Ecological approach to post disaster settlement planning: a case of a traditional settlement Sankhu Sangeeta Singh Associate Professor, Institute of Engineering [email protected] ABSTRACT The increasing trend of urbanization is one of the salient features of the twenty first century. With growing number of people residing in urban areas, the stresses on the ecological systems of the earth have been increasing and as a consequence climate change and its impacts are being realized on a global scale. Human settlement planning can no longer be carried out in isolation without considering the ecological consequences of the development efforts in the present context. The development approaches in the past seems to have undermined the fact that human beings are part of the ecological cycle and the planning initiatives focused mainly on physical, social and economic development. It is only recently that various planning initiatives have been propagated by planners such as eco city, sustainable city and so on to create cities in balance with nature and this paradigm shift in planning cities have gained a lot of significance. While planning ecologically sustainable cities is eminent for the survival of human species, it is equally important to plan settlements that are resilient to natural and manmade disasters especially in the disaster prone areas across the globe. In the context of Kathmandu valley it has been seen that most of the traditional settlements were planned in such a manner that the natural ecosystem is maintained to a great extent and this has been inculcated in the socio economic and cultural practices. The traditional settlements of the Valley especially Sankhu, Chapagaun, Kirtipur, Tokha, Khokana can be considered as good examples of settlements that are in balance with nature and are disaster resilient. However the recent earthquake on 25 April 2015 has impacted most of the traditional settlements in the valley. This paper focuses on the impacts of earthquake disaster in one of the traditional settlements, Sankhu of Kathmandu valley and seeks to explain the consequences. The results of the paper indicate that although the traditional settlements of Kathmandu valley have been planned to be ecologically sustainable and resilient to disasters, there are significant lessons to be learnt from the recent experience. It further elaborates that an ecological approach linked with disaster resilience is the key to post disaster planning. Keywords: traditional settlements, disaster resilience, ecological approach 1. INTRODUCTION Planned and involuntary resettlement after natural disasters has been a major policy in post disaster reconstruction in developing countries over the past few decades. Studies show that resettlement can result in significant adverse impacts on the resettled population. Conversely, a well-planned and managed resettlement process can produce positive long-term development outcomes. (S. Ali Badri, 2006). Recovery is not October 2015, Kathmandu, Nepal considered complete until the domestic life has regained its pre-disaster state, and that the affected people should be the ones to determine whether domestic life has been restored. Building damage levels have a great impact on domestic life recovery times. The more serious the damage, the longer the recovery time will be. In addition, government policy intervention also has important effects on the recovery process. Post disaster recovery is a long process. Because affected families have different needs during different recovery periods, accurate and meticulous studies of recovery processes will provide important decision-making support, assisting the government in developing efficient recovery policies. (Wang, Li, Chen, & Zou, 2014). Disaster recovery operations that do not account for environmental sustainability (ES) risk exacerbating the impact of the disaster and hindering long-term recovery efforts. (Abrahams, 2014). The traditional settlements of Kathmandu valley have been among the worst affected areas in the earthquake that hit the nation on 25 April 2015. The impact of the earthquake as in the other traditional settlements of the Kathmandu valley has been felt in terms of destruction most of the buildings that were old from the medieval periods leaving a general impression that the traditional buildings are neither resilient nor are sustainable. However on a closer look this might not be true. An analysis of the philosophy behind the design of the built form and provision of infrastructure in the traditional settlements can provide meaningful insights to the issue of sustainability and disaster resilience of the traditional settlements for which Sankhu has been taken as a case study. Sankhu is one of the traditional settlements of Kathmandu valley dating back to the ancient period (licchavi period) in the history of Nepal which flourished due to its strategic location in the trade route to Tibet. Located at the foothills of Manichud mountain range, 16 km towards North East of Kathmandu, this settlement has a unique identity being a typical newar settlement with a rich socio cultural environment. Sankhu, also known as Sankharapur for its famous ancient Sankha-shaped town Fig: location map of Sankhu ( google maps) structure, was formerly divided into 3 Village Development Committee namely Pukhulachhi, Suntol and Bajrayogini. Recently the town of Sankhu has been declared as Sankharapur Municipality merging 3 above mentioned VDCs and other neighbouring VDCs. Sankhu region is bordered by Chhaaling and Nagarkot VDCs of bhaktapur district in the south, Lapsephedi and Nanglebhare VDCs in north-east and Indrayani and Gagalphedi VDCs in west. With a total population of 2277 in the area of 14.25 sq.km. The core settlement of Sankhu has been severely affected with more than 95% of the buildings being damaged and resulting in 115 casualties (Sankhu reconstruction committee). 2. THE BUILT FORM AND OPEN SPACES New Technologies for Urban Safety of Mega Cities in Asia Like other traditional settlements within the valley the planning is based upon vedic and cosmic principles. There are several legends and stories related to the establishment of the Sankhu that was built in the shape of a conc which is considered to be auspicious according to Hindu mythology. The land use and settlement pattern of the traditional towns reflects the fact that nature was considered as an integral part of the daily life and was treated with respect. The residential settlements were mostly located on elevated tar land and was a compact one. The domain of the built area was surrounded by the agriculture domain and further away towards the periphery was the domain of natural resources like forest. The tangible and intangible cultural heritage played a key role in maintaining the built form and in preserving the natural resources. The natural resources like forest and water bodies were thus given due reverence with the placement of temples and idols of gods which were considered to protect these elements. The location of Bajrayogini temple in the forest premises in the outskirts of Sankhu and the Madhav Narayan temple and other deities on the banks of the Sali river are examples of treating the forest and river as objects of respect. In a way the cultural traditions and belief systems acted as an unwritten doctrine towards maintaining what we consider as sustainable settlements. Fig: Bajrayogini for forest preservation Fig: Temples at Sali nadi ( River) The traditional towns of Kathmandu valley are “abodes of gods with various forms, characters and qualities. Wonderfully, the gods do not always live their lives inside their temples; once in a while they come out to renew their relations with humans, just as humans, as believers, visit the gods in their temples”. (Tiwari, 2002) The built form in these towns were guided by cosmic entities and gods and power places put in places and “streets laid out as if their function was to facilitate the passage of gods rather than that of man”. The settlements were thus compact as the towns grew “ through the process of in-fill, thereby keeping the ritual infrastructure static and Ecological approach to post disaster settlement planning: a case of a traditional settlement Sankhu October 2015, Kathmandu, Nepal unchanged” and were “ walled in towns, with a clear definition of the inside ( dune in newari) and outside ( pine in newari), neither was able to transgress upon the other.” (Tiwari, 2002) In the more ancient of the indigenous towns, the ritual structure consisted of a dyoche, or house of god, in the town and pith, or aniconic power of place, outside the settlement limits in the domain of nature. (Tiwari, 2002). Such characteristics can still be seen in Sankhu which is a walled town delimited by the gates serving as the entry and exit points in the settlement. Fig: Festival route of Bajrayogini jatra Fig: asta matrikas It is interesting to see that some of these gates are still seen in Sankhu which are still being used for various purposes like Dyo Dhwakha for Lord Bajrayogini during Bajrayogini festival, Bhau Dhwakha, for welcoming the bride during marriage ceremony, Mhyaymach Dhwakha for seeing off the daughter when married, Magh Dhwakha for the entry of god Mahadev Narayan during Magh Bajrayogini festival, Si Dhwakha, for taking funeral procession to the rivers during the last right which is also known as Mahadev Dhwakha. The urban form which was inclusive of public and private open spaces formed an important element of the traditional settlements which gave it a unique identity. These open spaces usually in the form of squares, Chowks, Courtyards, Bahals, Bahils, Lachhi, khyos, dabalis are the key elements of urban settlements that define the urban fabric and which act as the focal point of social interaction, that knits the Fig: Gates depicting the boundary of the settlement New Technologies for Urban Safety of Mega Cities in Asia communities together. The potential of the urban spaces in the contribution of sustainable urban development and also in the growth of the economy is quite significant.