Growing haphazard settlements, poverty, pollution, encroachment on public spaces, risk of natural calamities and criminal activities are posing a challenge to effective urban planning, say experts.

According to the 2001 census, Nepal was one of the least urbanized countries with only 14 percent of the total population (23 million) living in urban areas. However, it is estimated that the rate has gone up to six million, 20 percent of the population. Among the major cities of the country, Kathmandu is regarded the hub of urbanization causing an imbalance in the national urban structure.

“Better educational and employment opportunities, rural poverty, increasing number of landless people, natural disasters and better urban services and facilities are the factors contributing to the acceleration of the urbanization process,” said Umesh Malla, chairman of the Regional and Urban Planners Society of Nepal (RUPSON).

Study shows that the rate of rural-urban migration was speeded up by conflict-based displacement during the last decade. Solid waste management is getting complicated with 55 percent of the urban population not having access to basic waste disposal facilities. Haphazard urbanization along with the shrinking acreage of agricultural land has emerged as a major issue. Also, 80 percent of the urban population has no housing affordability due to a per capita income of Rs. 32573 and even less than that.

Apart from the Kathmandu metropolis, experts say that urban population is in the process of concentrating in certain pockets of the country like Pokhara Valley, Butwal, Bharatpur and other urban centres in central, eastern, western Nepal and mid-western Terai.

“We are soon coming up with a Transport Master Plan in order to minimize traffic congestion in cities like Kathmandu,” said Suresh Prakash Acharya, Joint-secretary at the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works. “The government is doing its best to manage Kathmandu’s urbanization in particular, but without public awareness and support it is not going to be effective.” he added.

Singh,P. (2010),"Too many hurdles plague country’s urban planning", The Kathmandu Post, 3 October 2010,p.2