Kathmandu Valley Urban Development
Effects Of Infrastructure Facilities

By Lekha Raj Bhandari

IN THE last 27 years the urban population in Nepal has increased 6 folds from about 0.46 million to about 2.9 million. Consumption demands has also increased as urban populations have dramatically increased over the years and will continue to grow at a breathtaking rate.

But cities are also engines of economic growth and centres of employment and opportunity, and a country’s economic and social prosperity depends on their functioning. Urban economies need to prosper by developing the capacities to supply goods and services for rural development. Similarly, rural development needs to build upon and maximally capitalize on meeting urban needs for rural products. In this way, pace in infrastructure development plays the significant role for urban development.

To achieve the opportunities for increasing employment input and saving social security possibilities for increasing the future investment, quality of education, availability of appropriate health services etc, the population pressure in Kathmandu valley is high in comparison to the other cities of Nepal. Without any sustainable infrastructure plans and programmes of urban services, many activities have led to the deterioration of environment which, to some extent, has been already pressured by Kathmandu Metropolitan City. The process of urban settlement in the Kathmandu valley has grown in such a way that it has created terrible heterogeneity and environmental complexities.

Infrastructure development is accorded high priority by the government. It is amply clear that the present unmet and projected future demand for infrastructure services, arising from the needs of a growing economy, will require efficient academic infrastructure professional for sustainable urban development. The government has, therefore, taken a number of initiatives for the development of efficient infrastructure and for creating an enabling environment for private participation and enhancing competition in the infrastructure sector.

Urban plans and programmes are designed just for short-term gain not for long-term and sustainable strategy.

There is a need of knowledgeable professional generalists in subjects ranging, for example, from ecology to economy and sociology, from sanitary and transport engineering to urban design and regional planning. Therefor, there are some crucial problems to integrate the knowledge in the infrastructure urban issues for long term sustainability. There is an essence of actual work to provide a minimum infrastructure development to give them solid intelligence and support to what they are doing in the city.

Most of the development projects and programmes in urban cities of Nepal especially Kathmandu valley have not strictly concentrated on addressing urban development problems and needs. They have not encouraged an institutional culture largely associated with sectoral approaches to infrastructure development. Sectoral approaches to development tend to direct resources towards development in isolation with little impact on people’s livelihood. These approaches may have made certain isolated impacts; however, improvements in the situation of urban poverty are not significant. Lack of focus on urban linkages and application of largely sectoral approaches to development have diverted development investments away from addressing the priority problems at the local level.

Sound planning and investment in infrastructure increase mobility and locational choices of households and business by making use of vacant land suitable for development and transport infrastructure improving mobility and reducing commuting times fostering an economic base in townships. Urban integration and the management of urban growth depend on effective land use planning incorporating the principles of Integrated Environmental Management and a well-functioning urban and regional planning system. This requires drastic reform in the current planning system.

Environmental management forms an integral part of this urban strategy. Housing, planning, infrastructure and other services all have a direct bearing on environmental quality and the health and well-being of urban residents and workers. In Kathmandu valley, it is, therefore, essential to manage development in these areas carefully so as to enhance and protect the quality of environment.

Much as decent living environments demand environmental awareness and actions, it will simply not be able to address the challenges of alleviating poverty and reconstruction and development if the urban environment is not managed. Environmental management in the context of urban development will be secured through land use planning, the support for international agreements, open space planning, community involvement, management of cultural assets, research and environmental education, pollution control and waste management.

Careful targeting is essential to ensure that basic infrastructure needs are met in a way the country can afford. The strict appraisal criteria applied by government structures at all levels and by parastatals are therefore necessary. Two realities need to be confronted: first, people need services and, second, service provision has to be expanded in an affordable manner.

Ongoing accelerated economic growth is expected to further increase growth of urban population. In spite of all the developmental efforts, the demand for urban basic services like safe drinking water supply, sanitation including management of solid and liquid waste, urban transport has by far outstripped the availability. The needs for improvement in the urban infrastructure have not been fully met and there has been a perceptible deterioration in urban environment. This challenging task needs for urban basic services and development of urban infrastructure will be addressed through decentralisation, innovative mechanisms for funding the urban basic services programme and also devising new methodologies for dealing with sub-sectoral issues in Kathmandu valley.

Lack of proper infrastructure facilities i.e. proper arrangement of drinking water, solid waste management, sanitation, communication facilities, electricity, adequate transport facilities, proper settlement strategies/plans, proper market settlement, appropriate growth/development of administrative centres, shows it is not possible for urban development. In this scenario, the urban infrastructure facilities, being a matter of significant concern, plays vital role in urban development. Likewise, infrastructure facilities directly affect the urban social indicators i.e. cultural, economic, religious, political, environmental, demographic and other material/non-materials facilities of the urban development.

Many plans and programmes failed due to the lack of the proper study of urban infrastructure facilities. Therefore, being very seriously burning periphery, it is necessary to study the causes and effects of urban infrastructure facilities in Kathmandu valley for urban development where the greatest problems of urban infrastructure facilities are found.

The time has already come for the urban infrastructure planner to find the proper infrastructure strategies for the solution of urban development and to materialise the national urban infrastructure policy. Hence, the infrastructure facilities, which try to give the solution of these problems, are very significant and time relevant for the solution of energy problems of the country.

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