Transforming Urban Space in Kathmandu : Globalization and Creative Destruction <Article>

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  • カトマンズにおける都市空間の変容 : グローバル化と創造的破壊 <論説>
  • カトマンズにおける都市空間の変容 : グローバル化と創造的破壊
  • カトマンズ ニ オケル トシ クウカン ノ ヘンヨウ : グローバルカ ト ソウゾウテキ ハカイ

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Abstract

This paper aims to examine how urban space in Kathmandu has been transformed during the process of globalization. Although Nepal has remained politically unstable since democratization in 1990, economic liberalization has been promoted and has brought capitalist development linked with economic globalization. To avoid the conflict that started in 1996 between government forces and Maoist fighters, those seeking job opportunities have concentrated in Kathmandu. Here, a road expansion plan was carried out to improve urban conditions and to create job opportunities in construction. In addition to examining this transformation of urban space by political power, I focus on the tourism industry and foreign remittance economy as important factors in transforming urban space. I conclude that not only tourists but also the Nepalese middle class who benefit from the remittance economy, directly or indirectly, have begun to enjoy consuming culture―which leads to a consumer society―as Kathmandu has become urbanized. In this process, on the one hand, Nepal has become embedded in the periphery of the tourism and labor markets of the global economy, while on the other hand, the spaces for consuming cultures have developed and diversified in Kathmandu.

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