Developing Ecologically Sustainable High Mountain Regions -Determining Future of Leh (Ladakh), India

DEVELOPING ECOLOGICALLY SUSTAINABLE HIGH MOUNTAIN REGIONS DETERMINING FUTURE OF LEH (LADAKH), INDIA

RATI SANDEEP CHOUDHARI MMU ID : 19089520 MA ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Abstract Chapter 1. Introduction

02 - 07

BACKGROUND OF LEH (LADAKH), INDIA

1.1.

1.2.

1.3.

1.4.

1.5.

02 05 05 05 07

RESEARCH QUESTIONS, AIMS, PROBLEMS AND METHODOLOGY

Background of Leh (Ladakh), India Research Questions Research Aims Research Methodology Research Problems

Chapter 2. Leh Town - Case Study

08 - 20

2.1. Introduction 2.2. History of Ladakh 2.3. Existing Urban Development of Leh town 2.4 Concerns regarding ecological instability of Leh town due to urbanisation 2.5. Movements happening in Leh to promote its sustainable development 2.6. Conclusion

08 09 09 16 19 19

Chapter 3. Sustainable Development for High Mountain Regions

21 - 34

3.1. Introduction 3.2. What is Sustainable Development 3.3. Sustainable development in high mountain ecology 3.4. Conclusion

21 22 28 34

Chapter 4. Achieving Holistic Sustainability Globally

35 - 46

4.1. Introduction 4.2. Trends in Sustainable Development 4.3. Eco-tourism in Nepal 4.4. Carbon-Neutral Bhutan 4.5. Conclusion

35 35 42 45 46

Chapter 5. Analyzing Existing Situation of Leh

47 - 55

5.1.

5.2.

47 47

Introduction Case Study Analysis

Chapter 6. To a Better Future

56 - 57

6.1.

6.2.

56 56

Introduction Strategies and Suggestions

Chapter 7.

Conclusion

LEH TOWN (CASE STUDY)

HISTORY EXISTING URBAN DEVELOPMENT OF LEH

CASE STUDY ANALYSIS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FOR HIGHMOUNTAIN REGIONS

MEASURES TAKEN IN LEH DEFINING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT HIGH MOUNTAIN ECOLOGY CURRENT TRENDS

STRATEGIES

58-59

List of Figures

60-61

References

62-64

CONCLUSION

CHAPTER 1 . INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND OF LEH (LADAKH), INDIA

Abstract Today, the world is no longer alien to the effects of exploiting the earth and its resources. With increasing droughts, floods and now pandemics, people have become aware of its actions and its impacts on nature. Every corner of the world is now awake, understanding its responsibilities in saving the planet and human life and is trying to come up with new and creative ways of living, in the quest to finding a better future and attempting to keep his carbon footprint to a minimum. While this awareness and effort to make settlements carbon-free has developed, not out of option, but as a necessity for survival, still certain remote regions are falling prey to the adverse impacts of reckless development, creating havoc in their delicate ecology. Mountains regions, that serve as a backbone to the human existence, are sadly one of the most neglected areas today. These regions, having amazing scenic value, have increased the opportunity for tourism development, the negative impacts of which are creeping into these region’s urban fabric, which would eventually lead to the parasitic urban gaps and eventually ultimate collapse of the landform. Further, these regions, though, have not yet been exploited for minerals for economic gain, are being recognised as a potential for industrial mining. The research discusses a similar situation in High Mountain Trans-Himalayan Region of India (Leh, Ladakh) which has experienced rapid urbanisation due to rural-urban migration with increasing tourism and increasing carbon-footprint adding to its existing problems. Leh being not just a high mountain ecosystem but also as transboundary region has more complex issues related to sustainable development. The research aims to understand and correspond to these complexities with simple solutions in order to ensure a healthier and stronger backbone for India.

Urbanisation, today, has become an important phenomenon around the world, that came to existence after the industrial revolution as a by-product of modern development and technological progress. (Ding and Peng, 2018).

The rapid industrialisation and urbanisation taking place throughout the globe today, with humans exploiting Earth’s environment and its resources, is now resulting in catastrophic consequences in the form of frequent disasters.

Today, when sustainable development has become a hot topic in the architectural and urban fraternity, it is equally important to consider the different kinds of landforms and their ecological sensitivity while developing the urban sectors.

This paper focuses on the effect of urbanisation taking place in high mountain regions with sensitive ecology.

It talks specifically about Leh (Ladakh), India, its geographical, political and cultural situation influencing its rapid growth characterising the process of mountain urbanisation.

Himalayan regions of Kumaon and Nepal, is facing a problem of over population in certain regions. (Goodall, 2004). This is primarily due to the political and geological importance the region holds.

Ladakh is a cold desert, known for its eternal beauty (Figure-1), located in the temperate latitudes between Karakoram and Himalaya Ranges (Leh located at 34.10°N, 77.35°E). It is bordered by Tibet to the east, the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh to the south, Jammu and Kashmir and Baltistan to the west, and the southwest corner of Xinjiang across the Karakoram Pass in the far north.

Figure 1: THE BEAUTY OF LEH VALLEY Source : A winter guide to Ladakh [WWW Document], 08:11:15+05:30. . Condé Nast Traveller India. URL https://www.cntraveller.in/story/winter-guide-ladakh/ (accessed 1.20.20).

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It is bordered by Tibet to the east, the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh to the south, Jammu and Kashmir and Baltistan to the west, and the southwest corner of Xinjiang across the Karakoram Pass in the far north. It is comprised of primarily two districts: Kargil (Muslim dominated region sharing border with Pakistan) to the West and the South and Leh (Buddhist dominated region sharing border with China) in the central and eastern parts of the region (Goodall, 2004) (Figure-2).

This is primarily due to the political and geological importance the region holds.

In 2019, with the dissolution of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, Ladakh was recognised as a Union Territory thus separating from Jammu and Kashmir, opening a gateway for migration and development in the region. The unresolved disputes with Pakistan and China and increasing hostilities over the years have resulted in large and permanent military settlements over the past 50 years.

L UA CT FA

EO

LIN

SIACHIN GLACIERS

OL

R NT

CO

LINE OF CONTROL

KARGIL LEH

LADAKH

INDUS RIVER

Figure 2: MAP OF LADAKH Source : (Author,2020)

The critical political situation of Ladakh has led to the closure of trade relations through its international borders, thus, making the region heavily dependent on goods imported and subsidised by central government. This shift from the local economy dependence through existing agriculture and international trade relations, to reliance on external economies, majorly through tourism, has exposed Ladakh’s local economyto fluctuations in regional and international markets (Goodall, 2004).

“Ladakh is now a typical example of an internal periphery, whose destiny is largely controlled by a centralised, lowland political power” (Goodall, 2004).

Leh, the capital city, is located in the Trans- Himalayan region of Ladakh along a northern-tributary of Indus River at an altitude of 3500 m a.s.l (Figure-3). Like most of the Himalayan towns, Leh has a significant political and religious influence on its urban development and infrastructure improvement since the 19th century.

Fig 3: Repeat photography of Leh, taken from Tsemo Hill. The photographs show the axis of the main bazaar as a key urban structure. At the time of the early twentieth century, the large number of shops reflects the importance of trading activities for the small town. Recent urbanisation is characterised by intensive building activities in the centre and periphery of Leh, which reflects the growing diversity of services and functions for the region (upper photograph (a): C.G. Rawling 1903–1905; lower photograph (b): M. Nüsser 2013.

Source : (Dame,2019)

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Due to its strong geopolitical and topographical situation, it serves as an important transition node in Trans- Himalayan trade networks between South and Central Asia (Dame, 2019).

Leh Town being the most developed region of Leh District, with better job opportunities, education facilities, health services and infrastructure development, has become exposed to excessive rural-urban migration over the years.

The built-up area of Leh quintupling from 36 ha to 196 ha between 1967 and 2017; 18660 new buildings emerging in the town’s urban fabric between 1969 and 2017 (Dame, 2019), reflects the rapid demographic growth in construction activities and infrastructure development.

The figure (Figure-4) clearly indicates terraced agriculture plots dominating Leh Valley until 1969. Highest built-up density is seen in the old town and bazaar area, dispersing into hamlets

such as Sankar, Ganglas and Gonpa, connected by a few roads. Huge military settlements and Leh Airport is based in the western and south western parts of the region (Dame, 2019).

This increasing urbanisation and infrastructure development in Leh has exposed the town to a series of environmental and urban issues. The rural-urban migration leading to huge shifts in the demographics which has made the town vulnerable to problems of air pollution and water scarcity in the region. Due to an ever-increasing tourism sector in Leh, water consumption has increased exponentially causing insufficient supply of water for agriculture in summer months. Construction to cater for the tourism industry near riverbeds and on alluvial fans, subjected to frequent flash floods and debris flows after torrential rainfall, has exposed the town to catastrophic natural hazards (Dame, 2019).

1.2. RESEARCH QUESTION 1. What are the factors governing the overall urban growth of Leh (Ladakh), India?

2. Why Urbanisation should be in line with the topographical context of a region?

3. How can we develop high mountain regions in a sustainable way?

1.3. RESEARCH AIM 1. To understand the current trends in the urban growth of Leh in context to its location, geopolitical and cultural situation.

2. To understand the threats of excessive and reckless urbanisation in high mountain regions.

3. To suggest ways to urbanise Leh in a sustainable way.

1.4. RESEARCH PROBLEMS 1. Frequent natural disasters threatening the town’s existence due to over construction and climate change.

2. Air and water pollution and water scarcity due to over population.

3. Threats due to tourism industry.

4. Rural- Urban migration into agricultural land.

Leh Airport

Fig 4: URBAN DEVELOPMENT OF LEH BETWEEN 1969 AND 2017 Source : (Dame,2019)

DEVELOPING ECOLOGICALLY SUSTAINABLE HIGH MOUNTAIN REGIONS DETERMINING FUTURE OF LEH (LADAKH), INDIA

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Chapter 2. Leh Town - Case Study

1.5. RESEARCH METHODS Detailed mapping exercise has been used as a primary method to understand the urban sprawl, land uses, river bed zones, gradient based development and the role of tourism industry. Detailed study to understand the climate, physical features like mountain ranges, lakes and rivers, region’s richness in biodiversity and urban and architectural character has been done through site photos and serial visions. Data regarding the mapping has been collected from government documents, site surveys and GIS mapping.

Futher, detailed case study analysis for Leh Market has been carried to understand zone-based development in the old part of the town and its architectural character. Visual Analysis has been used for Leh Market town to better understand the streetscapes, public spaces and Leh’s unique architecture.

A number of secondary sources have been used to understand the urban pattern of Leh, reasons for such a development and its impacts on the ecosystem. Further literature has been studied to understand the role of tourism industry in the existence of Leh. The role of military establishment, NGOs, private organizations and social workers towards sustainable developments have been studied thoroughly.

The theory behind ecological and sustainable development for high-mountain regions, current practices in the field of sustainability and relevant examples have been studied in detail through books and research papers. Using all these methods, loop holes in the current development and management process has been identified, that helped in developing strategies and suggestion for the future of Leh.

2.1. INTRODUCTION Urbanisation today has led to huge impacts on the climatic situation all over the world.

Population growth, ever-increasing pollution, water scarcity, depletion of non-renewable resources, extinction of flora and fauna, etc., have become major threats to the existence of life.

Mountains are a source of diverse ecosystem contributions like fresh water, biodiversity and soil that constitutes a major life support for a large section of the world’s population. On the other hand, they also largely impact climatic changes by elevating global warming levels (Tiwari, 2018).

Urban development of High Mountain areas become even more critical in current times. These areas, because of their sensitive geographical location and ecology, possess serious threats to the mountain ecosystems.

Global environmental changes, population dynamics and economic globalisation are the major drivers in the exploitation of mountain resources, which have started to have serious repercussions on the sustainability of these high mountain regions (Tiwari, 2018) (Figure 5).

This chapter focuses on understanding the impact of urbanisation in Trans- Himalayan region of Leh (Ladakh), India.

MOUNTAIN ECOSYSTEM

THREATENED BY

GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT CHANGES

POPULATION DYNAMICS

ECONOMIC GLOBALISATION

EXPLOITATION OF MOUNTAIN RESOURCES

Figure 5: THREATS TO MOUNTAIN ECOLOGY Source : (Author,2020) based on (Tiwari, 2018).

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2.2. HISTORY OF LADAKH Leh was the capital of the independent kingdom of Ladakh (950-1842) (Dame, 2019). It has been a subject to immigrant population, Brokpas from Dadarstan being the first immigrants ,to Karja (Kulu), an Aryan race. Immigrants from Tibet (spreading Buddhism) and Islamic missionaries (peacefully preaching Islam) constitute a major influence on the religious composition of present-day Ladakh. Until 7th century A.D., Leh was a part of Greater Ladakh which was not under the Tibet influence. In 7th century A.D. China and Tibet were in the state of war which were fought in the Baltistan area of Greater Ladakh.

The ruler of Kashmir, Laltadita conquered Ladakh in 8th Century A.D. Around this period, Arabs joined the China-Tibet war, conquering Kashghar and establishing control over Central

Asia, fragmenting Greater Ladakh into pieces in the process.

The ruler of Tibet invaded Ladakh in the 10th century A.D., turning Ladakh into an independent country (LAHDC Leh, 2020). In 1842, four years after the Dogra army invasion, Ladakh became a part of the Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir, under an indirect British colonial rule. After Indian independence in 1947 and subsequent India-Pakistan partition, Ladakh became a part of Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir, acquiring a sensitive political and socioeconomic status (Dame, 2019). In August 2019, Ladakh became Union Territory, thus separating from Jammu and Kashmir, a political measure that would have a huge impact on the urban growth of Ladakh in near future.

Figure 6: LEH (LADAKH), INDIA Source : (Author, 2020)

2.3. EXISTING URBAN DEVELOPMENT OF LEH TOWN

Leh Ladakh is divided into 3 districts: Leh and Zanskar, dominated by Buddhist population and Kargil dominated by Muslims. The Union Territory of Ladakh comprises 52% of Buddhist, 46% Muslim and 2% Hindu (Census of India, 2011). Leh, capital city of Ladakh, located at an altitude of 3500m above sea level, is popular for its mesmerising and ‘untouched’ beauty, attracting thousands of tourists every year (Figure-6). The city is rich in terms of culture and heritage, comprising of king’s palace, Buddhist monasteries, sacred sites of worship, an ancient bazaar and the old town (Dame, 2019).

Leh district is the 2nd largest district in India by area, covering an area of 45100 sq. and the population density of 3/ sq. km (Census of India, 2011). After officially becoming a city in 2005 (Alexander, 2007), Leh has been developing and

expanding ever since, offering job opportunities, health and educational facilities, better infrastructure service and high potential for the tourism industry, thus attracting thousands of people from nearly towns and villages.

According to the Census of India (2011), Leh district’s urban population has risen from 2895 (1911) to 30,870 (2011) (Dame, 2019) (Figure-8). The actual population of Leh town is expected to be even higher as the Census does not include the large army settlements and rural seasonal migrants with a second home in Leh. The number of inhabitants in Leh significantly increases in summers due to the spike in tourism, which attracts large number of migrants in search of labor jobs in tourism, agriculture and infrastructure sectors.

INDIA

Figure 7: LOCATION OF LEH Source : (Author, 2020)

Figure 8: URBAN POPULATION GROWTH IN LEH DISTRICT Source : (Author,2020) based on (Dame, 2019)

DEVELOPING ECOLOGICALLY SUSTAINABLE HIGH MOUNTAIN REGIONS DETERMINING FUTURE OF LEH (LADAKH), INDIA

LADAKH

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Like any other Trans-Himalayan regions, the unplanned and unregulated urban growth of Leh acts as a major driver of global and local environment change (Tiwari, 2018).

Better road connectivity, growth of domestic and international tourism sector, economic globalisation and absence of urban land use policy are the main factors leading to the current urban problems of Leh. The ever-expanding urban settlement of Leh, in terms of its increasing size, area and complexity, has led to the expansion of the urban processes generating abundant employment opportunities, socio-economic services and infrastructure development (Tiwari, 2018), resulting in exploitation of the delicate ecosystem of Leh. This exploitation and reckless urbanisation, has disrupted the ecological system of the region, depleting Leh of its natural resources, making the area vulnerable to natural disasters like landslides and flash floods and has created water problems in the region. Another important factor affecting Leh’s urbanisation pattern is its critical geo-political situation. After the Sino-Indian war in 1962-65, Leh has become a high security area resulting

in the establishment of large military settlements in the region. The Ladakh Scouts, a Ladakhi Army Regiment, was strengthened and expanded, followed by subsequent construction of military bases and airfields. The strategic importance of Leh provided a golden opportunity for better infrastructure development to sustain the military settlements, largely impacting Leh’s urban development and its economic growth (Goldstein, 1981).

Huge investments were made towards infrastructure of Leh, especially road construction to improve the region accessibility primarily for the military troops. Shrinagar-Leh Highway (operational in 1962) and Manali- Leh Highway (operational in 1970) which were initially built for military purposes, were later on opened for civic transport, attracting large number of tourists every year. The out-migration from rural areas into Leh town in search of employment, better educational and health facilities and improved quality of life, has led to further improvement in the town’s road connectivity and expansion of its tourism sector (Dame, 2019).

Figure 9: EXPANSION INTO BARREN LAND

Source : (Dame, 2019)

2.3.1. Urbanisation Pattern In Leh Town A unique characteristic pattern has been identified in case of Leh’s urban development.

The town’s urbanisation is largely affected by three factors. First, urban expansion into the barren land (Figure-9). Between 2003-2019, a large area of barren land, not suitable for construction, has been taken over for massive construction largely used for residences, administrative sector, infrastructure and road developments, temporary and permanent migrant population and refuge settlements (Dame, 2019). Since most of these areas are not suitable for construction, its has left the region to high risk of natural disaster. Second trend identified is the expansion of the infrastructure and tourism industry into agricultural land.

“Between 1969 and 2017 the percentage of agriculture land loss increased from 1% in 1969 to 5% in 2003 and by 2017, it had risen to 8%” (Dame, 2019) (Figure-10).

The third trend that was observed affecting the urbanisation process is densification of built-up areas (Dame, 2019). As a result of modernisation, huge residential colonies like Ibex Colony emerged in the outskirts of Leh in order to support the rural-urban migration.

Due to the fragmentation of joint families into nuclear families, the demand in the number of housing units has largely increased, resulting in a shift from low rise buildings to mid or high rise.

Figure 10: EXPANSION INTO AGRICULTURE LAND Source : (Dame, 2019)

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1969

2003

2010

2019

2010

2019

2010

2019

2010

2019

2.3.2. Reasons Of Urban Growth In Leh Town Urbanisation in Leh Town, is driven by four main factors namely: Administration and Infrastructure Centre, Tourism Industry, Diffusion of Urban Socio-Cultural Lifestyles and Geopolitical Importance of the Town (Dame, 2019).

The Creation of LAHDC (Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council) in 1995 played an important role in the increasing population of the town. Its establishment created employment opportunities among the higher qualified population and further contributed towards the construction of administrative infrastructure expansion into the barren land. Leh being the only regional transportation hub, consisting of a central bus station and the only civil airport, provided is with by far the best connectivity in the entire district. In addition to this, better health care and education facilities largely contribute to the ever growing rural-urban migration in Leh town.

Leh has developed as one of the most popular travel destinations in terms of cultural heritage and scenic landscape, attracting thousands of domestic and international tourists. The tourism industry expanded significantly in 2003 with 28400 tourists (Dame, 2019) arriving in the region.

The numbers significantly increased by 84% in 2011 further increasing by 45% in 2018 (Figure-11). Tourism boom in Leh led to major construction of the hospitality industry especially into the barren and agricultural land.

These newly constructed hotels and guest houses became a source of seasonal employment (during summers) attracting labor migrants from Nepal and Indian lowland areas. “The opening up of the region to international tourism and the decline of reliance on agriculture has led to a diffusion of urban lifestyle patterns�

(Dame, 2019).The modernisation of the society over the years, with fragmentation of multi-generational families in smaller nuclear ones, has resulted in more construction of new houses. Due to the seasonal nature of the employment available in the region, most of the migrants have established second homes in Leh. Leh is the logistic base for military transport and road infrastructure to the politically sensitive Siachin Glacier. The strategic location of Ladakh and unsettled disputes with China and Pakistan, has resulted in the expansion of Ladakh Scouts and Para Military forces, thus contributing to a massive military infrastructure in the western tributaries of the Leh Valley, near the airport area and in the Indus Valley. (Dame, 2019)

Map Showing Increasing Built Density

1969

2003

Map Showing Expansion of Road Networks

1969

2003

Map Showing Decreasing Agriculture Land

1969

Figure 11: GROWTH OF TOURISM IN LEH

Map Showing Overall Urban Development

Source : (Author,2020) based on (Press India, 2019)

Figure 12: URBAN SPRAWL (1969-2019) of LEH TOWN Source : (Author, 2020) based on Google Earth

DEVELOPING ECOLOGICALLY SUSTAINABLE HIGH MOUNTAIN REGIONS DETERMINING FUTURE OF LEH (LADAKH), INDIA

2003

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TRENDS IN LEH’S URBANISATION 2.4. CONCERNS REGARDING ECOLOGICAL INSTABILITY OF LEH TOWN DUE TO URBANISATION URBAN EXPANSION INTO BARREN LAND

1. Construction of Residential and Administration Quarters after 2003 2. Construction of units in the barren land along the eastern rim of Leh

URBAN EXPANSION INTO AGRICULTURAL LAND

Expansion of the tourism industry has led to massive construction along the alluvial fans and the river beds, making the region vulnerable to frequent flash floods (occurred in 2006, 2008, 2010, 2015 and 2018) and debris flow after torrential rainfall, resulting in huge loss of life and property. Expansion of the military bases owing to Leh’s sensitive political situation has resulted in construction of road infrastructure and other facilities support these large settlements, often expanding into the agricultural and barren land, not suitable for heavy construction. This has resulted in the loss of agricultural heritage and with limited availability of fertile land in the region, the area has become highly dependent on the import of basic food essentials (Dame, 2019).

DENSIFICATION OF BUILT-UP AREAS

1. Expansion of Road Networks 2. Expansion of Tourism Industry

1.

Construction of new housing units

2.

Re-construction of low rise units to mid/high rise units

3. Construction of Road Networks 4. Permanent and Temporary Migrant Settlements 5. Refugee Settlements

Water Pollution has become a major concern for the region. The area depends on 2 major source springs: Public and Private boreholes and water tankers in winters. Rising tourism and urban population have resulted in high consumption of water, especially during summers when there is acute shortage of water. The waste water from the septic tanks drawing into the irrigation canals and groundwater has resulted in water contamination and clean water supply problems (Dame, 2019).

2.5. MOVEMENTS TOWARDS ECOLOGY PRESERVATION IN LEH DRIVERS OF URBAN CHANGE

Administrative, Infrastructure and Services

Development of Tourism Sector

Diffussion of urban socio-cultural lifestyles

Geo-political Importance

CAUSES OF URBAN ISSUES

CALL FOR IMPROVEMENT IN URBAN GOVERNANCE Figure 13: URBANISATION IN LEH Source : (Author ,2020) based on (Dame, 2019)

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The urban issues in Leh are mostly caused due to the loose government policies and careless management (as discussed earlier). After 2010 severe flash floods that killed 234 people and injured more than 800 in Leh and nearby villages (Dame, 2019), prompted various governing bodies to take necessary action towards ecological urban development of Leh. Leh Municipal Corporation and LAHDC (Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council) founded in 1995, together took a lead in urban planning, sanitation, garbage disposal, traffic management, granting of building permits and implementing political decisions concerning the region. In 2011, LAHDC, in collaboration with National institute of Disaster Management, drafted a district level disaster management plan to impose building restrictions in disaster prone area (Dame, 2019). This was done to ensure that the alluvial fans and river beds are free of construction are those settlements are not affected by flash floods and debris flow after torrential rainfall.

In 2013, as a part of the Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT) initiated by Government of India, a water management plan was enforced.

With a budget of 34.5 million US Dollars for Leh, the scheme aimed at solving the deteriorating quantity and quality of water resources by establishing water supply systems, sewage systems and sewage treatment plants for houses in Leh (Dame, 2019).

Indian Army and NGOs are also playing a big role in providing welfare and rescue programs and preserving the old town and its cultural heritage (Dame, 2019).

2.5.2. Interventions By Sonam Wangchuk Sonam Wangchuk, an educationist and Earth Architect in Ladakh, is working towards the urban and ecological development of the region.

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Over many years now, he and his team has been working towards developing the area in a way to cause minimum ecological damage.

According to Mr. Wangchuk (Wangchuk,2020) , the Ladakh’s ecology is very delicate and hence extreme caution should be taken to prevent it from collapsing.

2.5.2.1. Ice Stupa Another important and recent invention is the Ice Stupa Artificial Glaciers. This invention is based on the glacier grafting technique. In Ladakh, there is acute shortage of water in Spring when the seed plantation is done. On the contrary there is plenty of water in other seasons, especially winters, and the water is simply going waste. The Ice stupas are created by collecting the winter water through pipes which sprinkles to form mountains of ice when the temperature drops to -30. In summers, when there is acute shortage of water, these artificial glaciers melt providing water for farming. Hence, a cold desert now becomes suitable for farming (Nadkarni, 2018) (Figure-14).

2.5.2.1. SECMOL Mr. Wangchuk and his team has developed a lot of sustainable ways of developing the area and their quest still continues. His first invention is the Passive Solar Mud Buildings (Nadkarni, 2018) in mountainous regions. His school, SECMOL, is a perfect example (Figure-15). The whole building is made of mud instead of concrete. The school is not connected with the main power supply and is run on solar energy. The buildings are oriented towards the South direction as the sun travels from East to West via South and maximum heat comes from that direction in the winters. To trap the heat in the winters, Greenhouses effect is used. Further the buildings are insulated with wood residues which are filled in the ceilings and floors during constructions. The greenhouse effect and the insulation together help to heat up the interiors and raises the temperature from -30O C to +14O C. The school does not only use solar energy for electricity and heating purposes but also for cooking. A large concave mirror is placed on the terrace where in the rays of the sun fall, the rays are focused on a point in the interior of the building. At this point more mirrors are placed which further focuses the sun rays to the kitchen where it heats up the utensils to cook food (Nadkarni, 2018) (Figure-16).

Green House Plantation

Insulating Ceiling with Wood Fiber to Trap Heat

Mounting

Dismounting Ramped Earth Concept

Green House Plantation

Figure 15: GREEN HOUSE CONCEPT

Source : (Author ,2020) based on (Nadkarni, 2018)

Cooking

Fig 14: ICE STUPA PROJECT Source : (Ice Stupa, 2019)

Water Heating

Electricity Generation

Figure 16: USE OF SOLAR ENERGY Source : (Nadkarni, 2018)

Figure 15: SOUTH ORIENTATION TO COLLECT SOLAR HEAT Source : (Nadkarni, 2018)

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2.5.2.3. HIAL (Himalayan Institute of Alternatives, Ladakh) HIAL mission, that included establishing a higher education institute for mountain development in Leh, was launched in 2017, with an aim to help the younger generation to understand the sensitivity and challenges faced by the Ladakh community and empower them with environmentally sustainable solutions to solve these problems.

Three departments have been proposed concerning three major urban issues in Ladakh (Tourism, Construction and Environment). The School of Sustainable Tourism will promote high-end solar-heated mud-built hotels and homestays.

The School of Sustainable Architecture will focus on developing a smart green city around the university area. The School of Environment Studies will deal with projects to combat climate change.

HIAL, a residential institute accommodating 100 students and 10 faculty members, has been proposed to be built entirely out of natural materials like earth, will be sustainable, economical, almost entirely run on solar power, grow most of its own food and watered by artificial glaciers (Ray, 2018).

HIAL also started the “I Live Simply “ Movement to promote simple and eco-friendly living, creating a zero-carbon city, discouraging the use of single use plastics, etc (HIAL, 2019).

2.4. CONCLUSION The urbanisation in Leh is governed by 4 major drivers namely tourism, administrative and infrastructure services, diffusion of socio-cultural lifestyles and its strategic location, leading to rural-urban migration.

After Ladakh became a Union Territory, there is no law towards the protection of its land, resources, culture and ethnicity, exposing Leh to exploitation of its mountains and rivers for minerals, by other Indian regions.

Measures should be taken to protect this tribal community, a cultural and ethnic minority, to prevent further melting of its glaciers and ultimately work towards the survival of such a fragile ecosystem.

ACTORS

INTERVENTIONS

Leh Municipal Corporation

Took Lead in Urban Planning, Sanitation, Garbage Disposal, Traffic Management and Granting of Building permits

LADAKH AUTONOMOUS HILL DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL

Implementing Political Decisions

Welfare and Rescue Programs

Preserving Old Town And Cultural Heritage

Army

NON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS

Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small Towns (2013)

District Level Disaster Management Plan

National Institute of Disaster Management

Sustainable Alternatives of Building Construction

SECMOL Sonam Wangchuk ‘I Live Simply’ Movement

The measures taken by the government authorities, Indian Army, NGOs and Personal drives and interventions by Sonam Wangchuk has helped in climate change mitigation and adaptation in Leh but the situation still needs careful planning in terms of migration, tourism and urban development control rules for the region.

HAIL

Ice Stupa

Figure 17: STEPS TOWARDS ECOLOGY PRESERVATION IN LEH Source : (Author, 2020)

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Chapter 3. Sustainable Development for High Mountain Regions

3.2. WHAT IS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT?

3.1. INTRODUCTION Today, the rapid urban growth, increasing population and high standards of living has taken a major toll on the environment. The human settlement started out naturally, camouflaging within the nature, integrating into it completely. As the human race advanced over centuries developing high end technologies and improving their standards of living, the settlements started expanding into inhabitable spaces like mountains and deserts, making them un-natural and creating strain on the environment for its existence. Today, the pressure on our ecological system has reached its saturation level with nature retaliating in the form of climate

change, natural disasters, fire hazards, ozone depletion, pollution, endangering various flora and fauna species and so on. The need of the hour is to protect our dying planet by adopting various methods to achieve environmental sustainability, creating healthy and sustainable future for the coming generations. This chapter focuses on the meaning of sustainable development and how it can be achieved for sensitive high mountain ecology. The chapter also discusses current trends in sustainable urbanism and suitable examples of cities where these methods have been adopted.

According to Sim Van Der Ryn (Walter, 1993), sustainable development is the practice of being sensitive towards the needs and well being of the future generation while catering to the needs of the present. It essentially means for the present generation to learn to differentiate between ‘needs’ and ‘wants’ (Walter, 1993) and seeking a balance between environmental, social and economic limitations to create a better present and an even better future.

The environmental crisis, that has dawned upon us in the form of bush fires killing Koala habitat or in the form of melting glaciers, is a cry for immediate action that we as architects and urban planners need to take to develop our towns and cities fit for a healthy future.

Today, if we do not wake up in time and start acting upon this crisis immediately, the ecology might collapse, in coming years, thus ending the entire human race.

The world’s greatest minds are actively promoting their initiatives of space colonisation in order to protect the extinction of the human race by escaping our deteriorating habitat (Figure-19).

Is escaping the environment issues, we have created over decades, and colonising into an alien, inhabitable environment, the correct way to resolve our current situation? Or is actually accepting the problems we have created and solving them by bringing a change in our lifestyles and adopting sustainable architectural and urbanism practices a better way to solve the crisis we are facing today?

Figure 18: MASDAR CITY - ECO-CITY Source : (Tiwari, 2015) Figure 19: MARS HABITAT BY FOSTER+ PARTNERS Source : (Frearson, 2015)

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What we need today is appropriate holistic design and planning interventions that would take into account the ecological reality in both social and physical dimensions in order to overcome the problems created from inefficient infrastructure, over consumption of non-renewable resources and over population(Figure-18). For this, it is important for us as architects and urban planners to firstly understand the meaning of sustainability and its dimensions.

ECONOMY

This collapsing society can be prevented by simply reversing three trends of urban growth around the world (and that has been evident in case of Leh as well). These trends, conversion of agriculture land into urban villages, expansion of built form into barren land unsuitable for construction and rapid depletions of non-renewable resources before other alternatives are put in place (Walter, 1993), are the three main factors for the urban issues we are facing today. Now to save the settlements and our dying eco-systems, the only alternative is to transform the existing urban settlements and creating new ones by innovating designs sensitive towards the environment and making nature and its cycles visible to urban dwellers (Walter, 1993), including them as active participants in the new and transforming designs.

The second factor involves us to deeply consider the usage of depletable materials for construction (Walter, 1993). Switching to light weight materials and techniques that are easy to install (for example pre-fab construction or 3D printing techniques (Figure-21)) instead of using carbon producing materials like steel/ RCC is one solution that can be adopted. Reusing and Recycling of materials like wood fibre or using earth material like mud for construction (as done in case of SECMOL, Leh) should be considered on a wider scale especially in delicate eco-systems that cannot bear heavy construction.

SUSTAINABILITY

ENVIRONMENT

SOCIETY

Figure 20: DIMENSIONS OF SUSTAINABILITY Source : (Author, 2020)

Sustainability is a concept that has its roots in the ecology of natural systems (Walter, 1993). A sustainable design would take into account the reality of a place, its ecosystem, its topography, its geology, its culture and people and produce a cohesive and logical living habitat balancing between all these factors. Sustainability is to creatively predict the needs and changes of the future and creating designs that can easily adapt to these changes with minimum urban interventions.

Sustainability means creating an ecological design to prevent the society from collapsing in the future due to a domino effect of population pressure, deforestation, soil erosion and poor waste management; the factors that has been creating a stress on the basic eco-systems supporting life on Earth (Walter, 1993).

Figure 21: 3D PRINTED MUD HOUSE Source : (Sood, 2018)

Thirdly, we need to consider the eco-system of a place while designing (Walter, 1993). Soil, water, topography, flora, fauna, climate, etc should be the first and foremost criteria to be taken to consideration during urban development of a particular place, Exploiting the natural systems of a place will only result in a catastrophic collapse of the ecology, thus endangering its settlements (as happened in case of Kedarnath floods, India (Figure-22)).

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As architects and urban designers, our foremost duty is to design for the users. So, the cities and towns should cater to the needs of the people of that particular place, its design and planning should correspond to their culture and should be contextually relevant. Further social economy needs to be considered (Walter, 1993) by developing urban plans and creative solutions should be provided that are both affordable and practical.

The fifth factor is creating a self-sustaining urban dwelling in terms of economy and community (Walter, 1993). The dwelling should be able to generate its own economy and should be co-dependent on other settlements to fulfill its basic needs of survival.

Agriculture is an important aspect to be considered while developing a sustainable society (Walter, 1993). Today, as the world is rapidly urbanising, the urban economy has seen a large shift from agriculture to other sectors. As in case of Leh, we had seen, one of the major reasons of urban issues in town was the decreasing agriculture land due to the shift in the town’s economy. We need to go back to our roots and develop urban plans with agriculture playing an equal part in a town’s multi-faceted economy.

FOSSIL FUEL CONSUMPTION

LIMITING USE OF DEPLETABLE MATERIALS

SMART TECHNOLOGY

SUSTAINABLE DESIGN ECO-SYSTEM ORIENTED DESIGN

AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY

SELFSUSTAINING URBAN UNIT

PEOPLE ORIENTED DESIGN

Figure 23: 7 FACTORS GUIDING SUSTAINABLE DESIGN Source : (Author,2020) based on (Walter, 1993)

Figure 22: KEDARNATH FLOODS, INDIA Source : (Dutta, 2017)

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3.3. Sustainable Development in High Mountain Ecology Mountain regions are usually known for their physical, biological and scenic qualities. The mesmerising natural beauty, the enchanting wilderness, the flora and fauna and the golden opportunity for tourism (Hamilton and McMillan, 2004) these regions offer, makes them vulnerable to exploitation and hence rising major concerns towards their ecological development. Also, the topography restricts the available space for building and when people do not respect this topography, they break the ecosystem and they are more susceptible to natural disasters.

3.3.1 Why Protect High Mountain Regions?

Figure 24: SMART MOBILITY IN ECO-CITY DESIGN Source : (Author,2020) from Studio B Project

The seventh factor guiding a sustainable design is creating smart and efficient cities and societies (Walter, 1993). Technology if used wisely can help us reduce carbon emission, to create efficient and smart transport systems and develop efficient and sophisticated alternatives of energy generation.

Advancement in technology can be proven as an amazingly powerful weapon to create a healthy and sustainable urban dwelling.

We need to remember that a true eco-city or sustainable community is more complex concept than creating a dense and efficient land use zoning.

It incorporates zero-carbon emission, promotes usage of renewable energy sources, recycling and reusing depleting resources, creating a self-sustaining social economy and designing to cater to its people and their culture (Walter, 1993).

Sustainability, in general, is not about creating fancy modern designs (Walter, 1993), but, is about providing relevant and innovative urban interventions that would camouflage withing our eco-systems.

Figure 25: Culture of Leh Source : (Author,2020)

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Apart from the physical, biological and aesthetic dynamics of these regions, social aspects are an important factor to be considered while developing high-mountain regions. Although many existing mountain protected areas suffer from depopulation (Hamilton and McMillan, 2004), a vast majority of these areas inhabit local communities and diverse social cultures resulting in formation of unique landscapes that are a combination of both “tamed and the wild� (Hamilton and McMillan, 2004).

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The protection of these diverse cultures and local community livelihoods are endangered due to rapid urbanisation. The need of the hour is to provide cultural conservation while developing these areas of sensitive ecology in a way that does not disrupt the life and culture of residents along with broader environmental and geological conservation.

Most of the urban mountain regions suffer from the deterioration of quality and quantity of water supply (as seen in case of Leh as well) and has become a rising concern. Mountain regions also serve as source of water resources for the low-lying belts. Extra care needs to be taken to safeguard the water quality. Like the Cloud Forest in Kilimanjaro (Figure-26) that captures cloud/fog water (Hamilton and McMillan, 2004), mountain regions need such creative measures on larger scale to serve as economic water storage and reservoirs for water and power in mountain valleys.

Climate change is another major concern and reason behind protecting mountain areas. ncreasing greenhouse gases and exogenous air pollution (Hamilton and McMillan, 2004) has caused these delicate ecologies to collapse as a result of frequent natural disasters.

A perfect example would be the flash floods in Kedarnath, India.

The pilgrimage witnesses thousands of tourists every year who climb the mountains to pay their homage in Kedarnath Temple and experience the eternal beauty of Himalayas. The area was not only affected by increasing construction activities to accommodate tourism but also by global climate change.

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3.3.2. Trans-boundary Mountain Protected Areas Mountain regions and their people usually suffer from isolation and marginalisation in terms of social, economic, political and administrative aspects. Usually these regions are remotely located, extremely rich in biodiversity (Figure-28), sharing borders with one or more neighboring countries, exposed to a complete set of unique issues of management and far from the reach of the centers of economic or political power.

Hence, setting these sensitive trans-boundary regions as ‘Trans-boundary Protected Areas’ is of utmost importance. So a trans-boundary protected area means a land or region that shares a border with one or more states or provinces or regions beyond the limits of national sovereignty or jurisdiction, whose main aim is the protected and maintenance of bio-diversity, cultural and social identity, managed through legal or other effective means (Hamilton and McMillan, 2004).

Figure 27: Kedarnath Floods Source : (Bhatt, 2013) Figure 26: CLOUD FOREST, KILIMANJARO Source : (Zazzle, 2020)

Trans-boundary Mountain Protected Areas will not only deal with issues related to the ecology, climate changes, biodiversity protected and infrastructural issues as in case of other mountain regions, but will also need consideration regarding political, cultural and legal issues similar to those for trans-boundary areas.

Hence trans-boundary mountain protected areas would confront with a set of more complex issues tangled into another in a holistic form with an aim to develop the region in a sustainable way, protecting the landforms and viable habitats from collapsing in the future (Hamilton and McMillan, 2004).

These guidelines would deal with protection biological diversity (flora, fauna, wetlands, glaciers, etc.) with a unified approach of management involving all adjacent areas playing their part in the process. Global climate change and its adverse effects on these sensitive ecologies should be monitored jointly by all the trans-boundary management.

In 2013, when the area was affected by flash floods, the landform could not bear the water flow as it was weakened by these tourism activities, thus making these flash floods as one of the most severe disasters of the country, wiping out entire villages and settlements withing 24-72 hours (Figure-27).

These high-altitude belts need protection offering opportunities for global climate change and air quality research and monitoring. Most of the high mountain regions have been developed as tourist attractions which contribute to a major chunk of the region’s economy. Tourism development in such sensitive land lacks efficient management and demands a proactive policy and management approach to avoid high-altitude regions from collapsing. Most of these areas are politically sensitive, resulting in the establishment of large military settlements along the national borders. These military settlements can play an important role in establishing welfare programmes protecting the social diversity and integrity of the local community.

Figure 28: RICH BIODIVERSITY OF LEH Source : (Author,2020)

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The river Indus originates from China, flows northwest into the south-eastern boundary of the disputed region of Kashmir, runs down into Leh from where it breaks into several tributaries one of which flows into Pakistan (Lodrick and Ahmad, 2019). Thus, the quality of water at any source affects not just the country where the source is present but also other countries where its tributaries flow into.

Therefore, water management should be done in unison with equal efforts taken by all cross-boundary regions involved.

Another important aspect to be considered is to monitor the infrastructural development in these regions. These regions usually suffer from problems that rise due to the unplanned development of hard infrastructures like roads, cable-ways, telecommunication towers, etc, that not only create hindrance visually for the visitors but also affect the ecosystem of the region as a whole future (Hamilton and McMillan, 2004). Most of these regions are developed as any other landform in the country would be treated, which exacerbates the

problems of soil erosion, pollution, landslides, floods, etc. Hence its important to keep in mind the uniqueness of these regions and respect them while making development decisions (Figure-29).

As established earlier, transboundary mountain areas are remotely located with marginalised communities often having their cultural and social identity at stake. Sometimes, in these regions the communities may historically have been refugees from neighbouring countries and thus might share cultural identity of all cross-boundary regions. Thus, the government authorities should be sensitive in preservation of their culture and promote easy communication, awareness, and understanding these ties and their significance. Lastly, legal and political issues are the most important factors that distinguish these areas from other mountain regions.

The authorities need to respect the rule and laws already in place and should form new sets of rules to ensure sustainable development without undermining the existing functional arrangements.

Further, these areas are often subject to cross-border conflict and insecurity that the community might suffer. These regions often hold large military settlements to ensure national security.

Military establishments should be key role players in promoting peaceful co-operation in day-to-day management issues and pay extra attention to the needs and community issues in trans-boundary mountain regions (Hamilton and McMillan, 2004). Trans-boundary Mountain Protected Areas should develop holistically considering not only the urban and architectural aspects but also including political and administrative measures.

Figure 30: LOCAL COMMUNITY (LEH) Source : (Chojeor, 2015)

3.3.2.1. Communities as ‘Partners’ The most common mistake that we as planners make while developing such protected areas is not appropriately including local communities in the decision-making process. The mountains are often inhabited by local communities that either are self-sufficient with a subsistence economy or are reliant on outside resources to some extent or completely. With not much development taking place in these remote areas, these communities suffer severely from out migration breaking down the social fabric.

Figure 29: INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT IN LEH Source : (Author,2020)

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Mountain protect areas must be developed adequately and in a controllable way to offer sufficient opportunities to the local communities, to make them self-sufficient and ensuring the preservation of their unique culture, history and landform. Since the knowledge of rights, lifestyles, local land uses, architectural and urban history, cultural values and the social problems of a region would be best known and understood by the local people living there, it is absolutely essential to incorporate these communities in the development process (Hamilton and McMillan, 2004).

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3.3.2.2. Water and Soil Conservation As discussed earlier, high mountain regions are a major source of water not just for the local communities but also for the low-lying regions. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to monitor the quality and quantity of water supply in these places. Human intervention, changes in land uses, size of water catchments, geomorphic characteristics of the region and climate change are responsible for adverse hydrological changes resulting in soil erosion, variations in formation, distribution and precipitation affecting the river flow and

erosion patterns, making the place highly susceptible to either extreme droughts or severe flash floods. Most of these regions face issues of soil erosion due to built infrastructure like roads, railways and building constructed without considering the soil types, gradients, shape and length of slope and water diversion. Mountain Soil being thin and poorly developed and highly sensitive to external activities and pressures, water conservation and catchment management in these regions become the of foremost priority (Hamilton and McMillan, 2004).

The plans should also give citizens access to land and water needed to establish and maintain tourist friendly zones in line with reasonable conservation policies (Hamilton and McMillan, 2004).

In most cases, mountain areas are difficult to access which limits the age group and type of tourists visiting. Therefore, providing opportunities to explore on foot, making the regions friendly for all sorts of age groups, providing adequate facilities and activities according to seasonal and physical changes, would help in expanding the range and types of tourists (Hamilton and McMillan, 2004).

3.3.2.4. Climate Change Among all existing landforms, mountain regions are the most susceptible to climate change and their steepness, relief and physical distribution around the world makes it highly challenging to detect and monitor changes in climate and in air quality and their impacts (Hamilton and McMillan, 2004). Even if the carbon footprint of mountain protected regions is kept low, there is a high chance of these areas being affected due to global climate change and air pollution. Most of these areas are atmospherically linked to urban and industrial regions and since air pollutants are transported long distances, they tend to settle in deep valleys and in cloud belts on mountains, often reducing visibility, affecting scenic quality. Apart from this, climate change is largely affecting the water flow of rivers (water used foragricultural, industrial and domestic uses and power for both mountain and low-lying belts), either increasing or decreasing combined with glacial melting, making the region vulnerable to either severe flash floods or severe droughts (Hamilton and McMillan, 2004).

3.4. Conclusion

Figure 31: CAREFULLY SITED CAMPING SITES AT UPPER ELEVATIONS IN ITATIAIL, BRAZIL Source : (Hamilton and McMillan, 2004)

.3.2.3. Tourism Attracted by not just the physical beauty but also by spiritual qualities, high- mountain regions serve as the most popular tourist destinations.

Along with providing tourists with outdoor natural recreational environment as a mode of escape from their routine lives, its essential to ensure visitors of their responsibilities as a

tourist in such sensitive ecologies. The tourism industry usually serves as the major economy in high mountain regions and hence healthy local-tourist relationship should be ensured. Management plans drafted for these regions should not only incorporate policies for the visitors but must also state the basic responsibilities and etiquettes expected of them as temporary users.

Sustainability is a concept that is being interpreted in different ways. Nevertheless, it has become essentially important to adopt the concept in context with the region, climate, socio-culture and landforms we are dealing with.

Although the concept has multiple layer to it, some being obvious like ecology, environment, communities and tourism (Figure-32), others like management, politics and administration are equally important but are usually undermined, its basic philosophy remains the same i.e., creating a healthy present and a healthier future.

PARAMETERS OF HIGH-MOUNTAIN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Biodiversity Conversation Local Community Participation Water and Soil Conservation

Tourism

Climate Change Figure 32: PARAMETERS OF HIGH MOUNTAIN SUSTAINABILITY Source : (Author,2020) based on (Hamilton and McMillan, 2004)

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Chapter 4. Achieving Holistic Sustainability Globally 4.1. INTRODUCTION Now as we have understood the basic essence of sustainability and the need for it to be adopted for the betterment of our cities and societies, its necessary for us to understand the way in which this quest can be achieved. While most of the world has begun to understand the importance of sustainable and ecological development, community participation and growth, eco-tourism, efficient policy making and biodiversity conservation, some countries and regions have succeeded in integrating all these layers holistically and achieved tremendous results. This chapter will look at the current trends in the field and a few examples to learn from.

and cycling among residents (Figure-33), are some of the land use and planning strategies adopted by planners around the world with an aim to tackle the ecological problem at hand (Sassi, 2006).

Energy efficient building forms like terraces and flats to decrease energy consumption, recycling and community composting, developing social infrastructure supporting all groups of people, adopting mixed use planning concept to provide more leisure time, strong

community feeling, high standards of living and promoting low car dependency, creating innovative and efficient public spaces for community interaction enhancing social health and life, regenerating dead spaces thus reducing issues relating to public security and using less polluting technology as an alternative to fossil fuel burning cars, are now widely popular to achieve carbon-free, sustainable societies (Sassi, 2006).

4.2. TRENDS IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 4.2.1. Land Use Changing land use pattern in today’s contemporary world is one of the major reasons of environmental instability and largely affect the region’s biodiversity. Some plants have the ability to adapt to these changes but a large number cannot. Land use pattern change affects landforms, economy, culture and population (Sassi, 2006). A land primarily used for agriculture, today serving as urban concrete forests, substantially affects the ecology as the land form is not equipped to heavy structural loads. This trend also affects the economy and makes the region dependent on import of basic necessities. Therefore, it is important to reconsider the land use patterns we have adopted today and try to bring in adequate changes that would respond both to the past and future. Land use policies are affected at different levels of policies like regional policies, state policies, sectoral policies based on national policies, forest and agricultural policies. If all these governing levels work in co-ordination providing flexibility at the regional levels, better land use efficiency could be achieved (Huber, 2013).

Today planners are concentrating on calculating the ecological footprint in order to determine land requirements for sustaining human

activities like food, water, energy, materials, waste disposal, population, building capacity, etc., and take decisions wherever necessary to increase land area that is capable of assimilating waste and pollution generated by humans (natural waste assimilation systems) including areas for water filtration, biodegradable waste disposal and CO2 absorption (Sassi, 2006).

Natural waste assimilation systems are not only cost effective but also provide habitats for flora and fauna and natural environments for people to enjoy (Sassi, 2006).

Making efficient use of available land and abandoned buildings while discouraging greenfield development (inclusion of forestry and agricultural conservation departments in policy making could enforce laws against greenfield development (Huber, 2013)), building and renovating infrastructure that are not only attractive but are eco-friendly and energy efficient as well, designing functional layouts comprising of good quality infrastructure, well designed streets and efficient public spaces, creating self-sufficient urban units consisting of work, living, commercial, leisure and other essential activities to sustain communities in order to reduce commute time, hence decreasing the use of personal vehicles and providing efficient public transport systems, promoting walking

Figure 33: PLANTED CORRIDOR BRIDGE, MILE END PARK, LONDON Source : (Sassi, 2006)

Conservation of biodiversity is considered as a critical solution to overcome the environmental issues today’s modern world is facing. Countries like Bhutan have taught the world that remaining carbon-neutral is not impossible if right measures are taken towards conservation. Introducing nesting places for birds and bats, growing native plants, developing new and attractive ponds and removal of invasive non-native plants to support native once are some of the few strategies followed to achieve biodiversity conservation.

Green roofs serving as elevated land for growing shrubs, trees and self-seeding local vegetations solves the issue of non-availability of land on ground for plantation and also benefits the building in achieving energy efficiency goal by providing insulation against heat or cold, reducing storm water runoff up to 90% and reducing smog and dust particles thus making the environment around cleaner and healthier.

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4.2.2. Recycling of Buildings Recycling of buildings or their components are considered as one of the best strategies to achieve sustainability. A lot of buildings remaining vacant and in decent conditions can be recycled or reused to adopt new functions in a creative and innovative way. By adopting simple and sensitive ideas from retaining complete building structures (Figure-35 shows how the existing building is used in the project creatively by adding simple extensions) and renovating the interiors as per the purpose to using small components from buildings that are

beyond repair and cannot be used, like using recycled glass, cork, recycled rubber, broken concrete pavements, etc., for tiling or using drilling rods for fencing purposes or making use of reclaimed wood or bamboos to make doors, windows, panels, etc., using waste metal as aggregate for concrete kitchen tops, wood fiber for floor/ceiling insulation, using used doors, windows, etc and resizing them according to the design, and so on, we can ensure improvement in energy efficiency and reduction of construction waste at the same time (Sassi, 2006).

Figure 34: INTENSIVE GREEN ROOF FOR RWE EMPLOYEES IN ESSEN Source : (Sassi, 2006)

Green roofs (Figure-34) usually benefits wildlife by introducing natural habitats into urban units thus integrated urban and nature into a single unit and by growing plants that attracts specific wildlife like bees, butterflies, nesting birds, etc (Sassi, 2006).

Another important trend is encouraging local food production. As discussed earlier, with a shift in global economy from agriculture to industrial, agricultural land is quickly disappearing into concrete urban jungles. Planners have identified the need to provide opportunities and adequate spaces for growing food at a community level, strategically placed on buildings or in gardens. By allocating communal spaces for food production in the form of allotments or community gardens would not only promote communal interaction, easy access to basic necessities to those disadvantaged by age or health and promoting healthy contact with nature, but will also ensure in making the city/ community self-sufficient in terms of vegetables, fruits and other basic food essentials. Since these urban farms are small scale, organic farming is easily achievable, thus reducing pesticide pollution which is extremely expensive to clean (Sassi, 2006).

Figure 35: SANDERS ECO-RENOVATION PHOENIX, USA Source : (Sassi, 2006)

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4.2.3. Using Reclaimed Materials Usually reclaimed materials are sourced from development site itself on nearby location and require no minimal treatment. Their self-finished and minimal fixing character makes them highly economical. Being small standard components, these materials are modular in nature and can easily fit into any design. However, there are certain limitations to reclaimed materials especially in terms of affordability. If the materials need to be resized according to the design, it might increase the cost of construction. Moreover, availability of reclaimed materials for big projects is a problem and hence proper planning is required to overcome these limitations (Sassi, 2006).

MATERIAL RESOURCES OUTSTANDING Arsenic

21 Years

Aluminium/ Bauxite

200 Years 600 Years of bauxite reserves at current rates of consumption/ 80 Years of economically exploitable ores.

295 Years 27 Years 105 Years 36 Years 22 Years 200 Years of supply at current rates of consumption/ 100 years of supply at exponential growth rates of consumption 20 Years 55 Years 24 Years 28 Years 70 Years 21 Years

4.2.4. Recycling of Materials

Figure 36: Creative Recycled-Glass window Source : (Sassi, 2006)

Recycled materials are used to produce building products from waste materials produced in landfill sites, through incineration and domestic and commercial activities.

There has been a shift in trend where people today have started using ‘recycling’ as a selling point. Usually sellers do not reveal the material that they have recycles, but the commonly used once include used plastic bottles, glass containers, newspapers, metal cans, clothes,

vehicle tyres, packaging materials, manufacturing waste from yogurt production, rubber flooring or slate roofing industry and by products achieved in industrial production process (Sassi, 2006).

Harnessing waste to produce creative components for buildings not only feeds a designer’s creative impulse, but also prevents the non-biodegradable, carbon-rich materials from overloading the landfills and eventually polluting the ecology (Souza, 2019).

Recycled materials can be creatively used (Figure-36) to raise awareness in the community about the abundant applications of recycled materials.

4.2.5. Avoiding Resource Depletion In building construction, there are a lot of eco-friendly, non-renewable materials in use that replace those with high carbon footprint. Although most of these materials are available in plenty and do not pose a risk of exhaustion in near future, there still is a danger of them exhausting in decades to come. As these materials take millenniums to form and their rate of exhaustion is way higher than rate of formation, with some involving formation conditions that no longer exist, architects and urban planners have smartly shifted to the use of renewable construction materials (Sassi, 2006).

(Figure 37) shows depletion time for eco-friendly materials that are popular used in construction.

Renewable materials can be defined as those that can form within human lifetime or less and are biodegradable at the same time.

Boric Salts Cadmium Chrome Copper Gold Iron Ore

Lead Nickel Sulphur Tin Titanium Zinc Oil Gas Carbon

Thus formation-usage cycle for these materials is a closed loop. Timber, straw and bamboo are the most commonly used renewable materials with wide construction applications (when combined with other materials) like structural purposed, providing insulation, infilling external wall frames, in finishing or structural boards, fittings, bathtubs and sinks, etc. Jute along with sea grass, sisal, coir, cotton and wool are commonly used in carpet industry. Plants and grass with annual growth and trees that take only a few decades to mature are also widely popular in sustainable construction (Sassi, 2006).

41 Years 60 Years Coal(Hard) - 326 Years Coal(Soft) - 434 Years

PLENTIFUL Sand

Clay

Gypsum

Perlite

Gravel

Earth

Lime

Quartz

Stone Figure 37: MATERIAL RESOURCES Source : (Sassi, 2006)

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4.2.6. Ramped Earth as a Construction Material

4.2.8. Eco-tourism

Another sustainable technique is using earth as a material for construction. The main advantage is that earth material will never deplete and is highly economical. Additionally, it is the most eco-friendly way of construction possible as it does not intoxicate ground or water resources and thus pose no health risks. They are fire and termite resistant and are highly durable with minimum maintenance required. These materials are highly popular and useful in delicate ecology where heavy construction is weakening the landforms (Sassi, 2006).

Tourism has drastically increased in the past few decades with people wanting to find an escape from their daily routine life. Most of the times, they prefer locations that are remote and difficult to access, thus largely involving air travel. As a result, tourism, today, contributes to approximately 5% of the total man-made green house effect. Tourism, toady pays as both a victim of and contributor to global climate change (Gรถssling et al., 2008).

Eco-tourism concept focuses on reducing the negative impact on environment by adopting diverse strategies at both planning and administrative levels. While taking into consideration the importance of energy efficient light fittings in hotels and working towards reducing green house gas emissions, it also promotes sustainable tourism transport systems.

4.3.

Tourism industry has started to promote closer destinations that do not need air travel but can use more eco-friendly systems like trains, buses, etc., promoting longer stays than shorter once, using fuel efficient and climate friendly vehicles, public transit systems for local travel, using carbon-neutral airlines, adopting practices like separating waste for efficient disposal, educating tourists on environment friendly behaviour and controlling the number of tourists at a time according to the region and its ecological conditions. Some governments apply tax or prohibit certain activities that can harm the ecology of the place. They are encouraging development of low-emission infrastructures along with retention and improvement of existing rail tracks and constructing new once to expand the rail network (Gรถssling et al., 2008).

ECOTOURISM IN NEPAL

Figure 38: TEACHING BLOCK MADE OF RAMPED EARTH IN THURGOONA CAMPUS, AUSTRALIA Source : (Sassi, 2006)

4.2.7. Energy and Sustainable Buildings One of the most efficient ways of sustainable planning and design is to work with the context of the natural environment of the site or region. Orienting buildings in order to maximized solar gain or using plants and landscapes to protector take advantage of winds according to the climatic requirements and creating efficient natural cooling and shading patterns are popular design strategies adopted globally (Sassi, 2006).

Minimizing heat loss to provide necessary insulation in cold climates, minimizing unnecessary heat gain using solar shading, insulating with reflecting finishes, providing

buffer zones and encouraging natural ventilation and cooling systems can reduce the need for passive heating or cooling, thus reducing overall carbon footprint (Sassi, 2006).

Using more natural light and power saving, energy efficient fittings also contribute in carbon footprint reduction. Using energy efficient (green energy sources) cooling or heating systems wherever necessary, communal heating/cooling and electricity provision wherever possible, monitoring building performance and enhancing them accordingly and spreading awareness among general public have proven to be fruitful in the quest of achieving sustainability (Sassi, 2006).

Figure 39: TOPOGRAPHICAL MAP OF NEPAL

Not only being immensely diverse in terms of topographic and eco-friendly features, Nepal with an area of only 1,47,181 sq.km, is highly rich in natural and cultural heritage consisting of fourteen high Himalayan mountains, 8 out of which are over 8000 m in height (Figure-39), a land of Alpine ecosystems, rich biodiversity and

landscapes, land serving as birth place of Lord Budha (Spiritual land) and huge cultural (1250 heritage sites in 72 districts) and ethnic (over 23 million population consisting of 59 ethnic groups with over 100 spoken languages) diversity, Nepal is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the whole world.

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Laying out opportunities for trekking, mountaineering and cultural explorations, viewing wildlife and opportunity for natural photography, Nepal attracts high number of international tourists every year, making it difficult to manage tourism sustainability.

Nepal government, hence, has identified ecotourism, as an important sector to promote and contribute to environmental conservation, employment generation and socio-economic development. They introduced community based rural tourism in order to support local population economically and provide tourist with an authentic Nepalese cultural experience.

Not only did they develop national parks, wildlife reserves, buffer zones, biodiversity conservation zones and cultural sites, they also went out of their way to protect the changing landscape and restore them in the best possible way (Anup, 2016).

Alpine ecosystem conservation in Sagarmath (Mt. Everest) National Park is a perfect example. Home to fragile Alpine ecosystem, Nepal faced huge problems regarding the loss of ground cover (over 50% loss in two decades) along with over harvesting of fuel wool (Juniper), year of garbage accumulation, etc., due to increasing mountaineering expeditions and changing streetscapes. A number of initiatives were carried out after these problems were acknowledged. A pilot scale ‘community based alpine conservation restoration project’ in the Khumbu was funded by American Alpine Club in May 2003 that banned the use of Juniper for fuel wood, as incense used

These prototypes have been successfully replicated and functioned across the country promoting environmental sustainability, economic viability, community inclusion, public awareness, tourist satisfaction and tourist impact reduction (Hill, 2009) (Figure-41).

Annapurna region, known for diverse ecosystems from subtropical lowlands and temperate forests to some of the highest peaks of the world, is another successful example to look at.

National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC)

set up and managed ‘Annapurna Conservation Area Project’ that not only focused on conservation of natural resources, introducing local communities as ‘protectors’ of natural and cultural heritage, making the project financially sustainable, lessening adverse impacts to tourism activities and improving the base of local management systems, but also provided diverse activities to promote tourism like trekking, hiking, mountaineering, viewing wild life and exploring cultural ethnicity and natural beauty.

Figure 41: ALPINE CONSERVATION PROJECT Source : (Chynoweth, 2019)

Entry fee from international tourists were used to develop community level projects like health, sanitation, education, environment, conservation, etc. Concept of home-stays, introduced to generate community economy and promote tourist-local interaction helped the management committees in promoting eco-tourism for conservation and introduced fuel-efficient stoves, back boilers, kerosene and electricity, thus addressing issues regarding socio-economic, political, ethnic and gender disparities (Anup, 2016).

Figure 40: LOCATION OF SAGARMATH NATIONAL PARK Source : (Sassi, 2006)

Ecotourism in Nepal resulted in recovering lost forest cover, protecting biodiversity, increasing greenery, conserving non-renewable energy sources, improvement in tourist and community facilities, reduction in anti-social activities, protection of religious and cultural heritage and communal and national economic development.

Thus, Nepal succeeded in achieving sustainability on not just environmental terms but also on social, economic, cultural and political levels (Hill, 2009).

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4.4.

Carbon- Neutral Bhutan

It has been a global decade long effort to make our cities and in fact countries carbon-free.

Most of the countries, though taking genuine efforts are still far behind in this long-desired quest. Bhutan, in 2009, was among the first nine countries who pledged to achieve carbon neutrality.

An extremely small, one of the least developed countries, sandwiched between the world’s two most populated nation (India and China), inhabiting less than 8,00,000 people, running on the concept of ‘Gross National Happiness (GNH)’ has shown the world’s most developed countries that how simple it is to remain carbon-neutral for decades.

The basic components of GNH (economic, social, environment and governance) supported them in achieving their carbon neutral goal.

Apart from low emission development initiative, Bhutan has successfully maintained net forest cover at 71% over decades and has been successful in keep its carbon emission way within the sink capacity of its forest cover (Yangka, 2018). Today, the sad part is that even when Bhutan is try its best to maintain its carbon–neutrality, its ecosystems are threatened by the industrial activities and green house gas emission by India and China.

Figure-43 shows that even with an increase in petroleum consumption due to increasing demand for transport, Bhutan still might be able to remain carbon negative in 2050 by simply maintaining its forest cover (Cho, n.d).

Adopting strategies like hydro-electrical power generation, increasing public transport systems, maintaining forest covers, levying taxes on vehicles running on fossil fuels and keeping electric vehicles tax-free has contributed effectively towards Bhutan’s carbon-free mission (Cho, n.d).

Figure 42 : CARBON NEUTRAL ECOSYSTEM, BHUTAN Source : (Cho, n.d)

The country’s basic philosophy of national happiness has been a major contributor apart from conserving its forest cover, in achieving its sustainability goal. The ‘environment’ element of GNH paradigm is majorly supported by carbon-neutrality and low carbon development along with increasing green areas and increasing awareness into sustainable development (Yangka, 2018).

Bhutan has established ‘Bhutan Trust fund for

Figure 43 : GRAPH SHOWING BHUTAN REMAINING CARBON NEGATIVE IN 2050 Source : (Cho, n.d)

4.5. Conclusion

Environmental Conservation (BTFEC)’ in 1992 that works towards conserving biodiversity, managing ecosystem and ensuring social wellbeing. In 2017, ‘Bhutan For Life’ was established that focussed on supporting communities in protected areas and strengthening enforcements and management of protected areas apart from protecting ecosystems, biodiversity and maintain forest cover (Yangka, 2018).

Figure 44 : RESEARCHERS AND POLICY- MAKERS COLLABORATING IN DECISION MAKING PROCESS Source : (Cho, n.d)

Sustainability does not happen just by taking care of the environment (although currently that is the most important aspect), but it also involves other aspects like community development, economic viability, biodiversity conservation and efficient governance. As architects and planners, we usually respond to sustainability in way that involves strategic planning of spaces, eco-friendly construction methods and practices, sustainable materials, etc., but our solutions should also simultaneously respond to the socio-economic, management, administrative and political aspects and tourism administration to holistically achieve sustainable society. The two least developed, smallest countries in the world, offer great lessons in achieving their sustainability goals and maintaining them, with their diverse ecosystems and ethnic and cultural diversity, keeping society and environment as a priority in development. Bhutan has evidently shown the world how great impact can be made to carbon emission levels by just maintaining its forest covers.

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Chapter 5. Analyzing Existing Situation Of Leh (Ladakh), India

5.2.1.2. Physiography

5.1. INTRODUCTION

N

After studying literature on urban development of Leh, attempt has been made to understand the essence of the place by analyzing the site. Landuse pattern, architecture, culture and communities are more throughly understood using mapping exercises and visual analysis method. The aim of the chapter is find the gaps in the development of Leh and apply earlier research to find creative and practical solutions in order to achieve a better future for Leh.

Ka ra ko ra m

N

5.2. Case Study Analysis 5.2.1. Macro level - Town Study 5.2.1.1. Location N

Disputed Area

Kargil District

e Th

China

Leh District 45,110km2

Ladakh

Himachal Pradesh

N

Leh Town 27.27 km2

Figure 45 : Location Source : (Author, 2020)

Ladakh (59,146km2 in area) is located on the rain shadow side of the Himalayas and is commonly identified as a cold climate. It is sounded by Pakistan in North-West, China in North, Jammu& kashmir in West and Himachal Pradesh in South.

Leh district, 45110km2 in area, located at 32-360 N latitude and 75-800 E longitude, experience dry monsoon winds that reach the region after loosing its moisture in the plains. As a result, climate of Leh is a combination of artic and desert conditions.

Leh district is surrounded by the Himalayan Range of mountains on its western side, Tibet on its East, kargil on West, China in North and Himachal Pradesh in South.

Leh comprises of three tehsils namely Leh town (27.27km2 in area), Khalsi and Nubra.

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N

Mountain Range Roads Streams Agriculture Forest

Indus River Figure 47 : Physical features , Leh Town Source : (Author, 2020)

La da k

h

Ra ng e

ge an rR ka ns Za

Jammu & Kashmir

Pakistan

Leh Town

s ay al im H at re

Disputed Area

G

Leh Town

Ra ng e

Figure 46: Mountain Range in Ladakh Source : (Author, 2020)

Ladakh essentially comprises of three types of landforms namely high mointains, elevated plateaus and rocky gorges. Being a dessert of rock and sand, Ladakh has a rugged topography, with an increase in altitude towards the North of the region.

Ladakh houses four major mountain ranges: The Great Himalayas, Zanskar Range, Ladakh Range and Karakoram Range.

Zanskar and Ladakh range area the nearest mountain ranges to Leh with Stok-Khangri and Massif mountains (Zanskar mountain range) to south of Leh, Konglacha Peak to south-west of Leh, Ladakh range to its south-east and Karakoram Range to its North.

Leh comprises of 40% of agricultural land (Dame, 2019) which is gradually decreasing due to poor urbanisation pattern. It consists of very less forest area which makes it important to conserve them.

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Hot Springs

Hunder

Fatu La Alchi Dam 4,005m Zanskar Range

Khardung La 5,604m Ladakh Range

Sulphur Springs

Nubra Valley

LEH TOWN

LEH TOWN

Wari La 5,300m Ladakh Range Chang La 5,360m Ladakh Range

Pangong Lake Spangmik

Zanskar River

Pangong Lake

Taglang La 5,390m Zanskar Range Tzo Kar Lake

Tzo Kar Lake

Konka 4,900m Zanskar Range

Indus River

Namshan La 5,050m Zanskar Range N

Korzok

N

Figure 48 : Physical features near Leh Town Source : (Author, 2020)

Figure 49 : River and Lakes near Leh Source : (Author, 2020)

Leh, land of rivers and lakes, houses a number of suphur springs (Panamic (Nubra), Chumathang and Puga of Chumathang) that are known for its medicinal quality for curing early joint pains. Many important lakes like Pangong lake (situated at a height of 14000 ft), Tzo Moriri lake (pearl-shaped lakes) and Tzo Kar, falls under Leh’s jurisdiction.

Indus is the main river for the region which flows from Tibet (China) to Ladakh (India) where it divides into tributaries that eventually flows into Pakistan.

Mountain Valley Villages Leh Town Lakes Roads River

Tzo Moriri Lake Mountain Valley Villages Leh Town Lakes Roads River

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5.2.1.3. Biodiversity 5.2.1.3.1. Flora Diversity Ladakh being a cold desert, does not have major forest zones except for poplars and willow which are mainly confined to the river, banks and Nallah beds. In recent times, a number of initiatives have been taken to develop these forest zones as a part of the afforestation scheme and desert development programs.

Some of the important Flora species in and around Leh include Salix Alba(Willow), Cerasus, Phlox Drummondii, Krascheninnikovia Lanata , Pimelea, Dahila, etc.

Willow

Cerasus

5.2.1.4. Major Monuments N

Phlox Drummondii

Prayer Wheel Krascheninnikovia Lanata

Dahila

Shanti Stupa

Pimelea

Figure 50 : Flora Diversity in Leh Source : (Author, 2020)

Tsemo Maitreya Temple

Leh Palace

5.2.1.3.2. Wildlife Diversity Ladakh serves as a natural refuge and habitat for a wide range of unique wildlife, some of which are recognised as ‘rare species’ and are only found in specific regions of Ladakh. Double humped Camels, Black Necked Cranes, snow leapords and a wide range of migratory birds (that usually come during September/ October) are some of the rare species that are found in and around Leh.

Gompa Soma Leh Buddha Park Hall of Fame Bactrian Camel

Black Headed Gull

Bobak Mermot

Spituk Gompa

Black-Necked Crane

Black-Billed Magpie

Sheep Dog

Figure 51 : Wild life Diversity in Leh Source : (Author, 2020)

Figure 52 : Major Monuments, Leh Source : (Author, 2020)

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5.2.1.5. Architecture and Urban Character Leh being located on the southern slope of the mountain terrain, has its settlements facing sun to utilize maximum solar energy.

New settlement extensions are made in south west directions.

Figure 53 : Roofs with skylights facing South to take in maximum heat Source : (Author, 2020)

5.2.1.6. Land use, Leh

N

Figure 54 : Slope Oriented Construction Source : (Author, 2020)

Figure 55 : Construction featuring typical lintel construction Source : (Author, 2020)

Courtyard

Ground Floor Lobby

First floor Figure 56 : Courtyard Planning Source : (Author, 2020)

The traditional housing units, especially in the old area are generally double storeyed, consisting of a Timber post (which marks Ladakh’s Architectural character) and sun dried earth blocks of alluvial soil used in masonry construction.

Quartz stone is a common material found in forts and place construction.

The houses generally have floors of the ground levels made out of mud and those of the upper levels are timber constructed.

Lintels have typical corbeled features which are heavily ornamented while the sills are articulated by plaster, generally painted in red/black. The large houses usually has courtyard planning while the smaller once do not enjoy this luxury.

The new extensions of the town consist of multi storeyed structures to accommodate increasing urban population. These tall buildings (mid-rise) disrupt the beautiful view the town has to offer. These structures use intensive concrete work unlike the old town. Further, the hotels build by the tourism industry also uses concrete and brick work, making the construction heavy and unsuitable for the land form.

DEVELOPING ECOLOGICALLY SUSTAINABLE HIGH MOUNTAIN REGIONS DETERMINING FUTURE OF LEH (LADAKH), INDIA

N

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Figure 57 : BUILT UP MAP, LEH TOWN Source : (Author, 2020) N

Figure 58 : LAND USE MAP, LEH TOWN Source : (Author, 2020) N

Figure 59 : OPEN SPACE, LEH TOWN Source : (Author, 2020)

LEGEND Old City (1%) Residential (15%) Commercial (3%) Hotels (10%)

Socio-cultural (0.5%) Hospital (0.5%) Utility Services (0.5%) Religious (2%)

Figure 60: ROAD NETWORK, LEH TOWN Source : (Author, 2020) Govt-Semi Govt (2%) Educational (1%) Burial Ground (0.5%) Industrial (1%)

Recreation (1%) Agricultural (40%) Defense Area (22%)

From the above figures it is evident that the town is formed by agricultural and wetland use (almost 40%). In recent years agricultural land and Leh’s forestry has reduced by 8% and it still continues.

Tourism industry is constructing hotels (currently 10%) and due to rural-urban migration, residential area (15% of the total land area) are encroaching into the green fields, thus leading to rapid deforestation.

52

N

5.2.2. Micro level - Leh Market Area

N

Market area located near the old Leh town has been studied in detail to understand the landuse of the town’s market space, quality of streets-capes and public spaces and understand the architectural quality of this Himalayan region.

Old

oad

F

R ort

M

ain Ro baz ad aar

N

ar za a b d ain oa M R

N

Figure 61: DENSITY OF RESIDENTIAL UNITS, LEH TOWN Source : (Author, 2020)

Figure 62 : DENSITY OF HOTEL UNITS, LEH TOWN Source : (Author, 2020) N

Due to rapid rural-urban migration, residential area has increased encroaching into the agricultural land.

Hotels have been mainly developed near the market area in a haphazard manner scattering as small single units into the agricultural and barren land.

Almost 10% of the total built area, is developed in the alluvial fans near the river beds. These developments are responsible for the frequent flash floods happening in the region as the soil is not appropriate to withstand heavy construction.

Defense area constitutes a major portion of the land use of Leh Town (22%) due to Leh’s politically strategic location as it shares a border with China.

Figure 64: LOCATION OF LEH MARKET IN LEH TOWN Source : (Author, 2020)

Leh market area is mainly a commercial area (50%) surrounded by a few residences in the adjacent area. It also inhabits a Gompa Soma (Buddhist Temple) and a monastery for monks.

The commercial street does not have a single residential unit, thus making the street extremely dead during the non-working hours. The market street does not have an access to vehicles which makes it pedestrian friendly.

The spaces in the market street are informal, friendly and lively.

LEGEND

Residential (20%) Commercial (50%) Hotels (15%) Religious (5%) Govt-Semi Govt (10%) Roads Pathways

Figure 63 : BUILT UNITS IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO THE RIVER, LEH TOWN Source : (Author, 2020)

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Figure 65 : LANDUSE ANALYSIS, LEH MARKET, LEH TOWN Source : (Author, 2020)

54

N 13

3

12

11 10

4

5 8 2

7 6

9

15

14

1

It is clear from serial visions of Leh Market area that the commercial street is extremely vibrant, with well designed public spaces, free of any vehicular access.

The site have amazing nodal points that provide mesmerizing views of snow covered Himalayan mountain.

The area has a rich architectural character that clearly represents the Buddhist community that is local to the area. The structures are mostly built out of wood with secondary components constructed with bricks.

Chapter 6. To a Better Future 6.1. Introduction After studying in detail about both Leh Town and general principals of mountain sustainability, this chapter will outline strategies and suggestion that need to be adopted to save the future of Leh (Ladakh), India. These proposed strategies will respond to the urban pattern, planning aspects, environment and ecology, tourism, and management and administration.

6.2.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

Figure 66 : VISUAL ANALYSIS, LEH MARKET, LEH TOWN Source : (Author, 2020)

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Strategies and Suggestions

Figure 67 : Poor quality of road infrastructure Source : (Author, 2020)

6.2.1. Land Use and Planning Strategies

6.2.2. Environment

• The problem with Leh today is rapid rural urban migration and increasing built-up densification resulting for it. The main reason for migration is better opportunities for living a better life in terms of education, employability, healthcare and civil infrastructure. The regions around Leh are deprived of these elements, which is the primary reason of migration. Thus, it would be beneficial to develop all the areas in and around Leh in order to avoid over migration or out migration, that would eventually break the urban fabric.

• Over decades, there as been a shift in town’s economy from agriculture to industrial (tourism to be specific). This has made the communities in the region, dependent, on lowlands for basic food essentials. Agriculture should be reintroduced into the urban texture of Leh as a primary source of community economy.

• Expansion of built areas into agriculture zones and forestry land has risked the place of loosing its biodiversity. Being a cold desert, the region does not have a lot of forest areas that can be compromised. Construction on non-buildable zones and on alluvial fans near river bed, should be prohibited. Development rules need to be drafted and enforced strictly.

• Local Infrastructure including public transport systems and efficient road networks need to be well established (Figure-64).

• Street and building orientations should be according to the sun direction in order to achieve maximum solar gain and efficient shading patterns.

• Conservation areas need to be established that would protect the regions biodiversity and delicate ecology. Protected forests and vegetations will help in keeping the carbon emission low and help in achieving carbon neutrality, as in case of Bhutan.

• Leh being a cold desert, has water shortage during the agricultural season due to increasing tourist activities in summers. Ice Stupas developed by Mr. Sonam Wangchuk, that would store winter waters in the form of ice for use in summers for agriculture, should be implemented on a large scale (Figure 65).

Figure 68 : Ice Stupa Concept to be Replicated Source : (Author, 2020)

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CHAPTER 7. CONCLUSION • Urban plans and designs should encourage pedestrian and cycle mobility. Public should be advised to use electric vehicles instead of fossil fuel once.

• New constructions should be eco-friendly and light weight considering the delicate Himalayan ecology. Recycling or reusing existing buildings, using recycled or reclaimed materials, using eco-friendly construction materials like timber, ramped eath, straw-bales, stones, clay, gypsum, etc., and using solar and other renewable sources of energy. Communities can build greenhouse systems to heat the interiors and grows vegetations even in winter months. More examples like SECMOL are needed to be in function to achieve our goal of sustainability (Figure-66).

Figure 69: Eco-Friendly Terrain Responsive Construction Needed Source : (Author, 2020)

• Rain water harvesting should be implemented.

• Green roofs should be encouraged within local communities to bring urban farming into the town. This will help in bringing back agriculture without the necessity of available ground and will also help communities become self-reliant for basic food amenities. Green roofs will also help in bringing specific wildlife into the urban fabric of the town.

6.2.3. Eco-Tourism

• Conservation areas can be developed in a way to offer tourist activities like trekking, mountaineering, opportunities for wildlife photography, etc. Water sports can be incorporated in Pangong lake area. Opportunities for skiing should also be developed.• Transport should be made efficient. Railways and road networks connecting Leh needs urgent development in order to encourage tourists to avoid air travel to reduce carbon emission levels. Local transport systems should be developed on an urgent basis to encourage tourist to use less person vehicles.

6.2.4. Administration and Management • Authorities need to develop strict development control rules (like in any other region of India) and ensure its strict enforcement.

• Authorities should collaborate with local communities to develop and manage conservation areas and tourism industry to ensure cultural conservation and socio-economic development.

• Water quality needs to be monitored at the source itself. It would be a good idea to manage the Indus river water quality in collaboration with other affecting countries: China and Pakistan.

• Army can help ensuring the feeling of security among locals amidst sensitive political situation at the borders. They can also help in educating the local public of the environment sensitive behavior that they can adopt.

• Planning and development authority should be transferred from the Centre (Delhi) to the union territory of Ladakh to ensure ecologically sensitive development for the region.

• The property ownership law that was under ‘Article 360’: that no individual or group of people outside of Ladakh can own property in the region independently; should be sustained to ensure the region is not exploited for minerals (the biggest fear of the locals in Ladakh) in the future.

• Tourism needs to develop in an eco-friendly way. Hotels and restaurant development require strategic planning so that they do not disrupt the regions ecology.

The field of sustainability is foreseeing tremendous amount of research and development due to the problems we as a race has created. With increasing use of fossil fuel, high carbon emission, increasing de-forestation to accommodate ever-growing urban population and increasing pollution levels, has resulted in our planet turning into a large green house, resulting in ozone depletion, glacier melting, frequent disasters like droughts, flash floods, landslides, etc and extreme changes in the weather patterns with experiencing warm winters to snowing springs, architects, urban planners, environmentalists and government authorities are becoming conscious about the basic flaw in the nature of development and are certainly making a genuine effort to control the situation and save the planet.

Sustainability has multiple interpretation. It might refer to the use of eco-friendly construction techniques or to defining better development policies to ensure safe future or to the development for community satisfaction or to protect biodiversity of the region or to simply becoming carbon-free.

Sometimes it might just mean ‘bringing a change in our lifestyles’. This is an important way of going about sustainability and by-far the most important one. Evidence can be seen in current scenario of the global pandemic. With the world sitting inside their houses, following social distancing for their own health and safety, amazing side effects have happened that was beyond everyone’s imagination. Withing a span of 2-3 months, air pollution in China substantially reduced, canal in Venice is cleaner than ever with its water-biodiversity springing back to life and pollution levels in Indian cities rapidly coming down. These were some major issues architects, planners and environmentalists were dealing with since decades but were solved so easily with a change in human lifestyles. We certainly do not need and cannot afford such extreme lifestyle changes but being conscious of our daily activities and keeping in mind the impact our modern lifestyle on the environment is of utmost importance. In any case it is important to recognise what sustainability would mean for the region in question, before developing it.

The site selected, in the high mountain Trans- Himalayan region of India. Leh (Ladakh), comprising of a delicate mountain eco-system and huge range of bio-diversity with a number of rare species, is facing issues of rapid urbanisation today.

As the planning decisions are made at the Centre (Delhi) which has a completely different ecological context, Leh is also being developed in a similar pattern. Apart form the fact that Delhi is certainly not an ideal example of urban development and faces huge environmental and social issues, developing a high mountain ecology in a similar manner to the plains will have catastrophic results. Trans-boundary mountain regions need guidelines and strategies that respond to the sensitivity of their landforms, resources, biodiversity, culture and politics.

Therefore after careful research on the essence of Leh and understanding the place along withgrasping the concepts of sustainability, tourism, socio-cultural factors, economy and politics in mountain regions, sustainability in context to Leh, has been defined as to develop it holistically with integrating elements of environment, topography, biodiversity, conservation, eco-tourism, public awareness, culture, politics, economy and management and administration. What Leh lacks today is basic control rules and their strict enforcement that could help in avoiding wrong development decisions that the region has to pay for in the future.

Detailed study of Leh through research papers talking about the urban growth patterns, drivers in the urban development, role of the military establishment and steps taken by private organisations and social workers in order to save the region from collapsing has helped in understanding the overall situation of the place. Further technical details and facts about the topography, climate, physical features and biodiversity were studied through both government documents, site survey, interviews and visual analysis.

Theory related to sustainable development in general and in context to high mountain ecology, tourism and its impacts on these delicate eco-systems, threats to the local communities in such remote trans-boundary areas, trends and

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LIST OF FIGURES

methods used in other places to develop similar sites in an ecological manner and appropriate governance and management policies , were thoroughly studied and applied in developing strategies and suggestions for a better future for Leh. There still isn’t enough research available when we talk about mountain sustainability. Air pollution monitoring and control becomes difficult due to the remoteness of these places. Further respect to involving communities in decision making process, its impacts needs to be explored.

The important thing to remember is that even though Leh has been affected by the extent of reckless urban development, it still not too late for us to turn the tide and ensure the conservation of its ecosystem.

Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 Figure 9 Figure 10 Figure 11 Figure 12 Figure 13 Figure 14 Figure 15 Figure 16 Figure 17 Figure 18 Figure 19 Figure 20 Figure 21 Figure 22 Figure 23 Figure 24 Figure 25 Figure 26 Figure 27 Figure 28 Figure 29 Figure 30 Figure 31 Figure 32 Figure 33 Figure 34 Figure 35 Figure 36 Figure 37 Figure 38 Figure 39 Figure 40 Figure 41 Figure 42 Figure 43

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The Beauty of Leh Valley Map of Ladakh Repeat Photography of Leh, taken from Tsemo Hill Urban Development of Leh between 1969 and 2017 Threats to Mountain Ecology Leh (Ladakh), India Location of Leh Urban Population Growth in Leh District Expansion into Barren land Expansion into Agricultural Land Growth of tourism in Leh Urban Sprawl (1969-2019) of Leh Town Urbanisation in Leh Ice Stupa Project South Orientation to Collet Solar Heat Use of Solar Energy Steps Towards Ecology Masdar Eco-City Mars Habitat by Foster+Partners Dimension of Sustainability 3D Printed Mud House Kedarnath Floods, India 7 Factors Guiding Sustainable Design Smart Mobility in Eco-City Design Culture of Leh Cloud Forest, Kilimanjaro Kedarnath Floods Rich Biodiversity of Leh Infrastructure development in Leh Local Community (Leh) Carefully Sited Camping Sites at Upper Elevation in Itatiail, Brazil Parameters of High Mountain Sustainability Planted Corridor Bridge, Mile End Park, London Intensive Green Roof for RWE Employees in Essen Sanders Eco- Renovation Phoenix, USA Creative Recycled - Glass Window Material Resources Teaching Block made of Ramped Earth in Thurgoona Campus, Australia Topographical Map of Nepal Location of Sagarmath National Park Alpine Conservation Project Carbon Neutral Ecosystem, Bhutan Graph showing Bhutan Remaining Carbon Negative in 2050

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Academic References

Figure 44 Figure 45 Figure 46 Figure 47 Figure 48 Figure 49 Figure 50 Figure 51 Figure 52 Figure 53 Figure 54 Figure 55 Figure 56 Figure 57 Figure 58 Figure 59 Figure 60 Figure 61 Figure 62 Figure 63 Figure 64 Figure 65 Figure 66 Figure 67 Figure 68 Figure 69

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Alexander, A. (2007). Towards a Management Plan for the Old Town of Leh Structuring a Plan for the Preservation of an Endangered Townscape and Revitalization of Traditional Social Structures. pp.31-32.

Researchers and Policy - Makers Collaborating in Decision Making Process Location Mountain Range in Ladakh Physical Features, Leh Town Physical Features near Leh Town River and Lakes near Leh Flora Diversity in Leh Wildlife Diversity in Leh Major Monuments in Leh Roofs with Skylight facing South to take in Maximum Heat Slope Oriented Construction Construction Featuring Typical Lintel Construction Courtyard Planning Built-Up Map, Leh Town Land Use Map, Leh Town Open Space, Leh Town Road Network, Leh Town Density of Residential Units, Leh Town Density of Hotel Units, Leh Town Built units in Close Proximity to the River, Leh Town Location of Leh Market in Leh Town Landuse Analysis, Leh Market, Leh Town Visual Analysis, Leh Market, Leh Town Poor Quality of Road Infrastructure Ice Stupa Concept to be Replicated Eco - Friendly Terrain Responsive Construction Needed

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