Urban agriculture in Kathmandu as a catalyst for the civic inclusion of migrants and the making of a greener city

Abstract

This research explores the opportunities offered for the creation of a green city on the recently secured Bagmati riverbanks in Kathmandu, which is subject to rapid inward migration from landless rural farmers. The research asks what architectural theory and practice can contribute to this setting to support the fit between emergent bottom-up initiatives and top-down city investments. To this end, it deepens and extends loose fit theory, research methods, and reflective practices to investigate latent possibilities, assemble a narrative of embedded change, and create spatial imaginaries of topographical change on the Bagmati riverbanks. Moreover, it argues that architectural theory and practice can play a vital role in integrating migrants into civic institutions and helping generate a highly green city by making the relationships between setting and occupant explicit, stimulating and representing alternative imaginaries, and framing a civic discourse. Keywords: Architecture, Urban agriculture, Urban rivers, Urban migrants, Loose-fit city, Kathmandu