Open Space Implications in Urban Development: Reflections in Recent Urban Planning Practices in Nepal

Open space has various implications in urban development planning and has been integrated in recent urban planning approaches and practices in Nepal. The open spaces are not only important for (re)shaping the urban form but are also important for enhancing urban social life and disaster risk management, particularly for dense cities. As most of the cities in Nepal have been growing haphazardly, the cities lack sufficient open space. However, the value of open space in dense cities like Kathmandu has been recognized more after the Gorkha Earthquake 2015 as the open spaces were extensively used for risk relief, treatment, recovery, and rehabilitation during and after the earthquake. With this background, this paper presents the major planning initiatives in Nepal and discusses how recent urban plans have provisioned and initiated open spaces development by reviewing concurrent urban planning practices, particularly reviewing Periodic Plans, Integrated Urban Development Plan, Smart City Plan, and Land Development Plan. The development of open areas has not been given much attention in the earlier urban planning practice but recent urban development planning has emphasized with a special focus which is very important for sustainable and safer city development and is expected to address the current bulging urban issues of spatiality and sociability. Therefore, it is very important for integrating open space implications in city planning and such open space should be conceptualized according to the city’s geography, landscape as well as socio-cultural contexts.