Kathmandu Metropolitan City, the country’s only metropolis, plans to promote integrated land use for residential purposes.

The KMC has decided to provide 75 percent concession on house map approval fee for those who come up with a proposal for integrated housing plan for an area up to one ropani (5476 sq feet) in the Valley.

The initiative is aimed at discouraging land fragmentation in housing in core city areas and their peripheries for promoting effective land use, said Narendra Shrestha, an urban planner at the KMC.

The KMC charges Rs 10, Rs 15 and Rs 20 per square feet for houses covering 3,000, 3,000 to 5,000 and more than 5,000 square feet, respectively, as the map approval fee.

As per the scheme, if an individual or a group submits a proposal of integrating small plots of land (measuring in aana—that is 342.42 sq feet) into a ropani to build residential buildings, they will get concession up to 75 percent on the approval fee depending on the size of the land. The scheme, however, does not apply to apartment builders.

Over the years, the KMC has been working to promote integrated land management measures for sustainable and planned housing settlements. Various land pooling projects such as those in Naya Bazaar and Sorhakhutte have been completed recently with an aim to develop well-managed residential areas.

The Chamati Land Pooling project covering 1,355 ropanis across the Bishnumati behind Swoyambhu and the Manohara project in Bhaktapur are under way for developing well-managed residential areas.

“Haphazard development of residential areas with unmanaged building structures has ruined the beauty of the city,” said Shrestha. At the land pooling sites, the government plans to develop residential areas with open spaces, broad roads, drains, electricity, drinking water and telephone line.

source: the kathmandu post,28 August 2013