Supporting Green Growth Urban Development and Planning Processes in Nepal

Project Summary:

The objective of this grant is to create the processes to review and imbed green growth principles into Nepal’s upcoming infrastructure investments. Nepal has a new constitution and with it a shift from a unitary to a federal governance system that changes the constitutional provisions of executive authorities and the revenue sources of provincial and local governments.  This coupled with intense urbanization over the last few decades has led to a variety of infrastructure and basic service delivery deficits.  The government is looking to establish strong local governance systems and establish the proper policies and frameworks for implementing green growth principles as they go forward with infrastructure investments across multiple municipalities.   

Building on previous World Bank projects, this KGGTF program will support the provision and improvement of basic service delivery across 16 secondary cities, while also supporting the new federal structure and inter-governmental fiscal transfer mechanisms.  In particular, the program will help national and local policy makers address key deficiencies such as: building capacity of municipalities in basic urban management, strategic and sustainable urban planning, and prioritizing green growth investments. Additionally the program will support the establishment of guidelines, relevant performance indicators, the collection of baseline data and a review of relevant legal and institutional framework to determine priorities for investments.  The activity will engage participating cities and key public and private stakeholders in the process.  By preparing city-specific policies and plans this program will align with Nepal’s National Urban Development Strategy and promote urban resilience and effective urban management by designing smart urban land use plans.

List of Activities:

1. Develop a Green Growth Framework 

• Formation of a working group + Korea Advisory GG advisory group
• Rapid sector assessments
• Identify urban basis services investments by reviewing sub-project feasibility studies using GG framework
• Establish relevant performance indicators for respective investments; conduct baseline data collection for specific investments

2. Develop Implementation Strategy

• Develop template and methodology
• Rollout implementation strategy
• Prepare close-out report

3. Develop Kathmandu Valley Metropolitan Planning and Urban Regeneration Strategy 

• Assess current institutional framework
• Propose coordination and multi-jurisdictional coordination strategy
• Identify priority urban regeneration initiatives promoting economic growth
• Institutional Capacity Building/Knowledge exchange

Outcomes:

Output 1~3:

• Reports

Output 4:

• Study visit

Outcomes:

• Improved efficiency:  Given the high urbanization growth rates in the country, acting now is particularly important to avoid lock-in of cities into low density and high energy intensive urban forms. Unfortunately, the current development pattern is unstainable and put a lot of pressure on infrastructure and basic services in urban areas, and as a result, the cities have suffered greatly from severe traffic congestion, poor garbage collection and disposal, serious air pollution, and proliferation of slums. The activity will support the policy and technical dialogue on how to improve the efficiency of urban development and move towards a more compact and resource efficient development of cities. The activity also assist city governments to identify, plan and develop smart investment projects by leveraging relevant experiences learned from Korea and other countries. 
• Increased competitiveness: This activity will target cluster cities with high economic potential to materialize benefiting from agglomeration economies and system of cities. Strategically investing in these cities will spur economic prosperity across the country. This activity will also explore financing tools available to the cities to increase their financial sustainability and competitiveness in developing and managing cities. The identified high potential cluster of cities include, namely: (i) the Central Hill cluster around Pokhara; and (ii) the Eastern Tarai cluster of municipalities along the growth corridor between Itahari and Mechinagar, and around Biratnagar. In addition, the Kathmandu Valley Metropolitan Planning and Urban Regeneration Strategy will prioritize initiatives that is expected to catalyze change and economic growth that is underpinned in green and inclusive principles; and develop resilient spatial planning and city management. 
• Increased Resilience: The proposed activity will incorporate urban resilience into investment identification, design, planning process for the participating cities. This will help the cities well adapt to a variety of futures, protect against extreme weather events, and integrate water resources management and mechanisms to avoid disruptions of urban and transport services in cases of natural disasters. Resilient spatial planning and coordinated city management across multiple metropolitan/local administration jurisdictions in the Kathmandu Valley would be facilitated by the Kathmandu Valley Metropolitan Planning, Management and Urban Regeneration Strategy.  

Collaboration with K-Partners and Others:

• Korean Research Institute for Human Settlements (KRIHS)
• Seoul Metropolitan Governments
• Asian Development Bank (ADB)
• Asian Infrastructure Investment Agency (AIIB)
• Green Climate Funds (GCF)