Abstract
This chapter analyzes the origin and brief history of the Kathmandu Metropolitan Area (KMA), the national capital of Nepal, which forms the core of the nation’s most populous metropolitan area. It examines the urban primacy , urban land use/cover change patterns, and driving forces that influence the rapid urbanization of the KMA. In addition, it discusses the prospective implications of these elements for the future sustainable urban development of the metropolitan area. The KMA has been important economically, administratively, and politically for hundreds of years. During the past 25 years (1989–2014), the KMA has experienced tremendous growth that is expected to continue through 2030. These results suggest that the current urban development process is in a critical stage in which urban and fringe frontier areas will create unprecedented stress on land resources that will be manifested in river and forest ecosystems and other environmentally sensitive areas. These changes are driven by various interrelated physiographic as well as socioeconomic factors . Similar to many developing cities, the KMA has issues of poor management of urban expansion and infrastructure as well as disaster preparedness, resulting in environmental and socioeconomic consequences. However, possibilities are available for improving the urban environment and managing the potential land demands in the metropolitan area through the strict enforcement of sustainable urban development policies and changes in the current urbanization trend. The Gorkha earthquake on April 25, 2015, in Kathmandu has afforded an opportunity to revitalize the city. If such improvement measures are implemented, living conditions will be improved, enabling the KMA to become a world-class city.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
ADB/ICIMOD (2006) Environment assessment of Nepal: emerging issues and challenges. Kathmandu
Antrop M (2005) Why landscapes of the past are important for the future. Landscape Urban Planning 70:21–34
CBS (Central Bureau of Statistics) (2013) Statistical year book of Nepal. His Majesty’s Government of Nepal, Kathmandu
DoR (Department of Road) (2004) List of important roads and status. Road Statistics, Government of Nepal
Gyawali H (1997) A case study on municipal development fund in Nepal. Town Development Fund Board, Kathmandu
HMGN (His Majesty’s Government of Nepal) (1969) Physical development plan for the Kathmandu Valley. Department of Housing and Physical Planning, Kathmandu
HMGN (His Majesty’s Government of Nepal) (1991) Kathmandu Valley urban development plans and programmes. Department of Housing and Physical Planning, Kathmandu
ICIMOD (2007) Kathmandu Valley environment outlook. Kathmandu
IUCN (The World Conservation Union) (1999) Environmental planning and management of the Kathmandu Valley. His Majesty’s Government of Nepal, Ministry of Population and Environment, Kathmandu
Jha HK (1996) Hindu—Buddhist festivals of Nepal. Nirala Publications, New Delhi
Kobayashi M (2006) Social change in Kathmandu related with globalization and liberalization. Bulletin 44:23–38
KVMP (Kathmandu Valley Mapping Program) (2002) Technical note: integrated action planning. Kathmandu Valley Mapping Program, KVMP—TN10, Kathmandu
KVTDC (Kathmandu Valley Town Development Committee) (2002) Long term development concept of Kathmandu valley. Kathmandu Valley Urban Development Committee, Kathmandu
MUD (2015) National urban development strategy. Government of Nepal, Ministry of Urban Development
Portnov BA, Adhikari M, Schwartz M (2007) Urban growth in Nepal: does location matter? Urban Stud 44:915–937
Ranjitkar NG (1983) Change in agricultural land use and land value in urban fringe of Kathmandu City. Ph.D. Dissertation, Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, Tribhuvan University, Nepal
Regmi RR (1999) Dimension of Nepali society and culture. SAAN Research Institute, Kathmandu
Shah B (2003) Heritage conservation and planning new development in Bhaktapur, Nepal. In 6th US/ICOMOS international symposium on managing conflict & conservation in historic cities. Annapolis, Maryland, Apr 24–27
Thapa RB (2009) Spatial process of urbanization in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. Ph.D. Dissertation. Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
Thapa RB, Murayama Y (2008) Land evaluation for peri-urban agriculture using analytical hierarchical process and geographic information system techniques: a case study of Hanoi. Land Use Policy 25:225–239
Thapa RB, Murayama Y (2009) Examining spatiotemporal urbanization patterns in Kathmandu valley, Nepal: remote sensing and spatial metrics approaches. Remote Sens 1:534–556
Thapa RB, Murayama Y (2010) Drivers of urban growth in the Kathmandu valley, Nepal: examining the efficacy of the analytic hierarchy process. Appl Geogr 30:70–83
Thapa RB, Murayama Y (2012) Scenario based urban growth allocation in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. Landscape Urban Planning 105:140–148
Thapa RB, Murayama Y, Ale S (2008) Kathmandu. Cities 25:45–57
Acknowledgements
I wish to thank Ms. Shailja Ale for helping with field data collection in Kathmandu.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Thapa, R.B. (2017). Kathmandu Metropolitan Area. In: Murayama, Y., Kamusoko, C., Yamashita, A., Estoque, R. (eds) Urban Development in Asia and Africa. The Urban Book Series. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3241-7_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3241-7_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-3240-0
Online ISBN: 978-981-10-3241-7
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)