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

Abstract

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.

Transformation of Built Environment in Karnali and Far Western Himalayan Region of Nepal: A Case Study of Settlements of Chandannath and Martadi

“…Stone/slate roofing decreased to 47% (CBS, 2021). This shift in construction materials reflects a changing trend in building construction practices (iv) in Martadi (Dahal, 2021).…”

Identifying the Impact Factors on the Land Market in Nepal from Land Use Regulation

“…However, this legislation did not address land suitability for non-agricultural purposes such as residential, commercial, or industrial use. The introduction of the National Land Use Policy in 2012 and its amendment in 2015 aimed to address concerns regarding food security and environmental degradation [25][26][27]. This policy was followed by the implementation of restrictions on the subdivision of agricultural land in 2017 [17] and the enactment of the Land Use Act 2019 and Land Use Regulations 2022 [28,29], further reinforcing land use regulation in the country.…”

“…Subsequently, the Land Use Act 2019 was introduced, mandating that local governments designate land classifications prior to land transactions [28]. The implementation of land use regulation has been closely monitored by key stakeholders in the land market, as well as academics and researchers [18,27,29,30,34,35].…”