Socio-economic impacts of land pooling in Kathmandu
The urban population of the Nepal, like most of the Asian countries, is increasing rapidly owing to an influx of migrants from other parts of the regions who come to the capital in search of employment, education, better health services and security. The decade long conflict not only triggered rapid urbanization of cities by migration from rural parts of the country but also hindered the development of new cities and towns. Today, Nepal is in a transition phase and political transformation will take place sooner or later and there will be opportunities for development of new towns and cities as the country is progressing towards federal system. For the past few decades Kathmandu, the capital city has seen unprecedented changes in terms of urbanization. Kathmandu recorded the highest population growth rate in a decade with 60.93 percent and a population density of 4408/sq.km (CBS, 2011). In the absence of a strong planning and regulating body, lack of proper housing facilities and development of economic and social activities, degradation of environment and the undesirable urban sprawl is ever spreading. Houses are being built with no proper provision of road, water supply, drainage, electricity and telephone facility. From private led to government led projects, there have been a lot of land developments in the city to meet the land and housing demands. Land pooling or land readjustment scheme is regarded as one of the most successful tools for land development as it is a public private partnership scheme and involves community in the planning process. However, there are a number of issues and problems that exist in the land pooling areas as well. So far, there are no studies done to measure or evaluate the socio-economic impacts of such projects on the community and the neighborhood. In this context, this study aims to delve on the socio-economic impacts of land pooling projects on the community. The study has been carried out taking an example of Nayabazar land pooling project, which has been considered as one of the successful and fastest in implementation. The research has been carried out to measure different indicators of socio-economic impact assessment mainly change in demography, change in aesthetic quality of neighborhood, change in employment, income, change in retail/housing markets etc. The research has been carried out by conducting questionnaire surveys, interviews from key informants, informal focus group meetings and secondary data sources. The study recognized the issues behind the impacts of land pooling on the community both socially and economically. The literature framework and analysis facilitated to generate recommendations for to mitigate such impacts, which are taking place in Nayabazar land pooling area. One of the major findings of the study has been the lack of strong and decisive institution to take charge of management and further development of the study area. ; published_or_final_version ; Urban Planning and Design ; Master ; Master of Science in Urban Planning
