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Growing City and Rapid Land Use Transition: Assessing Multiple Hazards and Risks in the Pokhara Valley, Nepal

Author

Listed:
  • Bhagawat Rimal

    (Everest Geoscience Information Service Center, Kathmandu, Nepal)

  • Himlal Baral

    (Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), P.O. Box 0113 BOCBD, Bogor 16000, Indonesia)

  • Nigel E. Stork

    (Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith School of Environment, Nathan Campus, Griffith University, 170 Kessels Road, Nathan, QLD 4111, Australia)

  • Kiran Paudyal

    (School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, Faculty of Science, the University of Melbourne, 221 Bouverie St., Carlton, VIC 3010, Australia)

  • Sushila Rijal

    (Everest Geoscience Information Service Center, Kathmandu, Nepal)

Abstract

Pokhara is one of the most naturally beautiful cities in the world with a unique geological setting. This important tourist city is under intense pressure from rapid urbanization and population growth. Multiple hazards and risks are rapidly increasing in Pokhara due to unsustainable land use practices, particularly the increase in built-up areas. This study examines the relationship among urbanization, land use/land cover dynamics and multiple hazard and risk analysis of the Pokhara valley from 1990 to 2013. We investigate some of the active hazards, such as floods, landslides, fire, sinkholes, land subsidence and earthquakes, and prepare an integrated multiple hazard risk map indicating the highly vulnerable zones. Land use and land cover maps from 1990 and 2013 from Landsat images (30 m resolution) have been prepared and analyzed for the spatial dynamics of urbanization and the transition of land use and land cover. In the 23-year period, the built-up area more than doubled from 24.03 km² to 54.20 km². Although the landscape in the urban, peri-urban and rural areas appears to be fragmented, different drivers play pivotal roles in landscape change in these areas. The results provide substantial information for establishing innovative action plans for disaster risk management in the valley. Recommendations are made for the most suitable places for future urban expansion in the valley. This study is important for raising awareness among policy makers and other public officials to include multiple hazard risk mitigation in land use policies and plans. Establishing connections between urban expansions, escalating population growth and multiple hazards and risk assessment will also improve in modelling the latent impact of future catastrophes and emergency preparedness.

Suggested Citation

  • Bhagawat Rimal & Himlal Baral & Nigel E. Stork & Kiran Paudyal & Sushila Rijal, 2015. "Growing City and Rapid Land Use Transition: Assessing Multiple Hazards and Risks in the Pokhara Valley, Nepal," Land, MDPI, vol. 4(4), pages 1-22, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:4:y:2015:i:4:p:957-978:d:57056
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Bohao Cui & Yili Zhang & Zhaofeng Wang & Changjun Gu & Linshan Liu & Bo Wei & Dianqing Gong & Mohan Kumar Rai, 2022. "Ecological Risk Assessment of Transboundary Region Based on Land-Cover Change: A Case Study of Gandaki River Basin, Himalayas," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-22, April.
    2. Bhagawat Rimal & Lifu Zhang & Hamidreza Keshtkar & Xuejian Sun & Sushila Rijal, 2018. "Quantifying the Spatiotemporal Pattern of Urban Expansion and Hazard and Risk Area Identification in the Kaski District of Nepal," Land, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-22, March.
    3. Sushila Rijal & Bhagawat Rimal & Sean Sloan, 2018. "Flood Hazard Mapping of a Rapidly Urbanizing City in the Foothills (Birendranagar, Surkhet) of Nepal," Land, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-13, May.
    4. Bhagawat Rimal & Lifu Zhang & Dongjie Fu & Ripu Kunwar & Yongguang Zhai, 2017. "Monitoring Urban Growth and the Nepal Earthquake 2015 for Sustainability of Kathmandu Valley, Nepal," Land, MDPI, vol. 6(2), pages 1-23, June.
    5. He, Songtang & Wang, Daojie & Li, Yong & Fang, Yingchao & Lan, Huijuan & Chen, Wenle, 2019. "Implementation of a landscape ecological use pattern model: Debris flow waste-shoal land use in the Yeyatang Basin, Yunnan Province, China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 483-492.
    6. Nepal, Rabindra & al Irsyad, M. Indra & Nepal, Sanjay Kumar, 2018. "Tourist arrivals, energy consumption and pollutant emissions in a developing economy–implications for sustainable tourism," Working Papers 2018-10, University of Tasmania, Tasmanian School of Business and Economics.
    7. Raju Rai & Yili Zhang & Basanta Paudel & Bipin Kumar Acharya & Laxmi Basnet, 2018. "Land Use and Land Cover Dynamics and Assessing the Ecosystem Service Values in the Trans-Boundary Gandaki River Basin, Central Himalayas," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-22, August.
    8. Xue Zhou & Yang Zhou, 2021. "Spatio-Temporal Variation and Driving Forces of Land-Use Change from 1980 to 2020 in Loess Plateau of Northern Shaanxi, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-17, September.
    9. Sukanta Malakar & Abhishek K. Rai & Arun K. Gupta, 2023. "Earthquake risk mapping in the Himalayas by integrated analytical hierarchy process, entropy with neural network," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 116(1), pages 951-975, March.
    10. He, Songtang & Wang, Daojie & Zhao, Peng & Li, Yong & Lan, Huijuan & Chen, Wenle & Jamali, Ali Akbar, 2020. "A review and prospects of debris flow waste-shoal land use in typical debris flow areas, China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    11. Paudyal, Kiran & Baral, Himlal & Keenan, Rodney John, 2018. "Assessing social values of ecosystem services in the Phewa Lake Watershed, Nepal," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 67-81.
    12. Bhagawat Rimal & Lifu Zhang & Nigel Stork & Sean Sloan & Sushila Rijal, 2018. "Urban Expansion Occurred at the Expense of Agricultural Lands in the Tarai Region of Nepal from 1989 to 2016," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-19, April.
    13. Feng Xu & Guangqing Chi & Yongheng Rao & Jianjun Zhang, 2022. "Editorial for Special Issue “Land Use Change and Anthropogenic Disturbances: Relationships, Interactions, and Management”," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-6, September.
    14. Shirui Zhao & Zemeng Fan & Xing Gao, 2022. "Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Land Cover and Their Driving Forces in the Yellow River Basin since 1990," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-14, September.
    15. Songtang He & Daojie Wang & Yong Li & Peng Zhao, 2018. "Land Use Changes and Their Driving Forces in a Debris Flow Active Area of Gansu Province, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-20, August.

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