Urbanisation
Mounting Problems

By Khilendra Basnyat

NEPAL is one of the less urbanised countries of the world. With the exception of the Kathmandu valley, urbanisation in other parts of the country is almost non-existent.

In addition to the natural increase in urban population, population increase through the reclassification of new places as urban centres, migration and the annexation of rural areas into urban territories have contributed to urban population growth.

In fact, the fertility rate, infant mortality rate and crude death rate are all low in our urban areas. If all other variables are held constant, the urban population should increase at a lower rate than the rural population. For estimating the annual urban population growth rates, only the localities that were classified as urban in all of the censuses were considered.

In the 1954 census, there were only ten urban centres and only 2.8 per cent of the total population was residing in urban centres. One of these urban centres, with more than three-quarters of the urban population, was located in the Kathmandu valley.

In 1961, more centres were incorporated into the town panchayats. Thus, the urban population in 1981 doubled the urban population of 1971. The urban population was 6.4 per cent on the total population in 1981.

In 1987, ten more centres were incorporated, thereby increasing the total number of town panchayat to thirty-three.

In the 1991 census, these thirty-three designated urban centres consisted of about 9.2 per cent of Nepal’s population. Although the rate of urban population growth during the past four decades has been faster than the rate of total population growth in the country, the total urban population has still remained low as compared to other South Asian Countries.

In reality, the urban population growth has not been uniform in all cities of Nepal. In the 1950s, the eastern and central tarai had the highest population growth. For example, the population of Biratnagar (eastern tarai) increased its 1952-1954 population more than three times, followed by Nepalgunj and Janakpur.

In the 1960s, Pokhara had the highest increase, followed by Janakpur and Rajbiraj. The overall urban growth in the 1960s was caused largely by the addition of new towns or urban centres during that period.

From 1950 to 1990 the Kathmandu valley gained only modest increase in urban population. It no longer holds the large share of that total urban population of the 1950s. Presently, the valley comprises about thirty-five per cent of the nationally urban population.

Lifetime migrants from all regions to the urban areas comprised about twelve per cent of the total migrants in 1971, and most of them came from the Middle Mountain.

In 1981, lifetime rural to urban migrants comprised about twenty per cent of the total urban population and twenty-seven per cent of the tarai urban population.

The urban centres in the tarai were the destination of most of the total interregional urban migrants, followed by the Kathmandu Valley.

More than fifty per cent of the migrants from all regions went to the tarai urban centres, contributing about twenty per cent of the increase in tarai urban population. Apart from this, rural-urban migration contributed the largest share to the total urban population growth in the tarai and the lowest in the Kathmandu Valley.

More than forty-two per cent of the urban population in the tarai urban centres were lifetime migrants either from other parts of Nepal or from foreign countries, particularly India.

The proportion of foreign-born and native-born migrants constitutes only nine and half per cent of the valley and sixteen per cent of the Middle Mountains.

Although the foreign-born population in the 1981 census showed a decline, a survey conducted by the National Population Commission found that both the internal and external migration in the tarai urban centres were on the rise. According to this study, the foreign-born population in the tarai was increasing at the rate of 4.2 per cent per annum, and the destination of about fifty per cent of these immigrants was the tarai urban centres.

Actually, more than eighty-four per cent of the total foreign-born population living in urban areas is found in the tarai. The proportion of foreign-born and native-born migrants together constitutes only nine and half per cent of the valley and sixteen and half per cent of the Middle Mountains.

Newly incorporated urban centres and the centres located along the foothill such as Dharan, Hetauda and Butwal show a high percentage of migrant population in comparison to other older urban centres.

The reclassification or addition of new urban centers is another significant variable in the urban population growth. This is testified by the fact that the population of reclasified urban centres constituted 8.9, 13.2, 16.8 and 46.9 percentages of the total urban population in 1961, 1971, 1981 and 1991, respectively.

Although many of these urban centres cover large areas, a fraction of their territories are built up as urban areas. This may change the size of the urban population and influence the density of population in some urban centres.

Environmental conditions, especially in urban areas, are a source of serious concern since urban populations are particularly exposed to the combined effect of air and water pollution, lack of water supply, problems of waste disposal and derelict land, noise and congestion. These problems are accompanied by lack of open space and greenery, in certain cases, a decay of the built environment.

Despite the fact that urbanisation is steady in our country, the concerned authorities should make appropriate urban planning so that we may not encounter mounting problems in the years to come.

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