Political Economy of Urban Change in Kathmandu Valley: A Case From Southern Lalitpur Metropolitan City

Abstract

Urbanisation in Kathmandu Valley (KV), comprising the capital city Kathmandu, accelerated after the restoration of democracy in the 1990s, as the neoliberal economic policy adopted by the country opened doors for investments in infrastructure development. Urbanisation further accelerated during the Maoist insurgency and heightened after the conflict resolution in 2006 and since then, the country has gone through multiple (spatial, demographic, political, and economic) transitions. With better access to education, hospitals, jobs, businesses, politics, Kathmandu Valley attracts people from all over the country, resulting in the densification in the core cities and an uncontrolled urban sprawl thereby unplanned growth of built-up areas in the periphery. This paper, taking reference of Lalitpur Metropolitan City in the valley with a focus on Khokana (Ward 21) analyses (1) the trend of urbanisation in KV with a reference to urban growth and land use change and (2) examines the contradictions and contestations brought by the centrally planned development and constructional projects as part of the drivers of the urbanisation process in and around Khokana. We examine how the infrastructural imperatives and real estate boom is shifting the core to the periphery and the periphery again is transforming into a new core due to the expansion of capital and market. The planned infrastructural projects, additionally, have also increased the risk of delinking local communities from their land, which is the main cause of community dissatisfaction. We, therefore, conclude with the policy suggestion to ensure the participation of local people and prioritisation of urban development projects based on local needs to achieve a resilient tomorrow’s cities.

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