Landscape Change in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

Abstract

Every year it becomes more difficult to find historic Nepal in Kathmandu. As the traditional economy gives way to such global pursuits as tourism, export industries, and speculative investments, the landscape of the valley follows. The accretions of modern buildings now hide the vernacular architectures and national monuments – courtyards and durbar squares, Buddhist temples, and Hindu pagodas – which, in their cultural moorings, make Kathmandu a UNESCO Living Heritage Site. The expanding urban infrastructures now cover much of Kathmandu Val ley , Nepal ' s most productive farmland in the Himalayas, further removing it from the food base of urban residents. Squatter settlements arise amid migration, poverty, and a lack of opportunity. Even the surrounding mountains that signify Kathmandu's place in the world are less visible when obscured by thickening layers of smog and dust. And as more people move into it, the city spreads