People, place, and space: Theoretical and empirical reflections in studying urban open space

People, place, and space are the main domain of spatial research which is widely discussed in the geographic discipline. Geographers always focus on the meanings related to space and human interactions to explain people, place, and space. The concept was explained by Richard Harsthrone (1959), Fred E Lukermann (1964), David Harvey (1969), Henri Lefebvre (1974), Yi-fu Tuan (1974), Edward Relph (1976) and Doreen Massey (2005), etc. As a human geographer, Yi.fu Tuan has a great contribution to explain people-place relations and further explained by Relph, Massey, and other scholars. Grounding on the geographic research traditions, this paper presents the concept of people, place, and space reviewing the historiographical literatures and some empirical research studies on people-space relations. Theorists have argued that people and space are deep-rooted in studying place attachment creating people’s sense of place. People’s actions and behaviors create meaning through their individual and communal behaviors in that space where they live and interact. Moreover, theoretical perspectives argue that placemaking is always associated with the social and cultural dimensions of a society. Empirically, as an indigenous society, people from the core area of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) have been perceiving urban open space as a commonplace for social and cultural life activities whereas migrants’ people living in the newly growing settlements have been perceiving the open space as a place for recreation and social capital enhancement.

Impact of vegetable farming on farmers livelihood patterns in Dhankuta, Nepal

This paper deals with the livelihood pattern and the socio-economic condition of vegetable farmers of Chhathar Jorpati rural municipality, which lies in the eastern part of Dhankuta district of Nepal. The study applied household questionnaire survey, focus group discussion and field observation to collect information of vegetable farming and the impact of vegetable farming on farmers’ livelihood. The study conducted 45 households questionnaire survey in total using simple random sampling in ward number six of Chhathar Jorpati rural municipality. The statistical analysis of collected field survey data was preformed through correlation test and standard deviation. The result shows that the socio-economic condition and the livelihood of the vegetable farmers is improving in recent years. Before doing commercial vegetable farming, farmers cultivated potatoes and used to exchange their production with cereal crops to the neighboring villages. Farmers used to cultivate maize in their farmland, but due to the climatic and the topographic condition it took almost nine months (from January to October) for production. Among the total households, 24.4 percent farmers have seven members in their family and the average family size is 6.3. The Chhetri is the dominant ethnic group of the study area. Among educated groups, the majorities have completed secondary level of education. Most of the farmers are (35.5%) holding land size between 16 and 20 Ropani (0.82-0.10ha.). The majorities of the farmers cultivated high valued vegetables i. e., cauliflower, cabbage, tomato, pea, radish, carrot and green leafy vegetables. The average income from vegetable farming is NRs. 250000/household per year. Primarily, farmers use their income to manage foods, clothes, children education and daily-required goods. Further, due to the lack of sufficient human resources, improved seeds and fertilizer, the majorities of the farmers are facing challenges in their vegetable farming. In addition to this, the vegetable farmers are utilizing their capabilities and are devoted to enhance their livelihood through vegetable farming.

Assessment of climate change vulnerability in Chiti area of Lamjung district, Nepal

Climate change issue is the global concern of the present day. The present study attempts to assess the vulnerability of the community due to climate change for which Chiti area of Besisahar Municipality from Lamjung district of Nepal was selected as the study area. The climate change vulnerability was assessed using the Long Term Research Program (LTRP). The long term climate change vulnerability household surveys from 2014 baseline data to 2016, 2017 and 2019 data were analysed in this study. This study adapted IPCC (2001) methodology i.e. also used by C4 EcoSolutions on their baseline climate change vulnerability assessment. This is a bottom-up, integrative approach that considers both physical and social dimensions at a local level. Consequently, vulnerability is best understood as a function of three components: exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity. Exposure to climate change vulnerability is calculated with sum of changes in temperature, changes in rainfall patterns, changes in rainfall intensity, drought episodes and flooding events. Sensitivity is calculated based on slope failures, soil fertility, changes in natural environment (i) soil cover; ii) levels of river sedimentation; iii) water salinity; iv) river ecosystems; v) forest size; and vi) the presence of invasive species), economic dependency level, irrigation facilities and livelihood sources. The major finding is that Chiti has been facing climate change since last decade and it is found severely vulnerable due to climate change. There is an urgent need of improvement on climate change adaptive capacity which could result of awareness, information on climate change and adaptation, surplus production and change in agricultural practices. The present study has used awareness score based on conceptual awareness, experiential awareness, and engagement of household to talk about climate change and adaptation. The Long Term Research Approach is appropriate to assess climate change vulnerability in community level. Climate change awareness is one of the major components to reduce vulnerability to climate change in the research area. This is a post adaptation vulnerability analysis of local community which supports climate change vulnerability adaptation policy.

Territorial mobility in traditional societies of Bhojpur, Majhkirant

Territorial mobility is an inherent element for survival and it is a common feature of rural area. It reflects the whole life style and livelihood pattern of a community. Therefore, territorial mobility could be an important aspect of living and coping with external world particularly in the traditional communities of rural Nepal. This paper seeks to explore the changing territorial mobility among the Rai people from Sampang area of Bhojpur district in Majhkirant region. The mixed method, both quantitative and qualitative is adopted for data collection. The formal instruments such as household survey, focus group discussion, mobility register, and the folk sources such as folk songs, local sayings, proverbs, local events were used to generate the data together with the observation method as well. Findings indicate that all forms of mobility of Majhkirant people in which they participate can be summarized into two categories i.e. basai sarai and ghumphir. The long-term moves such as Muglan bhasine, Madhesh jharne, ghar khana jane, desh nikala hune are the specific types of basai sarai. On the other hand all types of short-term mobility normally of short distance are part of ghumphir which are common forms of movement among the people of this area. The feature and frequency of various types of moves vary among Rai and non-Rai community and it also differs over time and space. For example, pitri garna jane, nwagi garna jane, mang garna jane, kaliya jane are more noticeable among Rai community while tirthayatra, chardham jane, astu selauna jane, puranma jane, katha sunna jane are commonly found among non-Rai (Brahmin community). Similarly, moves such as, Lahur jane, phukna jane, ghar banauna jane are associated with Rai people whereas moves like jajamani garna jane, puranma jane, katha bhanna jane are primarily confined to Brahmin community. Many other forms of localized moves were also noticed and all of them had their linkages with participation in socio-cultural, professional, political and economic spheres of rural life. Some moves associated with kinship and neighborhood network as well as obligatory are commonly found in all community. In addition, many of these move are age-sex specific, others are associated with occupation of the person and with changing aspiration of people including changing geography of development activities.

What is an institution? An ontological debate illustrating community forestry of Nepal

Illustrating Community Forestry (CF) of Nepal, this article discusses the concept of ‘institution’ through the perspectives of the phenomenology of Peter Berger & Thomas Luckmann (1966), the structuration theory of Anthony Giddens (1984), and the conception of institution as people-nature relations. Phenomenologists concentrate on the structures of consciousness as individuals experienced and expressed while turning an objective world or phenomenon into a subjective one through objectivation, internalization and externalization/ institutionalization process. The structuralist holds that the creation of an institution is a reproduction of interaction between structures and actors. And other theorists (e.g., Leach et al., 1999; Ostrom 2005, 2009; Gupta et al., 2010; Young, 2010) consider that institutions for natural resources conflate with social institutions and mediate their relations. Although these theories are not explicit epistemologically in a pragmatic sense, they have indicated language, rules, (embedded) practices and knowledge are the referential artifacts of institutions. These theories are found applicable in the institutionalization/socialization history of CF as it had gone through the social rejection (i.e, objectivation) during the 1970s, internalization during the 1980s, and socialization of it during and after the 1990s. The socialization of CF after the 1990s was due to the formation of CF as a social space (a ‘structure’ or ‘institution’) to discuss social and environmental issues into one place where forest dependent users (‘actors’) rationalize the use of forest and its conservation for local environment in a more pragmatic sense (i.e., mediate people-nature relations). An institution for natural resources is, therefore, the combined perspectives of phenomenologists, structuralists, and those who think institutions as a mediator of people-nature relations. Thus, an institution is political (i.e., relations and interactions) and ecological/economic (i.e., access to natural resources, livelihood practices).

Assessment of denudation rate and erosion susceptibility in the upper Tamakoshi basin in the higher Himalayas, Nepal

The higher rate of slope erosion in the Himalayan basins is contributing to rapid change in landform in the mountainous terrain, which has caused sedimentation, and inundation downstream. The Tamakoshi basin is a trans-boundary river that originates from Tibet and flows through Dolakha and Ramechap districts before joining the Sapta Koshi river. Few studies exist in Nepal attempting to quantify the erosion rate and susceptibility. However, they are scattered and mainly focus on either rill-sheet erosion or landslide only. Hence, this study attempted to estimate slope erosion by applying the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE), and soil and debris erosion from landslide (2000-2019). Spatially distributed erosion intensity maps derived from the RUSLE model, as well as index-based landslide susceptibility map, were integrated to capture both running water and gravity erosion processes. The novelty of this research is that it examined the soil erosion rate using a process-based model as well as from the soil or rock displaced by the observed landslides over the last 20 years. The study estimated gross annual erosion by running water of 9.1million tons/yr, equivalent to the denudation rate of 3.34 mm/yr. Of these, landslide erosion accounts for 7.6 million ton/yr, i.e., 2.88 mm/yr, this covers about 84% of total slope erosion. High landslide and erosion potential areas are associated with high rainfall, steep slopes, scarps, lower segment of valley side slopes, high relief, and highly fractured and deformed parts of high-grade metamorphic rocks, such as gneiss, quartzite, marbles, migmatite, and granitic gneiss.

Policy issues in informal market place and marketing system in Nepal: Experiences from the cities of Kathmandu Valley

Informal market places and marketing systems are important sectors in providing employment and income to the poor residents of Kathmandu Valley, the largest urban agglomeration of Nepal. The informal marketing system is a traditional system and has been operated in the valley since the long. This sector shows unique features in terms of marketing, spatial location, and transformation. In this paper, the salient features of the informal market places and marketing systems prevailing in the cities of Kathmandu valley are portrayed and based on these, five major policy issues are explored and suggested for consideration to the urban government for the better management of the informal market places and marketing systems.

Assessment of urban heat island in Kathmandu valley (1999-2017)

Growing urbanization results built up surfaces converting from agriculture land, forest and other natural land cover surfaces. Increasing built up surfaces, means of transport and industrial activities are major results for increasing temperature in the city area as compared to other areas. Increasing heat is a concern to human health of the people living in urban areas. Increasing temperature in the city area in developing countries is being a growing concern. Kathmandu valley is one of the most rapidly growing urbanization in Nepal. The present study aims to assess the changing Land Surface Temperature (LST) in Kathmandu valley using LANDSAT 7 images. Similarly, Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect was evaluated in land use categories which were derived from Google Earth images. Study revealed that built up area contributed highly to increase land surface temperature. New built up with compact settlement area has higher land surface temperature as compare to other land use/land cover surfaces. City core has higher LST as compared to less urbanized and surrounding parts. The LST has highly increased during 1999 to 2017 with increasing urbanization. However, the ecological condition of UHI effect is not so bad till date but the study result indicated the continuous increasing urbanization may result worse ecological condition in Kathmandu Valley in the future.

Women in foreign employment: Its impact on the left behind family members in Tanahun district, Nepal

Though, the migration process and its impact in the household economy has been extensively studied in the academic sectors, but much less attention has been given to the impact of female labor migration on the family members who are left behind at home. This paper attempts to determine socio-economic structure of female labor migrants from Tanahun District of Gandaki Province, Nepal. Similarly, it also attempts to analyze the causes of female migration, process and dynamics of foreign labor migration and its impact on the left behind family specially children and elder citizens at home. For this purpose, 180 households have been purposefully selected from three municipalities and conducted household survey through snowball methods. According to the survey findings, married women are preferred to go for abroad, whereas the age of migration is after 30 years. Literate are very less migrated for foreign labor. Majority of the female migrants preferred to go to Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)countries and then other countries, i.e. Malaysia, Lebanon, etc. There are both positive and negative impacts clearly observed. The positive impacts of remittance to support for the poverty alleviation at household level, enhance educational and health facilities as well as improve housing conditions. But, the negative impacts, especially on children are appeared, i.e. care deficit, aggressive behavior, physical abuse, deteriorating health condition and school dropout. To, eliminate or reduce negative impact, government should take initiation and formulate effective policies that can maximize positive effects.

Dimensions of land use change and implications in spatial planning of emerging town Bedkot municipality, Kanchanpur district, Nepal

Rapid transformation of rural settlements into municipalities in Nepal has brought significant changes in land use and urban expansion patterns mostly through the conversion of agriculture land into the built up area. The issue is studied taking a case of rapidly growing Tarai town of Bedkot Municipality of Kanchanpur District. This study is based on field interaction, observation, and available data review. After the declaration of Bedkot as a municipality, several new roads have been opened and upgraded; and the municipality is well connected to the national transportation network. After promulgated the Constitution of Nepal, 2015 and activated the elected local body, the municipality budget has been increased significantly as a result of increasing municipal investment on socio-economic and physical infrastructure development and environmental protection which have attracted people, goods and services creating it as the zone of influence of the surroundings. Rapid spatial changes have been observed with inflow of population in the municipality. One of the changes found is the increasing built-up area by 3.6 percent and expansion of urban area through decreasing the agriculture land by 3.5 percent. Urban growth has been observed taking place along the highway corridor clustering at nodal junctions and some other potential locations. Implications of such spatial dimensions have been core issue of urban development planning in most of the newly declared municipalities in Nepal.