Urban Open Space as a Place for Social and Physical Well-being: Narratives from two Different Urban Settings of Kathmandu, Nepal

Abstract

Increasing population and densification of the cities lead to increasing land value by the high demand of land for housing and other infrastructure developments are the reasons that tend to decreasing open spaces in Kathmandu Valley in general, and Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) in particular. Urban open space has been considered as a place that is accessible to all residents and is important in the urban context as such space provides an opportunity as a place for social interaction, networking, recreation, and various physical health exercises. However, different social and economic contexts of the society reflect different patterns of its uses.Two different urban settings (core urban areas having indigenous dominant population and fringe urban areas having migrants’ dominant population) have been taken as a basis for analysis in this paper to look at how different urban societies use open spaces differently. Open spaces are not only important for maintaining urban greenery and beauty for the city but are valued for accumulating social capital and enhancing physical well-being to urban communities. These issues are analyzed through the interpretative research methodology by collecting the data through in-depth interviews, key informants’ interviews, informal conversational interviews, and nonparticipatory observation from two different urban settings of KMC.