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Summary

Regional imbalances and disparity have caused a growing concern in the process of planned development in Nepal. The objectives of planned development efforts did not limit to economic growth alone. A more equitable distribution of development benefits around different areal units became an equally urging development objective. Formerly, it used to be presumed that economic growth will be automatically associated with a more equitable distribution through the invisible hand. Time has demonstrated that regional imbalances are increasing with growth. On the other hand, distributional aspects to ensure equity and social justice by regions as well as by social classes became the topmost priority. The problems of urbanization and environmental quality also attracted attention. Moreover, how the negligence of certain regions may jeopardize the national economy and how the growing disparity may eventually threaten the national integrity became more vivid. The unique geophysical condition of the country with three inherently different ecological zones has called forth a new strategy for planning in Nepal.
Till the end of the Third Plan, the dimension of space has got little to do with the development planning with the result that development efforts did not meet with much success even when assessed from the efficiency aspect of development. During the Fourth Plan, regional planning is introduced with a purpose of decreasing disparity and ensuring integration of the national economy. The envisaged strategy is a growth pole strategy of regional development. But the strategy failed to be sufficiently comprehensive. The present study reveals that most of the efforts have been made on an ad hoc basis.
A purely sectoral and investment-oriented plan has got a very limited influence on the development process of the country. Regional planning should emerge in Nepal not as a precept to influence sectoral planning and to throw some guidelines in the national planning process but as a practice and comprehensive methodology having broad policy implications at all levels of planning. Multi-level regional planning should be adopted to attain the national objectives. In order to solve the problem of development and to attain the broad national objectives, it becomes necessary to give a pragmatic definition to regional planning. Regional planning should have implications at all levels of implementation of sectoral plans. It is possible to evolve a new approach to regional planning in the context of Nepal that will become an effective means of attaining the national objectives.
An integral part of the proposed strategy is based on a system of central places of different hierarchy. Economic location theory, central place studies, urbanization process, and spatial interaction relations become relevant in the evolution of the system of central places. In order that the growth pole theory may function well in the Nepalese context, it becomes necessary to conceive of a spatial system comprising of growth centres of different ranks. Only then one can achieve the national goals through a growth pole strategy. The location of central places of different ranks becomes a crucial issue. First, it is necessary to identify the existing central places. Then only it becomes logical to create a necessary number of central places at appropriate locations. A judiciously decided system of growth foci will ensure spatial integration. The articulation of the system of central places in a hierarchical arrangement will facilitate the diffusion of development impulses and the proliferation of growth. The benefits of economic growth will be transmitted through the central place hierarchy. A spatial order conducive to development will ultimately emerge.
The model suggested by this study envisages five different levels of central places besides the national capital, the national capital being designed as the centre of immense significance in sending out development impulses. At the lowest level in the hierarchy, there are central villages and rural towns where village infrastructure are built up and urban amenities are made available. This strategy will ensure the minimum quality of life even in the most backward areas of the country. Otherwise, it becomes difficult for lagging regions to break through the initial stages of development in spite of huge investments. Development becomes possible only through social and attitudinal changes. The other central places are growth points, growth centres and regional development centres. These centres will establish linkages in the spatial system. The level of infrastructure to be provided in these different centres will be related to the rank of the centres. With the adoption of this strategy, social transformation for regional development can be effectuated and a gradual social transformation with technology-transfer becomes possible. The problems posed by interregional migration have to be solved rather than checking migration itself. The growth pole strategy will no doubt check interregional migration to a considerable extent by providing urban amenities to the rural poor; and this is a positive measure. Decentralization of decision-making organ of the government becomes a precondition for the success of the strategy.
The extent of areas influenced by different central places differs in relation to the rank of the central places. It becomes necessary to divide the country into several areal units. The present study shows that development regions are not adequate for the purpose of planning. The concept of planning regions assumes a crucial role in the proposed strategy. While it is not denied that the integration of the economies of the three ecologically different zones should be the end product of spatial planning in Nepal, areal plans for the entire development regions are viable. The dominating characteristics of a planning region are that all the parts of the region should exhibit more or less similar problems of development so that same decisions can be taken for the entire region. Even then the significance of Development Regions is not rooted out. Development regions can be considered as closed since each of them has got all the three ecological zones. Each of the development regions has been divided into three planning regions comprising of the three ecological zones: the terai, the hill and the mountain. Formulation of regional plans for each of the planning regions is the methodology of regional planning advocated by this study. The preparation of regional plans depends on regional research; techniques of regional planning should be used. However, due to lack of data it is not possible to use them immediately. Empirical regional research should first be made to reveal regional structures of different planning regions.
In the formulation of regional plans, it is necessary to study the interregional trade relations. By creating unidirectional tariff walls, it is possible to help weaker regions to develop its economic base. The other alternative, i.e., to make huge investment is not desirable.
Although planning regions have been accepted as the most convenient areal units for regional planning in Nepal, Development region will offer itself as an adequate unit for integration. The main problem arises due to the hill – terai dichotomy. Development regions have in fact emerged because of this. When the ecological zones differ radically, integration becomes possible only through functional specialization and interdependency linkages. Integration ensures the wider participation of the people in development works through political consensus and concerted efforts. Although to specify what ought to be the interregional relations is an integral part of a prospective model, the economic base of many regions are feeble and the only relevant step available is to help weaker regions to build up their economic structures. For every region, it is necessary to ascertain certain activities that will make regional climate conducive to growth. It is a rational step to help regions develop their most productive activities. When different regions prefer the same activity most, the interest of a weaker region should be protected provided it has no alternative to build up its economy. Each planning region must build up its own economy. This is the only way that a poor and weak region can make a legitimate claim for its development. Integrated regional development program should, in fact, be based on such considerations. Such an approach while protecting the weaker regions, justifies a lion’s share of investments in more advanced regions as the benefits accrued from them will be made available even to the weaker regions. In the context of Nepal, this is the only choice that will integrate the terai region with the hill economy.
It becomes thus necessary to conceive of a national system comprising of the regional sub-systems where these sub-systems are closely interwoven thorough functional interrelations. Activity complex analysis of each region in their interregional settings will help to fix the priority of regional development efforts. For a self sustaining growth of any region, it is necessary to perceive how the region will establish strategic links with others, regional development depends upon a regions’ influence over the national system. Therefore an activity will be encouraged in a region only when its location in the region makes the region more vulnerable to interregional relationship and linkages and regional activities will be so conceived as to create highly interrelated sub-systems. Alternatively, a system where the regional interests and objectives are mutually consistent may be conceived of.
The process of development planning can be initiated from the top as well as from the bottom. But for an emerging country like Nepal, it should be done both from the top as well as from the bottom. If the first strategy is adopted by the time the efforts would be transmitted to grassroots level, everything will be dissipated. The other strategy will pose a formidable problem of assembling the smaller parts. The smaller parts when assembled together may give absurd results.
Feedback between different levels of planning is thus indispensable. Starting from the national economy, in order to double the per capita GDP within a period of two decades, different rates of growth for the four development regions considering regional equality and the national efficiency have been anticipated. The regional investments concomitant to these growth rates for different development regions have been computed for the period 1975/76 to 1994/95 using a simple econometric model. The analysis showed that equity and efficiency are conflicting goals. Eastern Development Region is the most productive region and Far-western Development Region is the least one. These investments will be allocated to the respective planning regions of each of the development regions. In doing so, the strategic activities in each of the planning regions are identified. They are given the topmost priority.
Equality will have meaning if all the regions have equal opportunity to develop and the poor like the rich are not denied the rights to the minimum necessities of life. Huge investments in the form of human capital and social services have been planned in the lagging regions.
Sectoral plans should be formulated at the level of planning regions as well. Infrastructural development should be the part and parcel of these plans. Three categories of infrastructure are identified – local infrastructure, regional infrastructure and national infrastructure. Regional plans should be prepared considering all these aspects. Such plans thus become the key instrument in the process of national integration.

With Nepal’s current Three Year Plan focusing on the environmentally friendly public buildings and green housing for the poor, urban planning is now a scheme needs to put a heavy focus on. Poor cities hold more potential and opportunities for green business as the sustainable construction and green development in general as they tend to have low energy demand.

Although there is no green building project being specifically included in the Government’s plan, there are attempts to enhance eco-friendly buildings within their urban planning through building system regulations as a whole. According to Dr. Jibgar Joshi, the President of RUPSON (Regional and Urban Planners’ Society of Nepal), various possibilities of green buildings in Nepal also exist due to its long tradition of sustainable architecture as shown by the medieval towns. He also shares more insight on the Nepal’s current urban condition through the following exclusive interview with AsiaGreenBuildings.com.

It is predicted that soon enough, non-environmental friendly urban development will be unable to thrive. With that in mind, what is the current status of the green city planning projects and policies in Nepal? What are the most recent changes?

For poorer cities with low energy use, it is relatively easier to promote the concept of green city and green building. With the consistent failure of conventional land use plans in the form of master plans, Nepal introduced integrated action planning (IAP) for towns and cities. This approach is highly popular among the municipalities. IAP generates two types of planning tools mutually integrated to address the need to promote sustainable development. The first is multi-sectoral investment plan (MSIP) that covers all the projects to satisfy the present needs of the people and the second is physical and environmental development plan (PEDP) that helps to sustain the ecological base of the city. Municipalities are required to prepare their periodic plans; and PEDP is their key building block.

Land pooling projects have helped to improve the urban environment. They provide infrastructure and service in a sustainable way. Upgrading of traditional towns like Bhaktapur is also in line with the sustainable development pathways. However, the duplicability of such concepts depends on whether they conflict with the market forces or not. For instance, the experience of Bhaktapur is not transferable to Kathmandu metropolis.

There are a number of eco-villages and healthy cities projects. The national policy has underscored the need to maintain balance in natural and cultural environment. Environment improvement programs have been implemented in several cities. The negative environmental and social impacts of uncontrolled housing and have been identified as a major challenge. The current Three Year Plan has focused on the development of safe, cost-effective and environment-friendly public buildings and housing for the poor. The goal is to mitigate the adverse effects of human activities and development works through the encouragement of the concept of green development.

Nepal has been in a transitional phase for long. One of the consequences of this has been further concentration of activities in the Kathmandu Valley. The development here is due to the concentration of the wealth as well as the stagnation in the outlying areas. Most of the activities of the political parties take place here and with this, the expenditure of the government has increased. The infrastructure and service conditions have not however met the growing demands. Failure to meet the increasing demand for infrastructure and services has led to incremental type of projects to somehow ease the crisis. This means initiatives on green development are presently lacking.

Among the urban planning projects in Nepal, are there any green building projects included? If not, how big is the probability for those kinds of projects to happen in Nepal?

There is no green building project specifically included among urban planning projects in Nepal. However, attempts are made in making any urban planning project environmentally friendly through regulating the building system as a whole. There are various possibilities of green buildings in Nepal due to its long tradition of sustainable architecture as shown by the medieval towns. These towns consume low energy; and are compact settlements with efficient use of land resources. They are cohesive as well as inclusive.

Urban planning practices in Nepal have invariably been based on sustainable approaches. Hardly had there been any conflicts of interests created through huge investments based on modern development. In fact, due to poverty and primitiveness, most unsustainable constructions were resisted persistently. It is only lately that modern constructions in the form of high-rise apartment buildings cropped up. However, these new developments are also presently facing crisis showing the relevance of the concept of green development. The neglect of environment has also made them economically infeasible.

What are the economic and social benefits of having environmentally friendly buildings both for individuals and companies?

There are many. For instance, they help to achieve not only ecological but also aesthetic harmony between the structure and its ambiance. They increase building efficiency and their use of resources, like water and energy. They also have less adverse impact on human health and the environment over the complete life cycle of the building — location, design, construction, operation. maintenance and demolition. They help to alleviate the negative impact of human activities on environment. Otherwise, curtailment of GHG emission has also become an economic necessity. Resources are becoming scarce for companies to sustain and a shift to green development is the only solution. Last but not least of all, this goes without saying, but the environment is both a means and an integral part of the social goods. Green building helps to save the environment in order to enhance the social good.
In your opinion, what are the main threats that blocks green buildings development – and green technology in general – in Nepal?

Being a very poor country, Nepal’s economic prosperity depends on the relationship with its big neighbors, India and China. Despite their spectacular economic growth, these countries are increasingly facing challenges in promoting green development and green buildings because of their rapid economic growth. This means these countries while helping Nepal in her pursuit for economic development will view Nepal as a convenient place to pass on more polluting activities and goods. This will impair the existing traditional potentials for green development in Nepal.

What’s more, Nepal is a low GHG emitter. As such, it is more concerned with adaptation to the consequences of climate change; and adaptation measures do not have to be environment-friendly. this sort of policy gap encourages a shift towards unsustainable life styles and behavioral changes and undermines the value of green development and green buildings.

Another threat is, the normal course of transformation of a primitive economy to a modern one has never been a sustainable one. With ever-increasing shortfall in urban infrastructure and services, the government is trying to cope with the emerging challenges by any means. This has become a major threat, as crisis management strategies are unlikely to be adequately sustainable.

What is the general vision of sustainable development, particularly regarding green buildings?

In my mind, green building is a powerful tool for sustaining the sustainable development pathways. Sustainable development is the development that integrates the growth, equity and environmental dimensions of development through a process of balancing these components with reference to the stage of development of a nation at a particular time through good governance. Given the poverty level, the vision of sustainable development for Nepal is economic growth and prosperity with due considerations to equity and environment so as to enhance the ability to sustain the economic growth for a longer period. One effective way of addressing this is to focus on green buildings where equity and environment are simultaneously addressed without having to lose anything as regards to economic growth.
The vision of sustainable development is to ensure sustained development through the integration and continuous balancing of the goals related to growth, equity, and environment through the promotion of good governance led by the people. Green building is an effective tool that has a potential to promote growth and equity without having to impair environment.

Abstract
The paper deals with the worsening condition of the environment in Kathmandu Valley. It gives an analysis of the transformation of the Valley; and identifies the causes in order to sustain its ecology and social system. It addresses how its identity and character have survived so far, It also looks into how the people and their culture are linked to the Valley’s economy, played a positive role in the wise use of its resources in the past. The Valley is urbanizing at a rapid pace. This has led to many environmental problems; and the needs of the increasing population could not be met. People leave their native villages and come here to get some kind of work in an informal setting. Their incomes are so small that they cannot afford most of the environmental services. This makes the environment deplorable for them to live or work. Most people in the valley had no access to adequate water and sanitation. With an increasing shortage of water, problems of solid waste management and poor road conditions have worsened the environment. The quality of life is declining due to pollution in terms of carbon emission, waste generation, noise, ugliness and dirt. This results in an increasing incidence of slums in the Valley. Hence the demand for a good local environment has increased.There is a tendency to locate modern activities in more pleasant areas.There are also differences in land values due to hedonic pricing. People get urban services in different ways. In the provision of these, the primary objective of the government is not to enhance the quality of environment as such. the paper examines why the provision of services has not improved the people’s living conditions. Despite huge investments in infrastructure, the needs of the people are not met. Nor has there been any increase in the physical assets to meet the future needs. It looks at alternative ways of providing services.It highlights the relevance of traditional ways that people used to manage their ambience.It works on how these can used to develop new areas while sustaining the ecological resources of the valley. The paper finally suggests measures for the revival of traditional ways of living and their integration to support the Valley level service networks.

www.hbp.usm.my/HBPConference/New_Folder2/icbedc08%20Website/AcceptedFullPapers/List%20of%20accepted%20fullpapers001

In this book, Dr Jibgar Joshi gives an account of some of the planning approaches that he has applied during the course of his long career. He has presented the concept of planning as a tool for making decisions in a wide spectrum of situations in a lucid and concise manner. The book is a comprehensive work on planning at different levels in Nepal. It provides a review of national planning since its inception. It deals with planning at sub-national levels; and stresses on the need for their integration with national planning. It explains the methods of project analysis in simple terms and gives details on how to make a plan. It also deals with environment and land use. It shows how infrastructure agencies should develop their business plans. One of its chapter deals with institutions. The book concludes with a discourse on the future of planning where he has shown concern for the need of making planning useful and relevant. For this, he has suggested measures to make planning strategic in order to enhance the social good.