Nepal is located in South Asia with a population of roughly 29 million people. It is currently one of the 10 least urbanized countries in the world with approximately less than 20 percent of the nation being urbanized. However, at the same time, it is also one of the 10 fastest urbanizing countries not only in the Asia Pacific region but in the world. Here are six quick facts about urbanization in Nepal over recent years.

6 Facts About Urbanization in Nepal

1. A natural population increase is one of the primary reasons for the gradual transition from rural to urbanization. Natural population increase occurs when the infant mortality rate decreases and when people bear more healthy children. It can also occur as more people move from small villages to bigger cities.

2. People in predominantly rural countries, such as Nepal, are choosing to move to more urban areas for many different reasons. For example, wars may force many to move to places with better access to food, water and shelter for the safety of themselves and their families.

3. Towns and rural areas in Nepal are seeing urbanization increase between 5 and 7 percent each year. This is even more than the country’s capital, Kathmandu, with a 4 percent increase every year, and Pokhara, with a growing urbanization rate of 5 percent per year.

4. The most populated urban region of the country is Kathmandu Valley, consisting of 24 percent of Nepal’s urban population. In addition, Kathmandu Metropolitan City consists of 9.7 percent of the urban population.

5. There are three classifications of ecological regions in Nepal. Of them, the hill region has the highest percentage of urbanization at 21.7 percent, followed by the Terai region at 15.1 percent and the mountain region at 2.8 percent.

6. While the push for urbanization comes with benefits in efforts to create a higher standard of living for people, it is not without challenges. For example, slums populate many urban cities, which have very low-quality living conditions. Overcrowding, limited sanitation and limited access to clean water cause these poor conditions. This results in people having to use open sewers to use the bathroom, leading to other issues.

With urbanization becoming a more common trend worldwide, it can be easy to understand why the concept is appealing to many people who are from traditionally urban nations such as Nepal. The push to urbanize developing nations has positive intentions to not only help the individual citizens but to build countries’ economies so they can be a world power. However, it is also imperative that the country makes efforts to ensure that its citizens in more urbanized regions have access to adequate living conditions, as the act of urbanization alone does not guarantee this.

As demonstrated, many cities, such as the ones that have been recently urbanized in Nepal, lack clean sewage, acceptable air quality and proper shelter. In order to create a prosperous metropolis where Nepalese people can enjoy a high quality of life, people must take all these factors into account.

– A. O’Shea
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