Abstract:
Traditional towns of the Kathmandu Valley boast a fine provision of
public space and offer a unique setting for urban life. This chapter
presents a comprehensive review of the morphology of these towns and
the organization of public spaces within in the residential neighborhoods,
with an aim to identify the key attributes of such spaces and the factors
that are responsible for their formation and utilization. The chapter
highlights that the physical form of the traditional towns exhibits a
compact and dense character in the arrangement of buildings and urban spaces. A distinct pattern of settlement design is also evident in the
organization of neighborhoods, where the town has been divided into
several residential quarters to house communities based on caste and
social status of the inhabitants. Most notably, public spaces have been
developed as an essential feature of every traditional neighborhood, with
a set of urban squares distributed over the entire town and arranged in an
innovative and interesting way. The provision of public space, consisting
of many elements of urban interest, has contributed to the development of
an urban environment that is conducive to both daily social activities and
occasional feasts and festivals.
