have a boost up in the public sector as well. Trans-boundary collaborative efforts will help to unlock its potentials.
Nepal’s experiences show that it is a futile exercise to try to link regions having no economic connections with a number of so-called urban economic centres. Cities should be encouraged to expand their regions, and form collaborative and thicker corridors that integrate more and more space into an integrated economy. Expansion of city regions and widening of corridors joining city regions will help to enhance the competitiveness of cities.