Finns collaborate to design Nepal´s urban dev model

Finnish companies will collaborate to design a new urban area for more than half a million inhabitants in the Kathmandu Valley in accordance with the principles of sustainable development.

Rapid population growth and environmental problems require that new solutions are developed for construction, transport, energy production, and water and waste management. Urbanisation also enables Nepal to develop economically, and this project will steer the growth in a sustainable direction, said a press release of the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.

"The population growth and urbanisation of the region are challenges that require a rapid and sustainable solution. This project is aimed at finding new means that support the settlement of the growing population into new areas in accordance with the principles of sustainable development even in a short timetable. At the moment, only 20% of Nepal's population live in cities, but this project alone may increase the population of the capital by about a million people," said Senior Scientist Pekka Tuominen of VTT.

The companies responsible for the development and planning of the new urban area are Helin & Co Architects and the Nepalese engineering firm JK Associates. VTT is involved in the project in an expert role.

"In terms of its goals and scale, the project is unique in Nepal and has also global significance, because the area being planned is quite large and because the urban planning solutions developed in the project will show way for sustainable urban development in developing countries worldwide. We will show how the unofficial expansion of cities without a city plan could be steered more effectively, economically and sustainably into well-designed new areas", architect Mariitta Helineva from Helin & Co said.

"The population of the project's target area is expected to grow to about 650,000 within 20 years and almost to one million within the next 50 years", Helineva added.

The new urban area, extending over 52 km², is being planned in the area of the Kathmandu Valley. It has currently approximately 130,000 inhabitants living in mainly agricultural communities. The population of the entire Kathmandu Valley is expected to grow to four million by 2020.

The target area lies on the northern side of Bhaktapur, the old capital of the country and a UNESCO world heritage site. The delicate nature and cultural-historically valuable monuments of both Hinduism and Buddhism make the design work particularly challenging. The Finnish planning made in accordance with the principles of sustainable development takes into account both the local circumstances and the latest technology by such means as combining traditional ways of construction and life to modern urban planning. The ways of life and livelihoods typical of the area will be maintained by preserving agricultural land and enabling small-scale urban farming in the built area.

VTT will draw up the project's technical and economic evaluation that will serve as a basis for weighing the viability of the project and its impacts on the local economy and the standard of living of local people.