Streets and Circles of the Kathmandu Valley

Preamble

The two major images which we focus on for the conference significantly define the cities of the Kathmandu Valley. They are Streets and Centers (or popularly called the Squares). For our purpose, Streets and Centers are functional markers, and the researchers will be able to present and discuss the material and non-material lives around such signs.

Kathmandu Valley, to some extent, is a mythical space where the significant cultural phenomenon is the city, which has the rhythmic feature of music and performance. Though fast disappearing, the sounds of jackals and crickets chirping in the nights are still heard in the valley. The natural and cultural acoustic vibrations, at times, are still felt in the cities. Nature with hills, flora and fauna, groves, and untrodden trails still exists. Kathmandu is both a landscape and a soundscape due to its valley topography, a living metronome. It is a city consortium of art and its people, resisting political awareness, hospitable neighborhoods, multicultural communities, and international thoroughfares.

But such phenomena are politically and administratively ignored. Kathmandu has the memory of the past, but is almost a futuristic cul-de-sac in terms of modern urban developments. But what are its obstacles and advantages that place it at the other extreme of the smart cities? Can we use the advantages Kathmandu has with its remaining exclusivities?

Kathmandu is the mirror of South Asian urbanism of slums, chaotic religious spaces, uneven housing, rivers as drainages, pollution, ambivalent coastal spaces, unwalkable roads, and half-smart habitations. Kathmandu is a miniature visibility of South Asian urbanism, and yet it is not in its entirety.

There are some efforts to aestheticize the city, and they are commendable. We would like to participate in such efforts from our disciplinary locations. SAFAR seeks to contribute to such aesthetic endeavors.