Landscape Urbanism - Reimagining Nepal's Tourism

SUTD SUSTAINABLE OPEN STUDIO 2016 // LANDSCAPE URBANISM NEPAL //

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// BHOTE KOSHI AREA // TOURISM INFRASTRUCTURE

TOURISM INFRASTRUCTURE Strategies to activate economic potential of the Bhote Koshi River Basin

SUTD OPEN STUDIO 2016 LANDSCAPE URBANISM

Bai Xueni, Jean Lee, Liu Hongzhe, Ong Yong Siang, Rachel Tan SUTD SUSTAINABLE OPEN STUDIO 2016 // LANDSCAPE URBANISM NEPAL //

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Landscape Urbanism Unit Studio Instructors: Eva Castro, Federico Ruberto Studio Assistant: Ignacio Lopez Buson SUTD Term 8 Option Studio We would like to thank Eva, Federico and Ignacio for their kind patience and guidance throughout the course.

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INDEX OF CONTENTS 0_STUDIO INTRO 0_1_CREDITS 0_2_ACKNOLEDGEMENTS 1_SITE

1_1_ DESIGN STATEMENT 1_2_SITE

1_3_ SOCIETAL PROBLEM

1_4_TOURISM INDUSTRY 1_5_DESIGN FLOW 2_SITE MAPPING

2_1_NATURAL HAZARDS 2_2_CURRENT ATTRACTORS

3_SITE INDEXING

3_1_SLOPE ANALYSIS 3_2_VILLAGE DENSITY 3_3_LANDSLIDE RISK 3_4_RUNOFF 3_5_ROAD HIERARCHY BY TOPOGRAPHY

4_MESHING

4_1_TOURISTIC LOOPS 4_2_LOGIC 4_3_CELL DEFORMATION 5_PROTOTYPING 5_1_RESEARCH_AGRICULTURE 5_2_RESEARCH_MECHANICAL 5_3_RESEARCH_WATER MANAGEMENT 5_4_CATALOGUE 5_5_PROTOTYPE PROLIFERATION 6_MODEL

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SITE

1_1_ DESIGN STATEMENT 1_2_SITE

1_3_ SOCIETAL PROBLEM

1_4_TOURISM INDUSTRY 1_5_DESIGN FLOW 6

// BHOTE KOSHI AREA // TOURISM INFRASTRUCTURE

SITE Design statement

Context

The Bhote Koshi River Basin has an unsustainable decline of agriculture and a high absentee population as a result of poor infrastructure. Hence we aim to activate its economic potential by designing multiple touristic loops linking up villages off the main highway.

Taking advantage of the necessary infrastructure needed for landslide mitigation, we generate a harmonious landscape that can be used for both agriculture, water management and tourism. Both locals and tourists will benefit from the introduction of new economic opportunities, proper transport infrastructure and amenities.

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Societal Problem

Agriculture Decline

Nepal has agriculture as its primary economic driver. However, the majority of agriculture taking place at the southern, less mountaineous regions of Nepal. The mountaineous regions are generally difficult to navigate due to poor infrastructure and requires high amount of retaining structures in order to make the land usable for farming. With the declining agriculture in the whole of Nepal, our site would need to be less reliant on agriculture and more on tourism instead, the second more prominent industry.

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Tourism Industry

Nepal has been experiencing high absentee population, generally the result of the urbanisation. The population from the rural areas are moving towards cities and as a result leaves very low manpower for the agriculture industry.

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Existing tourist route

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Existing tourist attractions

The Bhote Koshi River has a variety of touristic activities, with both adventure/nature tourism and cultural tourism. Tourist frequent temples in the area as they move on a cultural pilgrimage from Kathmandu and often, due to the lack of tourist infrastructure (hotels, motels), the tourists would opt for homestay or camping.

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// BHOTE KOSHI AREA // TOURISM INFRASTRUCTURE

Design Flow

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SITE MAPPING 2_1_NATURAL HAZARDS 2_2_CURRENT ATTRACTORS

INDEXING STRATEGIES Natural Hazards Through mapping of earthquake occurrences, slope steepness, surface runoff and precipitation data, we visualize the relationship of them through indexing to analyse degrees of landslide risk potentials on the site.

Earthquake mapping

Larger Magnitude

More recent quake

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Lower risk Less precipitation

Gentler slope

Landslide

Higher risk More precipitation

Steeper slope

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Landcover

Lower risk Less precipitation

Gentler slope

INDEXING STRATEGIES Current Attractors The relationship between the various attractors mapped out are explored in terms of their proximity to each other.

This relationship is further explored by adding the additional consideration of existing roads, investigating the connectivity of these existing attractors to each other. This result showed that there is an issue in terms of the connectivity of the attractors with existing roadinfrastructure.

In addition, an investigation of the accessibility of said attractors to the main villages was conducted. The result of the indexing showed that there are attractor nodes which have extremely low connectivity to the main villages, thus showing an deficiency of the performance of the network infrastructure.

Shortest path between attractors

Proximity to End Points 5700m

<300m

Trekking Lodging

Accessibility (Path / Graph) >300%

Religious Nature

Shortest path between attractors with respect to roads

Accessibility to main villages

Proximity to End Points 5700m

<300m

Trekking

Lodging Trekking <300m Religious Accessibility (Path / Graph) >300% Lodging Nature Religious Accessibility (Path / Graph) >300% Proximity to End Points

5700m

Travel Time From Village (min) 0 min 20 mins

Village Clusters (Houses) 3 houses > 600 houses

Nature

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larger scale Opportunities at the selected site.

Opportunities at larger scale Opportunities at the Opportunities at the theNodes larger with scalelow accessibility, Opportunities atsite. the selected selected site. site. portunities at the larger scale Opportunities at the te Koshi Basin. perhaps dueselected to across theKoshi wholeBasin.

Bhote Koshi Koshi Basin.

Basin.

Nodes with low low accessibility, accessibility, perhaps due due to to Proximity to End Points across the whole Bhote Nodes with perhaps ross the whole Bhote Nodes with low accessibility, perhaps due to limitations from topography present a potential for 5700m limitations from topography present a potential limitations frompresent topography present for from topography a potential fora potential for improvement of roadlimitations infrastructure. improvement of road road infrastructure. infrastructure. of improvementimprovement of road infrastructure.

Opportunities to Proximity to End End Points Points Proximity to Trekking End Proximity Points <300m 5700m 5700m 5700m <300m Lodging

Religious Accessibility (Path Accessibility (Path // Grap Grap AccessibilityNature (Path / Graph) >300%

Accessibility (Path / Graph) >300%

PARTHIK GUEST HOUSE

GANESH TEMPLE

HOSPITAL

BUDHANILKANTHA TEMPLE

SUNKOSHI HYDROPOWER DAM

RAFTING POINT BARHABISE BUS INTERCHANGE VISHNU MANDIR SUN KOSHI BOATING

KHADICHAUR BUS INTERCHANGE AMALTAR BHAGWATI TEMPLE

RAFTING POINT LAMOSANGHU BUS STAND

KOTHE BUS STAND BALEPHI BUS STAND KAPILESHWOR MAHADEV TEMPLE

We have identified various attractor points on the site, ranging from adventure related attractors, to cultural related attractors and also to transport related attractor points. Most of such points are situated along the valley, save for a few which are higher up the mountain ranges, making them more inaccessible.

Therein lies the opportunity for us to design a network which serves to rejuvenate the local economy using tourism and its supporting infrastructure.

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SITE INDEXING

3_1_SLOPE ANALYSIS 3_2_VILLAGE DENSITY 3_3_LANDSLIDE RISK 3_4_RUNOFF 3_5_ROAD HIERARCHY BY TOPOGRAPHY SUTD SUSTAINABLE OPEN STUDIO 2016 // LANDSCAPE URBANISM NEPAL //

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INDEXING SITE With the previous exploration at hand, we focused into a part of the site which has sufficient opportunities as identified previously. The site is an area with particularly steep terrain and a lack of vegetative land cover for the prevention of landslides. This topographical features results in the presence of landslides and water runoff. The variability of the intensity runoff and landslide is pronounced to the point where discrete areas could be clustered out to identify the difference in intensity of the landslide.

In terms of the socioeconomic landscape, the focus site has an uneven distribution of houses, resulting in the presence of large village clusters and small segregated village clusters. It provides the opportunity for the design of a network which questions and attempts to connect the segregated village clusters together.

This interesting distribution of identified opportunistic elements would provide us with a platform of design which is able to establish a solution to the problems, while at the same time create an attractive tourist landscape to attract the tourist dollars into the site and to boost the local economy.

Contours

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// BHOTE KOSHI AREA // TOURISM INFRASTRUCTURE

Roads

Base map

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River

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Village density

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Landcover forest

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Slope analysis

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Runoff

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// BHOTE KOSHI AREA // TOURISM INFRASTRUCTURE

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Landslide Risk

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Views

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INDEXING STRATEGIES Road hierarchy by topography We explore the possibilities of desgining new routes which are safer with specific slope grading for each type of activity.

By first identifying areas which have a buildable slope, we then establish links between these buildable areas with either slopes suitable for walking or vehicular access.

Thereafter we accessed the connectivity of these new roads to the existing attractors, as well as a new hierarchy of roads between large and small village clusters and exisiting attractors.

< 3.5 DEG TREKKING

< 7 DEG CAR/TRAIN

< 10 DEG CAR/STEPS

Trekking

NEW SHORTEST WALK (BASED ON TOPO) PROPOSED ROAD NETWORKS

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Car/Train

Car/Steps

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MESHING

4_1_TOURISTIC LOOPS 4_2_LOGIC 4_3_DEFORMATION 32

// BHOTE KOSHI AREA // TOURISM INFRASTRUCTURE

PROPOSAL Touristic Loops

Loop Logic

To increase the foreign expenditure into the site, we came up with the idea of creating loops to “trap” the tourists, thereby increasing their expenditure in the local economy.

These loops are created in a hierarchical structure in terms of user type. The trekking route, the cycling route, and the driving route. The loops are designed based on the walkability of the slopes, ensuring a gradient along the loop of not more than 10%.

The path the loops follows is based on the connection between big villages and small villages. This is while ensuring that the path meanders through the areas of opporunities identified through the indexing. These are namely the areas with better views, the areas with higher landslide intensity, larger surface runoff, and the presence of lush vegetation These loops are then hypothesised to “retain” the tourists for a period of time based on the presence of the areas of opportunities and the distance of the loops. The loops would attract the tourists to spend a longer time period within the site.

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Proposed loops with intersection among loops and with existing road network

These loops are created in a hierarchical structure based on user groups, namely: trekkers, cyclists and drivers. Following connections between big villages and small villages, the loops are designed based on the walkability of the slopes, ensuring a gradient along the loop of not more than 10% and a seamless meander through areas of opportunities indentified through indexing. These areas are defined as vistas, areas of high landslide intensity, larger surface runoff and presence of lush vegetation.

These loops are then hypothesised to â&#x20AC;&#x153;retainâ&#x20AC;? the tourists for a period of time based on the presence of the areas of opportunities and the distance of the loops. The loops would attract the tourists to spend a longer time period within the site.

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Walking loop (short)

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Walking loop 3 (with one day homestay)

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Walking loop 2 (medium)

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Driving loops 1

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Driving loops 2

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Driving loops 3

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Driving loop 4 (between villages)

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Road hierarchy by village clusters and attractors

CONNECTIONS

CONNECTIONS

CONNECTIONS

BETWEEN BIG

BETWEEN BIG

BETWEEN

VILLAGES

VILLAGES AND

VILLAGES AND

SMALL VILLAGES

ATTRACTORS

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Road hierarchy by village clusters and attractors

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CONNECTIONS

CONNECTIONS

CONNECTIONS

BETWEEN BIG

BETWEEN BIG

BETWEEN

VILLAGES

VILLAGES AND

VILLAGES AND

SMALL VILLAGES

ATTRACTORS

Road hierarchy by village clusters and attractors

CONNECTIONS

CONNECTIONS

CONNECTIONS

BETWEEN BIG

BETWEEN BIG

BETWEEN

VILLAGES

VILLAGES AND

VILLAGES AND

SMALL VILLAGES

ATTRACTORS

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Road hierarchy by village clusters and attractors

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CONNECTIONS

CONNECTIONS

CONNECTIONS

BETWEEN BIG

BETWEEN BIG

BETWEEN

VILLAGES

VILLAGES AND

VILLAGES AND

SMALL VILLAGES

ATTRACTORS

MESHING Logic A separate system of meshing is introduced at this point to create a discrete system of cells for which a prototypical design could be proliferated in. This system of mesh is independent of the system of the loops proposed previously, however the logic shares some similarities with the one of the loops.

The logic of the meshing here is based purely on the topographical contours, where a system of walkability is established, with each edge of the mesh being along a gradient of 10%. The mesh acts as a blanket over the topography, reacting with the topography and creating rhomboidal cells for the propogation of a prototypical design, while ensuring a walkability of its edges.

The loops proposed previously are then massaged to flow along the mesh and are then subsequently considered when populating the cells with the prototype.

Required distance for 10% walkable slopes

Proliferating down the topography

Final Mesh

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MESHING Cells Deformation

Studying deformation by length and angle

As the cells were defined by the topography, the result was a mesh with a high level of deformation. To better understand the mesh before prototyping, we calculated and hatched the different degrees of deformation, realising that the mesh is more uncontrolled in terms of angle than in length.

With this, we drew our prototypes and tested them against the angles and length ratios concluded in this study.

The conditions of each cell, with regards to landslide risk and runoff was also considered and was taken into account to be mapped back lter into the mesh.

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meshing

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Examining deformation by angle

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Examining deformation by length ratio

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cells prone to landslide risk

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cells according to intensity of runoff

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PROTOTYPING

5_1_RESEARCH_AGRICULTURE 5_2_RESEARCH_MECHANICAL 5_3_RESEARCH_WATER MANAGEMENT 5_4_CATALOGUE 5_5_PROTOTYPE PROLIFERATION 54

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PROTOTYPING RESEARCH/AGRICULTURE We looked at different terracing, ploughing and agriculture methods to come up with types specific to the gradient of the slope.

Many of these methods deal not only with breaking down the slope into usable pieces but also provide insights as to how people prevent soil erosion.

While on one hand, bench terracing can be used for almost any slope, the effective space is greatly decreased as the slope increases. Hence due to the low economic returns from agricuture, employing bench terracing to achieve small benches may not be the most sustainable approach for agriculture and prevention of soil erosion.

Ploughing methods

Terracing Methods

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PROTOTYPING RESEARCH/Mechanical Retention Mechanical retention ranges from a high buildup of support material, which ultimately does not provide the most porous approach to water absorption, to low buildup that relies mostly on natural wild plants to provide grip onto the soil.

Mechanical retention can also be combined with terracing to create larger and more usable benches.

Different types of mechanical retention

Concrete Retention Structures

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Porous retention structures

PROTOTYPING RESEARCH/WATER MANAGEMENT The different methods to water management encourage runoff absorption into the ground by either making the ground more porous and susceptible to aborption or by slowing the speed of the runoff.

Turnout drains is an effective method of slowing down water both at a larger scale and at a smaller scale. At a large scale, the water is diverted to gentler gradients. At a smaller scale, baffles or steps are added along the drain to act as brakes and slow the water down.

At lower gradient, bunds can be used either to spread water or to act as speed bumps.

Water Spreading Bunds and Contour Bunds

Stone Check Dams

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PROTOTYPING RESEARCH/Summary Hence knowing the successes and the limitation of the methods, we can combine them into a prototype that is able to deal with landslide risk at high variability.

Landslide risk

Concrete Retention Structures

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PROTOTYPING Catalogue Using runoff data from indexical layers, we can first come up with a prototype that focuses on distributing water and braking it at a safe speed.

Employing and combining techniques such as turnout drains, wild vegetation barriers and many percolation/absorption channels to work within a rhomboidal cell prone to angular deformation, the cell within itself is able to function on its own as water mangement prototype.

As a whole, with the water flowing along the edges of the rhomboidal cell, continuity of water can be seen throughout the system.

Prototype

Prototypes working together to distribute water

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Water Prototypes for different degrees of landslide risk

Prototypes for different degrees of landslide risk with an edge road condition

Prototypes for different degrees of landslide risk with a through road condition

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MESHING Prototype proliferation - Zoomed in

Types of conditions on the zoomed in site

In order to visualize better how the prototypes fit on the mesh, this is a first step to placing the prototypes on the mesh.

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Location of the zoom-in

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Labelling of degrees of runoff and landslide risks

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Drainage along roads

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Drainage along periphery of cells according to degree of runoff

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Placement of high landslide risk prototype

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Placement of mid landslide risk prototype

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Placement of low landslide risk prototype

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Placement of flooded crops

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Placement of wild plants

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Placement of non-flooded crops

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Potential cells for programmed intervention

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Final Overview

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PHYSICAL MODEL SUTD SUSTAINABLE OPEN STUDIO 2016 // LANDSCAPE URBANISM NEPAL //

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