887 open spaces in the Valley

Kathmandu, Oct. 31, 2015:

The Kathmandu Valley has 887 open spaces, the size of more than a hundred Tundikhel grounds.

According to a recent study conducted by the National Society for Earthquake Technology –Nepal (NSET), urban and semi-urban areas in the Valley have altogether 30,216 ropanis of open space, of which an area of 18,878 ropanis is usable during emergencies.

Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Lalitpur Sub-metropolitan City, Kirtipur, Bhaktapur and Madhyapur Thimi municipalities and VDCs in the Valley were included in the study.

The study has shown that the Kathmandu Metropolitan City has 266 open spaces, while Lalitpur has 137 and Kirtipur, Bhaktapur and Madhyapur have 13, 17 and 13 open spaces respectively.

Kathmandu has 10,437 ropanis, Lalitpur has 6,690 ropanis and Bhaktapur has 1746 ropanis of usable open area in the Valley.

Open Spaces in the Kathmandu Valley (Area in Ropani)

District	# Open spaces	Total area	Usable area
Kathmandu	488	17,259	10,437
Lalitpur	346	10,400	6,690
Bhaktapur	53	2,557	1746
Total	887	30,216	18873

Source: Open Spaces Inventory in Kathmandu Valley, NSET.

The study has found three types of open spaces: courtyard settlements, playgrounds and institutional areas.

“There are community courtyards located amongst Newar communities while institutional areas are mainly owned by government offices and educational institutions,” informed Gopi Krishna Basyal of NSET. “Courtyards can be taken as a primary collection point while playgrounds and institutional areas can be used to establish emergency shelters.”

Basyal presented the summary of the study at the international symposium on ‘New Technology for Urban Safety of Megacities in Asia’ that concluded in Kathmandu Saturday.

In comparison to other metro-cities, Kathmandu has very limited number of open spaces which are necessary for emergency shelter and well being of the public.

The importance of open spaces was badly felt following the devastating earthquake of April 25 which displaced about 8 million people in its aftermath.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) on 8^th April 2013 published a notice in the Nepal Gazette informing the legal status of 83 open spaces in the Kathmandu Valley and restricted any kind of construction in those places.

Environment and disaster experts have long been advocating the need of more open spaces in the urban areas.

“Open spaces are needed to manage emergency shelter, food and other essential services and to reduce environmental degradation in cities by preserving greenery,” said Basyal.

In an attempt to manage the open spaces the government directed the Kathmandu Valley Development Authority, in August this year, to protect and manage the open areas for use in the aftermath of the natural disasters.

The National Urban Development Strategy (NUDS), 2015 of the government mentions that the municipalities in the country failed to preserve the open spaces.

The open spaces in major municipalities showed a bleak picture comprising only 0.48 per cent in Kathmandu and 0.06 per cent in Lalitpur, read the NUDS.

The NUDS envisions managing 2.5 per cent open space at ward level in the existing urban areas and 5 per cent open space in the new urban areas.