NATIONAL 5 (Spotlight Weekly)]

Optimizing Choice

The city mulls new paradigms for equitable and sustainable revitalization

By AKSHAY SHARMA

Communities across the world are struggling against public decay, constantly developing ways of solving what has come to be known as the 'urban problem'. Amid all the gloom that has gripped our own experience, rays of hope are emerging.

Kathmandu Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) organized a meeting last week to help evolve strategies for improving living conditions in the capital. City planners have long stressed the need for a participatory approach.

KMC : Partnership for sustainability

"Underlying the majority of these programs is the conviction that no amount of government or private money will make much of a difference unless the people who now live in squatter settlements and other blighted areas take the lead in improving their living conditions," Akhtar A. Bashah writes in his book "Our Urban Future".

Our city authorities seem to be heeding that message. "Kathmandu is being rebuilt and revitalized. Take pride and participate," Mayor Keshab Sthapit said.

"I went to the people promising that I would revitalize Kathmandu. The residents have seen that we are capable of delivering and also realize that there is a lot more to be done," he said.

"Most of the challenges Kathmandu faces today are the result of unbalanced growth and inadequate investment. The city and the establishment should cope with the growth in population and the 13 percent increase of vehicles in the valley," according to an expert on urban planning.

Last week's meeting focused on ways of building a better Kathmandu. Padma Sundar Joshi, executive officer of the KMC, has the SNOT formula-which is strength, weakness, opportunity and trust.

"We began the program nine months ago. Experts discussed topics concerning the city's development strategy. And we have got so much feedback," Joshi said. The KMC has 10 researchers and 11 other employees engaged in the process of city revitalization, he said.

Addressing the meeting, Dr Harka Gurung said, "In 1969 the first study on an approach to the development of Kathmandu was undertaken." He was part of the team. "If the people in power then had done their jobs properly we would not have needed other strategies," he said.

The larger question is: How should a city be developed? Before villages were considered romantic, these visions arose from Western influence. "Our villages are still poor and the people there think that the cities are paved with gold. We should realize that the cities and remote areas are interconnected," said Dr Gurung.

The KMC, which has led an urban renewal effort for three years, feels it needs to distill what has worked from what has not. A set of lessons and strategies could prove to be a useful in the process of encouraging city-friendly activities.

A community can control its future. The members of the community are the only ones who can do that in the best way. But the people have to know specifically what direction they want their future to take. City officials are extending valuable support to figuring out a process.

"The KMC's main goal is to create the widest possible impact in making Kathmandu a liveable city and increasing its management capacities," a KMC expert said.

City officials stress the need to ensure that resources flows meet investment needs. At the wider level, the KMC also wants to make itself a competitive city in the world.

In his book, Bashah cites examples of communities, NGOs, government and private enterprises to show that the success of such initiatives depends on their comprehensive approach.

Proper support for these solutions would help ensure equity and sustainability in urban life.