Project Report: Achieving a Green and Sustainable City in Kathmandu

This project report outlines a vision for transforming Kathmandu into a green and sustainable city by addressing challenges related to construction, human settlements, and transportation. The proposed plan encompasses improvements in transportation management through investment in public transit and pedestrian-friendly infrastructure, promoting compact urban forms with transit-oriented development to reduce reliance on automobiles and sprawl. It also focuses on water management strategies, including rainwater harvesting and wastewater recycling, alongside biodiversity and nature restoration efforts to enhance the city's ecological health. The plan emphasizes social interactions through the promotion of cultural heritage and community engagement, with a detailed schedule for short, mid, and long-term implementation, involving partnerships with private, governmental, and civil society sectors, and continuous evaluation and monitoring to ensure the project's success.

Running head: GREEN SUSTAINABLE CITY: KATHMANDU
Green Sustainable City: Kathmandu
Name of the University:
Name of the Student:
Authors Note:

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Table of Contents
Vision...............................................................................................................................................2
Plan Newly Developed....................................................................................................................2
Management Regarding Transportation..........................................................................................2
Public Transport...........................................................................................................................3
Pedestrian Transport (Cycle Orientation or Footpath)................................................................3
Redesigning Recent Urban Form.....................................................................................................4
Water Management..........................................................................................................................5
Biodiversity and Nature Restoration...............................................................................................6
Social Interactions...........................................................................................................................6
Schedule...........................................................................................................................................7
Partnerships......................................................................................................................................8
Evaluation and Monitoring..............................................................................................................8

2GREEN SUSTAINABLE CITY: KATHMANDU
Vision
The project report has a vision statement of analyzing the “Green sustainable city:
Kathmandu”.
Kathmandu is observed to be a capital city that needs several approaches related with
sustainable city development because of emerging construction activities, human settlements
along with increasing vehicle movements taking place. Modern along with sustainable urban
development can facilitate in attaining the developed vision. The vision of attaining a green
sustainable city can be ensured through better management of transportation, well developed
human settlement as well as system of land use, quantitative and qualitative water resource
availability along with taking into consideration nature and bio-diversity conservation.
Plan Newly Developed
The plans that are necessary in order to attain the stated vision might be fulfilled by
means of implementation of better transportation, management of land use, water management as
well as restoration of the biodiversity.
Management Regarding Transportation
Developed as well as wealthy cities located in Kathmandu are observed to be involved in
increased levels of automobile use along with that they are also observed to struggle to deal with
huge social, economic along with environmental expenses. There is an increased dependency of
people on automobile within the Kathmandu valley. The aim of the project is to encourage
decreasing the dependency on automobile through investing within the infrastructure of public
transport along with encouraging the orientation of the pedestrian. With an increased focus on

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the street design, it is also ensured that such design must encompass certain features that
particularly support pedestrian access, amenities along with effective operations.
Public Transport
It is considered by the project to invest within transit infrastructure that can facilitate in
organizing the city along with simplifying the traffic issues. For example, the project will
consider developing “walking cities” in order to develop an effective speedy bus way or railway
stations. The overall fraction of private vehicles will be lessened through imposing sales taxes on
petrol or new car purchases, registration charges, import tariffs, fees related with driver training,
license along with parking of cars fees (Pucher and Buehler, 2010). “Electric Buss Rapid Transit
(BRT)” along with light railway stations as well as subway will be encouraged. These will be
easy, cost efficient and will also have the ability to transport a huge fraction of passengers in an
eco-friendly manner (Pardo, 2010). This will also eliminate crowded transport and in the
upcoming years transportation density is estimated to decrease in Kathmandu.
Pedestrian Transport (Cycle Orientation or Footpath)
The objective of this transport system is to offer equitable, efficient along with a human
way of active transportation that will facilitate in developing a city of effective walking, cycling
provision on the streets as well as public spaces that will encourage developing traffic-free
shopping areas. According to Pucher and Buehler (2010) the sidewalks as well as pedestrian
plazas can facilitate in developing walking areas that will also include comfortable benches,
attractive paving, outdoor café, shade trees, fountains, public art as well as street musicians. For
this reason, the major focus will be on developing a separate waking space along with cycling
routes following the idea of Pucher and Buehler (2010) that will encourage people for walking.
Orientation of the pedestrian spaces can also generate public health advantages through

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decreasing overuse of vehicles that can affect air, water and can also cause noise pollution along
with increasing traffic at a level of high danger (Pucher and Buehler 2010).
Redesigning Recent Urban Form
In the current years, Kathmandu is gathered to have haphazard settlements and such
constructions results in high population growth that is moving outside the city area (as indicated
in figure 5). Increase use of land area at decreased density also generates vehicle dependence and
this project will motivate people to reside within eco-friendly developed apartments for
decreasing population spreading outside the city along with implementing transit-oriented
approach of development (TOD). For instance, strategic densification with achieving an effective
public transport like rail along with BRT stations is deemed to decrease the peripheral expansion
and promoting population intensification can develop the opportunity for transit and walking city
(Study Guide, 2019). Overall, such compact urban forms bring certain destinations closer
together that includes shops, houses community services as well as certain other urban resources.
This favors accessibility instead of mobility along with supporting walking, public transport as
well as cycling (Pardo, 2010). It also decreases use of valuable agricultural land along with
biodiversity on the edge of the cities.
The redesigned suburban form will include household along with neighborhood friendly
practices that focuses on decreasing excessive consumption of suburban water and energy and
will also consider recycling construction waters through employing eco-friendly construction
materials.
In order to safeguard biodiversity along with environment such plan will focus on
developing landscape in the form of buildings, public space as well as balconies. In addition such

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public spaces can also be developed with certain important features including street furniture,
water, playgrounds and gardens. Rather than controlling the flow of water employing concrete
structures, the city “Kathmandu” will develop natural drainage systems. In such system, the
riverbanks will be transformed into parks in which overflowing water might be absorbed within
the soil. In addition, the lakes will also be developed to include floodwaters. Flooding of
rainwater and river might be naturally held within lakes and parks nearby the lakes (Suzuki et al.,
2010).
Water Management
Shortage of water will be addressed by means of certain sources like private water tank
valley, stone sprouts, well, boring or extraction of private water ground along with hand pumps.
Conversely, alternative options in decreasing demand-supply deficit within the valley can also
reduce the stress on certain groundwater resources like urban center development outside the
valley, optimum land use planning for likely recharge, introduction of macro and micro level
rainwater harvesting structures as well as management of water demand. Water collected from
the hilly areas of adequate quality used in drinking purpose can be harvested with community-
based management of water resources that can be used along with ground and surface water
within the valley. Strategies focused on saving and reusing water along with avoiding wastage
might also be developed at a household level. The wastewater and waste products treatment
along with recycling system will be developed. Conversely, as the operation as well as treatment
plants maintenance will be costly and there might also be certain risks of water contamination by
distribution channel proprietary, it will be considered to develop energy efficient, small scale and
effective systems for water treatment linked with local conditions.

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Biodiversity and Nature Restoration
Nature is observed to offer several spiritual, emotional along health benefits to the
localities of the cities. Nature in Kathmandu will provide wellbeing assurance that will be
wondrous and will also encouraged living attentive to the natural scenic beauty around the city.
The major focus of this project will be to develop a biophilic city (Beatley, 2014). In the
biophilic city all the residents live in a natural surrounding (the bio), rather than just the nature
and are “actively involved within the learning process where they care and enjoy for nature
surrounding them. The city will also facilitate in developing emotional connections with the
environmental surrounding (the philic)” (Beatley, 2014). The natural drainage structure will be
developed in a manner that it safeguards the biodiversity along with encouraging development of
a green city. Implementation of tree plantation project will be considered in the city and all
around forest. The sustenance of greenery along with promoting the health of ecosystem will
consider offering residents with fresh air while walking through the streets along with promising
them to offer clean drinking water that will a major focus of the plan. Recovering environmental
greenery within a busy area along with promoting urban forestry can serve as a plan in restoring
biodiversity as well as safeguarding ecosystem for maintaining human health.
Social Interactions
Social engagement and interactions relied on proximity offers a high chance of knowing
individuals along with sharing thoughts that are important in encouraging a community
developing sense. It also supports the residents to feel that they are a part of community by
means of membership, networking as well as shared emotional connections. For re-developing
the community interactions with the ecotourism sector of the city, promotion of the heritage sites

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is necessary that are listed within world heritage sites. The cultural heritage will be encouraged
within a domestic marketplace in which individuals can have business and everyday connections.
Schedule
The decided plans are segmented into short, mid and long term plans and the schedule for
such plans is to develop sustainable green city Kathmandu that is indicated below:
Short Term Plans Mid Term Plans Long Term Plans
 Imposing higher tax on
all private vehicles
 Encouraging bicycles
and pedestrians as an
alternative of vehicles
 Increasing public
awareness regarding
harmful effects of
vehicles on the
surrounding
 Decreasing the
roadside
infrastructures
 Distribution channel
maintainice and repair
 Micro level rainwater
 Maintainice and repair
of pedestrian streets
within the cities
 Shifting slums to
apartments
 Encouraging use of
biodegradable and
recyclable materials
 Increasing fraction of
public electric
automobiles and
decreasing distance
between transit stations
 Development and
landscaping of river
banks within parks
 Transforming road
design
 Providing an increased
space for pedestrians
long with greenery
surroundings
 Developing biophilic
city
 Reserving and
restoring biodiversity
and ecosystem
 Recognition and plan
for new water
resources
 Communities and
housing developed in

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harvesting system
implementation at a
local level
 Awareness initiatives
in saving and reusing
water along with
avoiding its wastage
 Improving surrounding
of parks in the city as
well as in forest
 Developing water
purification plants as
well as reservoir
 Urban forestry
development
 Managing natural
drainage flow and
planting tress
 Implementing macro
level technique of
rainwater harvesting
an eco-friendly way
 Eliminating the private
and public vehicles
and encouraging
electric trains and BRT
Partnerships
Partnership with the private sector, government along with other civil society community
can facilitate in attaining environmentally effective and resource efficient production patterns,
sustainable lifestyles, circular economy as well as environmental services such as “United
Nations Environmental Program”. Participation of the private sector by several mechanisms like
public-private partnerships can support in enhancing the investment level as well as urban
environmental management efficiency.
Evaluation and Monitoring
Evaluation and monitoring will be ensured after the planning phase and prior to the
design phase of a program in order to analyze the performance, future plan guidance as well as
responsibility towards the investors and the stakeholders. The baseline supervision will be

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organized in order to analyze the likability of the long, short and midterm plans. Monitoring post
implementation will be carried out in analyzing short duration plans for designing the mid and
the long term plans. SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis will be
carried out prior to the implementation of mid and long term plans. The projects will be
developed after the evaluation and implementation as well as evaluation of the short term plans.
Cost benefit analysis will also be carried out in making financial projection. Conversely, every
stakeholder is accountable for monitoring and evaluation of these plans. All the feedback
attained from the community as well as stakeholders will be evaluated and implemented within
such plans.

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