POLITICAL ECONOMY OF URBAN CHANGE IN KATHMANDU VALLEY: A CASE FROM SOUTHERN LALITPUR METROPOLITAN CITY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53037/na.v7i1.75Keywords:
capital and market, core and periphery, contestations, neoliberal urbanism, tomorrow’s cities, urban governanceAbstract
Urbanisation in Kathmandu Valley (KV), comprising the capital city Kathmandu, accelerated after the restoration of democracy in the 1990s, as the neoliberal economic policy adopted by the country opened doors for investments in infrastructure development. Urbanisation further accelerated during the Maoist insurgency and heightened after the conflict resolution in 2006 and since then, the country has gone through multiple (spatial, demographic, political, and economic) transitions. With better access to education, hospitals, jobs, businesses, politics, Kathmandu Valley attracts people from all over the country, resulting in the densification in the core cities and an uncontrolled urban sprawl thereby unplanned growth of built-up areas in the periphery. This paper, taking reference of Lalitpur Metropolitan City in the valley with a focus on Khokana (Ward 21) analyses (1) the trend of urbanisation in KV with a reference to urban growth and land use change and (2) examines the contradictions and contestations brought by the centrally planned development and constructional projects as part of the drivers of the urbanisation process in and around Khokana. We examine how the infrastructural imperatives and real estate boom is shifting the core to the periphery and the periphery again is transforming into a new core due to the expansion of capital and market. The planned infrastructural projects, additionally, have also increased the risk of delinking local communities from their land, which is the main cause of community dissatisfaction. We, therefore, conclude with the policy suggestion to ensure the participation of local people and prioritisation of urban development projects based on local needs to achieve a resilient tomorrow’s cities.
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Nepal, P., Khanal, N.R., Zhang, Y., Paudel, B. & Liu, L., 2020. Land use policies in Nepal: An overview. Land Degradation & Development, 31, pp.2203-2212.
NPC, 2019. Guidelines for the nationally prioritized project 2019. National Planning Commission, Government of Nepal. Available at: https://www.npc.gov.np/images/category/national_priority_guideline.pdf
NRB, 2011. A Report on real estate financing in Nepal: A case study of Kathmandu valley. Nepal Rastra Bank, Government of Nepal.
NRB, 2018. Financial stability report. Nepal Rastra Bank, Government of Nepal.
Panta, P.R. and Dangol, D., 2009. Kathmandu valley profile: Briefing paper prepared for governance and infrastructure development challenges in the Kathmandu valley workshop, 11-13 February 2009. Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Nepal.
Paudel, B., Pandit, J. and Reed, B.F., 2012. Fragmentation and conversion of agriculture land in Nepal and land use policy. MPRA Paper 58880, University Library of Munich, Germany. .
Pokharel, R.R., 2020. Social inclusion of jyapus in newar community. Patan Pragya, 7(1), pp.210-221. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3126/pragya.v7i1.35219.
Portnov, B.A., Adhikari, M. and Schwartz, M., 2007. Urban growth in Nepal: Does location matter? Urban Studies, 44, pp.915-937.
Poudel, D.P., Ensor, J. and Barcena, A., 2021. Production of risks and local risk governance in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. Tomorrow’s Cities working paper, Southasia Institute of Advanced Studies (SIAS): Kathmandu.
Ratopati, 2022. Chapter closed for outer ringroad in present allignment (in Nepali). Ratopati, [online] 26 June, 2022. Available at: https://ratopati.com/story/247764/2022/6/26/outer-ringroad?fbclid=IwAR2ukvVn6syO2Q1CbevQAUCM7yQuOsObYZgE_mzW2zZEOXyJxYcOZ5EZDfo.
Rimal, B., Sloan, S., Keshtkar, H., Sharma, R., Rijal, S.A. and Shrestha, U.B., 2020. Patterns of historical and future urban expansion in Nepal. Remote Sensing, 12, p.628.
Sharma, M.M., 2009. Realty business grows across major cities migration by choice, Force Spurs Transactions. Republica, [online] 11 October 2009. Available at: https://www.ceslam.org/news/238.
Shrestha, B., 2011. The land development boom in Kathmandu valley. International Land Coalition.
Shrestha, B.K., 2010. Housing provision in the Kathmandu valley public agency and private sector initiation. Urbani Izziv, 21, pp.85-95.
Shrestha, B.K., 2013. Implementing the proposed outer ring road in Kathmandu valley. Journal of Management and Development Studies, 25, pp.23-38.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2021. Neoliberalism. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP). Available at: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/neoliberalism/.
Subedi, B.P., 2010. Ethnic/caste diversification in Kathmandu metropolitan: Changing social landscape of a capital city. Journal of Geography and Regional Planning, 3, pp.185-199.
Swyngedouw, E., Moulaert, F. and Rodriguez, A., 2002. Neoliberal urbanisation in Europe: Large–scale urban development projects and the new urban policy. Antipode, 34, pp.542-577.
Thapa, R. and Murayama, Y., 2010. Drivers of urban growth in the Kathmandu valley, Nepal: Examining the efficacy of the analytic hierarchy process. Applied Geography, 30, pp.70-83.
Thapa, R.B., 2009. Spatial process of urbanszation in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. PhD, University of Tsukuba.
Thapa, R.B. and Murayama, Y., 2012. Scenario based urban growth allocation in Kathmandu valley, Nepal. Landscape and Urban Planning, 105 (1-2), pp.140-148.
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Timsina, N.P., Shrestha, A., Poudel, D.P. and Upadhyaya, R., 2020. Trend of urban growth in Nepal with a focus in Kathmandu valley: A review of processes and drivers of change. Tomorrow’s Cities working paper, Southasia Institute of Advanced Studies (SIAS): Kathmandu.
Toffin, G., 2010. Urban fringes: Squatter and slum settlements in the Kathmandu valley (Nepal). Contributions to Nepalese Studies (CNAS/TU), 37(2), pp.151-`68.
UNDESA, 2014. World urbanization prospects: The 2014 revision. New York: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division.
UNESCO, 2022. Khokana, the vernacular village and its mustard-oil seed industrial heritage. UNESCO World Heritage Centre 1992-2022. Available at: https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/844/.
Upreti, B.R., Breu, T. and Ghale, Y., 2017. New challenges in land use in Nepal: Reflections on the booming real-estate sector in Chitwan and Kathmandu valley. Scottish Geographical Journal, 133, pp.69-82.
Upreti, B.R., Sharma, S.R. and Basnet, J., 2008. Land politics and conflict in Nepal: Realities and potentials for agrarian transformation, Kathmandu, Community Self Reliance Centre, Human and Natural Resources Studies Centre, Kathmandu University and South Asia Regional Coordination Office of NCCR North-South).
USAID, 1986. Kathmandu valley: Urban land policy study. Prepared by: PADCO, Inc. and submitted to His Majesty’s Government of Nepal and US Agency for International Development. USA.
Vives Miró, S., 2011. Producing a “successful city”: Neoliberal urbanism and gentrification in the tourist city—the case of Palma (Majorca). Urban Studies Research, 2011.
Basnet, J. and Dahal, K., 2020. Compensation hinders development: Disagreement over compensation restricts the construction of the transmission line for 21 years, compensation expenses three times the cost of the airport (in Nepali). Naya Patrika, [online] 29 September 2020. Available at: https://www.nayapatrikadaily.com/news-details/52077/2020-09-29
Bohra-Mishra, P. and Massey, D.S., 2011. Individual decisions to migrate during civil conflict. Demography, 48, pp.401–424.
Brenner, N. and Theodore, N., 2002. Cities and geographies of actually existing neoliberalism. Antipode, 34, pp.349-379.
Brenner, N. and Theodore, N., 2005. Neoliberalism and the urban condition. City, 9, pp.101-107.
CBS, 2011. National population and housing census 2011 (National Report). Kathmandu, Nepal: Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).
CBS, 2021. Preliminary findings of population census 2021. Kathmandu: Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Government of Nepal.
Duménil, G. and Lévy, D., 2004. Capital resurgent: Roots of the neoliberal revolution, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press.
Faust, A., Castro-Wooldridge, V. and Chitrakar, B., 2020. Land pooling in Nepal: From planned urban “Islands” to city transformation. ADB, Phillipines.
Galès, P.L., 2016. Neoliberalism and urban change: Stretching a good idea too far? Territory, Politics, Governance, 4, pp.154-172.
GoN, 2015. Constitution of Nepal 2015. Kathmandu: Government of Nepal.
GoN/NTNC, 2009. Bagmati Action Plan (2009-2024). Kathmandu: Government of Nepal. Available at: https://un.info.np/Net/NeoDocs/View/7697#:~:text=The%20Bagmati%20Action%20Plan%20(BAP,Shivapuri%20hill%20to%20Katuwal%20Daha.
Greentick Management Consultant, 2021. Current scenario of real estate in Nepal. Available at: https://gtn.com.np/2021/02/current-scenario-of-real-estate-in-nepal/
Harvey, D., 1989. From managerialism to entrepreneurialism: The transformation in urban governance in late capitalism. Geografiska Annaler. Series B, Human Geography, 71, pp.3-17.
Harvey, D., 2005. A Brief history of neoliberalism, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Harvey, D., 2013. Rebel cities: From the right to the city to the urban revolution, London, Verso.
Ishtiaque, A., Shrestha, M. and Chhetri, N., 2017. Rapid urban growth in the Kathmandu valley, Nepal: Monitoring land use land cover dynamics of a Himalayan city with landsat imageries. Environments, 4, p.72.
Kantipur, 2022. 10 of the 11 packages of fast track project to be contracted by April (in Nepali). Kantipur, [online] 9 February, 2022. Available at: https://ekantipur.com/business/2022/02/09/164439784717621283.html.
Karki, S., 2019. Kathmandu valley to get four smart cities in five years. Khabarhub, [online] 25 August, 2019. Available at: https://english.khabarhub.com/2019/25/40175/.
Khatiwada, B., 2022. Prioritized budget allocation to new cities (in Nepali). Kantipur Daily, [online] 28 May, 2022. Available at: https://ekantipur.com/business/2022/05/28/165370209182126772.html?fbclid=IwAR1M-Nl3AiK4eOrQJi4uGDLm3tJtOf8lpbExlW689BmJhs17orBJDI8Ugyc.
Kirkpatrick, L. and Smith, M., 2011. The infrastructural limits to growth: Rethinking the urban growth machine in times of fiscal crisis. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 35, pp.477-503.
KVDA, 2016. Vision 2035 and beyond: 20 Years strategic development master plan (2015-2035) for Kathmandu Valley. Kathmandu Valley Development Authority, Government of Nepal.
Lokantar, 2018. Making Nepali cities smart. Lokantar, [online] 6 March, 2018. Available at https://english.lokaantar.com/news/detail/10902/.
Madden, D. J., 2021. Disaster urbanisation: The city between crisis and calamity. Sociologica, 15, pp. 91-108.
Manandhar, S., 2018. Fast track brings fear of displacement to Khokana. The Record, [online] 19 March 2018. Available at: https://www.recordnepal.com/fast track-brings-fear-of-displacement-to-khokana.
MoUD, 2017. National urban development strategy (NUDS), Part B Detailed document. Ministry of Urban Development, Government of Nepal.
National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, 2016. Project for investigation of damage situation of cultural heritage of Nepal. JICA. Tokyo Available at: https://www.tobunken.go.jp/japanese/publication/pdf/Nepal_TNRICP_2017_eng.pdf
Nepal, P., Khanal, N.R., Zhang, Y., Paudel, B. & Liu, L., 2020. Land use policies in Nepal: An overview. Land Degradation & Development, 31, pp.2203-2212.
NPC, 2019. Guidelines for the nationally prioritized project 2019. National Planning Commission, Government of Nepal. Available at: https://www.npc.gov.np/images/category/national_priority_guideline.pdf
NRB, 2011. A Report on real estate financing in Nepal: A case study of Kathmandu valley. Nepal Rastra Bank, Government of Nepal.
NRB, 2018. Financial stability report. Nepal Rastra Bank, Government of Nepal.
Panta, P.R. and Dangol, D., 2009. Kathmandu valley profile: Briefing paper prepared for governance and infrastructure development challenges in the Kathmandu valley workshop, 11-13 February 2009. Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Nepal.
Paudel, B., Pandit, J. and Reed, B.F., 2012. Fragmentation and conversion of agriculture land in Nepal and land use policy. MPRA Paper 58880, University Library of Munich, Germany. .
Pokharel, R.R., 2020. Social inclusion of jyapus in newar community. Patan Pragya, 7(1), pp.210-221. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3126/pragya.v7i1.35219.
Portnov, B.A., Adhikari, M. and Schwartz, M., 2007. Urban growth in Nepal: Does location matter? Urban Studies, 44, pp.915-937.
Poudel, D.P., Ensor, J. and Barcena, A., 2021. Production of risks and local risk governance in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. Tomorrow’s Cities working paper, Southasia Institute of Advanced Studies (SIAS): Kathmandu.
Ratopati, 2022. Chapter closed for outer ringroad in present allignment (in Nepali). Ratopati, [online] 26 June, 2022. Available at: https://ratopati.com/story/247764/2022/6/26/outer-ringroad?fbclid=IwAR2ukvVn6syO2Q1CbevQAUCM7yQuOsObYZgE_mzW2zZEOXyJxYcOZ5EZDfo.
Rimal, B., Sloan, S., Keshtkar, H., Sharma, R., Rijal, S.A. and Shrestha, U.B., 2020. Patterns of historical and future urban expansion in Nepal. Remote Sensing, 12, p.628.
Sharma, M.M., 2009. Realty business grows across major cities migration by choice, Force Spurs Transactions. Republica, [online] 11 October 2009. Available at: https://www.ceslam.org/news/238.
Shrestha, B., 2011. The land development boom in Kathmandu valley. International Land Coalition.
Shrestha, B.K., 2010. Housing provision in the Kathmandu valley public agency and private sector initiation. Urbani Izziv, 21, pp.85-95.
Shrestha, B.K., 2013. Implementing the proposed outer ring road in Kathmandu valley. Journal of Management and Development Studies, 25, pp.23-38.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2021. Neoliberalism. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP). Available at: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/neoliberalism/.
Subedi, B.P., 2010. Ethnic/caste diversification in Kathmandu metropolitan: Changing social landscape of a capital city. Journal of Geography and Regional Planning, 3, pp.185-199.
Swyngedouw, E., Moulaert, F. and Rodriguez, A., 2002. Neoliberal urbanisation in Europe: Large–scale urban development projects and the new urban policy. Antipode, 34, pp.542-577.
Thapa, R. and Murayama, Y., 2010. Drivers of urban growth in the Kathmandu valley, Nepal: Examining the efficacy of the analytic hierarchy process. Applied Geography, 30, pp.70-83.
Thapa, R.B., 2009. Spatial process of urbanszation in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. PhD, University of Tsukuba.
Thapa, R.B. and Murayama, Y., 2012. Scenario based urban growth allocation in Kathmandu valley, Nepal. Landscape and Urban Planning, 105 (1-2), pp.140-148.
The Himalayan Times, 2019. Locals obstruct transmission line tower work in Khokana. [online] 3 May, 2019. Available at: https://thehimalayantimes.com/business/locals-obstruct-transmission-line-tower-work-in-khokana.
The Kathmandu Post, 2018. Smart city initiatives. [online] 13 July, 2018. Available at: https://kathmandupost.com/opinion/2018/07/20/smart-city-initiatives.
Timsina, N.P., Shrestha, A., Poudel, D.P. and Upadhyaya, R., 2020. Trend of urban growth in Nepal with a focus in Kathmandu valley: A review of processes and drivers of change. Tomorrow’s Cities working paper, Southasia Institute of Advanced Studies (SIAS): Kathmandu.
Toffin, G., 2010. Urban fringes: Squatter and slum settlements in the Kathmandu valley (Nepal). Contributions to Nepalese Studies (CNAS/TU), 37(2), pp.151-`68.
UNDESA, 2014. World urbanization prospects: The 2014 revision. New York: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division.
UNESCO, 2022. Khokana, the vernacular village and its mustard-oil seed industrial heritage. UNESCO World Heritage Centre 1992-2022. Available at: https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/844/.
Upreti, B.R., Breu, T. and Ghale, Y., 2017. New challenges in land use in Nepal: Reflections on the booming real-estate sector in Chitwan and Kathmandu valley. Scottish Geographical Journal, 133, pp.69-82.
Upreti, B.R., Sharma, S.R. and Basnet, J., 2008. Land politics and conflict in Nepal: Realities and potentials for agrarian transformation, Kathmandu, Community Self Reliance Centre, Human and Natural Resources Studies Centre, Kathmandu University and South Asia Regional Coordination Office of NCCR North-South).
USAID, 1986. Kathmandu valley: Urban land policy study. Prepared by: PADCO, Inc. and submitted to His Majesty’s Government of Nepal and US Agency for International Development. USA.
Vives Miró, S., 2011. Producing a “successful city”: Neoliberal urbanism and gentrification in the tourist city—the case of Palma (Majorca). Urban Studies Research, 2011.
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2022-08-25
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“POLITICAL ECONOMY OF URBAN CHANGE IN KATHMANDU VALLEY: A CASE FROM SOUTHERN LALITPUR METROPOLITAN CITY” (2022) New Angle: Nepal journal of social science and public policy, 7(1), pp. 11–31. doi:10.53037/na.v7i1.75.
