International Journal of Geography and Regional Planning IJGRP Vol. 7(1), pp. 200-209, January, 2021. © www.premierpublishers.org. ISSN: 2021-6009 Research Article Urban Form and Land use Transformations in the High Mountain Town of Martadi (Bajura) Nepal Dr. Kedar Dahal Department of Geography, Tri-Chandra Multiple Campus, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, NEPAL Email: [email protected] Martadi, a small high mountain town has been transforming into a semi-urban position in recent years. This paper examines the form and land-use transformations by analyzing existing conditions and their potential expansion by collecting primary and secondary data through field observation and consultations/interactions with locals and analyzing the historical images/maps of the area. This paper shows that the high mountain town grew spatially and functionally outward from its core area transforming its morphology. Increasing population, increasing constructional activities, and infrastructure development in pace with urbanization are the reasons to get the transformations of such towns. With increasing local and regional connectivity, increasing trend of new building construction and reshaping of traditional buildings into modern ones, the rapid outward expansion of the town, increasing road networks and other facilities may lead to urban transformation of such high mountain towns in the future. Several modern constructions have been observed and Martadi is becoming one of the centers of economic activities in the region. Rapid conversion of agriculture, barren, and bushland into residential and the construction of infrastructure found high to make the urban transformation. The town can grow further in the future through intervention planning policies and guidelines. Keywords: High mountain, town, urban form, land use, building morphology, transformation INTRODUCTION Urbanization is a good indicator of economic development municipal town in Nepal) are yet to be assessed (Shrestha in the country and the level of urbanization has and Rijal, 2015); and these scenarios of the increasing considerably increased in the last four decades in Nepal number of urban centers (municipalities) and people living (Shrestha and Rijal, 2015), and it has the practice to in them does not mean that the country has accelerated analyze urban and or urbanization in terms of the number rate of economic development through the transformation of municipalities and people living in them. In this respect, of agriculture economy into manufacturing and services. about 63 percent of people are living in the urban area Even though, these urban centers and towns are expected (what we called municipalities) in 293 municipalities in to serve as hubs to provide markets for goods and services Nepal (Central Bureau of Statistics-CBS, 2011). Rapid and improved living conditions and employment for the urbanization indicates a country’s economy in its dwellers as well as those in the surrounding localities developing stage towards a modernized and a matured (Devkota, 2018). Many cities in developing countries are one, with a regulating plan for urbanization, avoids frequently suffering from insufficient planning and imbalanced distribution of manpower and uneven management (Barros and Sobreira, 2005), and many development across the country (Kone, 2018). However, areas in these countries have unplanned development the present scenarios in the context of urbanization (Kufferand Barros, 2011). There are different forms of (through the incorporated large number of places as a urbanization and development patterns in the different Urban Form and Land use Transformations in the High Mountain Town of Martadi (Bajura) Nepal Kedar D. 201 geographical regions of Nepal. Generally, terai and valley country (Shrestha and Rijal, 2017); Therefore, the efficient towns have been posing more agglomerated towns as distribution of service facilities is becoming a challenging compared to mountain towns/settlements in Nepal. issue. Chidi (2009) attempted to identify human settlements in Farrant (2007, cited in Sogoni and Ngidi, 2016) argued that the high mountain of Nepal based on settlement size and to a large extent spatial analysis had been absent from elevation and found that the number and size of the most social and infrastructure planning. Most of the newly settlements are constantly decreased with increasing emerging municipalities and towns in Nepal are still facing altitude, and most of those settlements are found at the difficulties in implementing their plans and policies due to altitudinal zone ranging from 3000-4500 meters from the a lack of technical resources and proper implementing mean sea level. Martadi, the district headquarters of mechanisms. Integrated Urban Development Plan Bajura, is one of the major settlements located in the high (IUDP), and other periodic plans prepared by the mountain region of Nepal. After the designation of Department of Urban Development and Building municipal status, Martadi has undergone rapid change in Construction (DUDBC) and the municipalities in the past, land use by increasing in-migration from the rural and therefore are not well implemented in the ground Plan ridge-top to lower river valleys. This process has resulted implementation in the high mountain towns/settlements in rapid infrastructure development, population are still in infancy stages as these towns are lacking a concentration, and service facilities which are often minimum urban infrastructure. More importantly, the lack referred to as transformation development (Jianchao, of infrastructure in these settlements which are lying at Xinge, Qinqin, and Nan, 2015). In this process, traditional higher altitudes is challenging for the development and villages and building units have been reshaped into planning of human settlement (Chidi, 2009). modern ones by increasing the use of modern constructional materials e.g. iron, cement, brick, etc. and One of the crucial challenges in the planning and attractive building design incorporating the essence of development of human settlements in Nepal is the lack of Vastu-sastra (traditional Indian system of architecture); baseline information of those settlements particularly lying which ultimately has changed morphological in the high altitude. Martadi (Bajura) has no exception to characteristics of Martadi. Therefore, being a high this. However, DUDBC has been studying different forms mountain town, rural urbanization and related processes and patterns of settlements and their morphology in the have brought a significant change in land use pattern and high mountain region including the Bajhang, Bajura, ultimately in its morphological features of Martadi Bazaar Darchula, Baitadi, Achham, Doti, Jajarkot, Kalikot, Mugu, area. Sankhuwasabha, Sindhupalchowk, Taplejung, Solukhumbu, etc. Compact settlement plan, integrated The term ‘morphology’ was used to study the human settlement plan, morphological studies are some of the settlements or form of the Earth's surface in geography initiatives of DUDBC for settlement level study in the (Bansal, 2010 cited in Bista, 2016). It represents the outer Himalayan region. Recently, DUDBC completed a appearance of an urban center and interprets how it looks morphological study of Martadi, Syafrubensi, Lukla, (Bista, 2016). Morphology of towns has been identified on Simikot, and Jomsom which has focused on how the basis of various factors such as location, sites and settlement morphology could be retained and the situation of the town, landform, trade and transportation, sustainability of the Himalayan settlements (DUDBC, communication and industries, service delivery, and 2019). With reference to those studies, this paper explores administrative centers (Chidi, 2009; Sogoni and Ngidi, how urban form and morphological transformation of the 2016). Such studies have been an important input to the high mountain town, Martadi is taking its pace in the urban creation of a planning application guide which is designed development context in Nepal. to assist planners in planning for service delivery and addressing any morphological challenges (Sogoni and MATERIALS AND METHODS Ngidi, 2016). Therefore, morphology should be tied-up with service delivery and municipal planning. Despite the This paper is the outcome of both primary and secondary indicated in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in data collected in 2019. A field study was conducted to 2015, many governments in developing countries fail to locate existing infrastructures, services and facilities, and cope with effective service delivery by several issues to observe how settlement development is taking its pace. relating to corruption, technical know-how, lack of effective Primary data related to land use, the extent of the road policies and geographical distancing, and so on (Sogoni network, and the environment were collected by using a and Ngidi 2016; Wild et al., 2012). Therefore, providing checklist and questionnaire. Site observation and services to these areas seems to be economically interactions with locals were conducted to collect data challenging, due to sparse settlement and high cost of related to land-use change, trends of settlement infrastructure and service delivery. Many municipalities for development, housing materials, urban development example in Nepal, are rural, and the agricultural labour patterns, and urban morphological transformation. One- force constitute to be dominant in smaller towns in the week fieldwork was done to get insights