Just as Bhutan has a magnificent international airport at Paro that acts as the gateway to the nation for foreign visitors, there must be a gateway to the capital for His Majesty’s subjects visiting their city. This would not be a gate in the sense of a “medieval gate,” but a modern transport terminal, designed much like an international air terminal with magnificent arrival and departure lounges for the national bus services, regional and local taxis and the city buses.

This Gateway would also act as the commercial and entertainment hub of southern Thimphu housing a shopping centre, cafes, cinema(s) and bowling alleys. This would allow the present terminal in the city to be used as the hub for the city buses. The Gateway to the Capital will form the beginning of the urban spine or corridor, reaching up to the City Core and going on to the Tashichho Dzong and further to the northern residential areas.

2.12 URBAN CORRIDOR

Just as a sequence of human scale, walkable public domains will be created in the City Core; there will be a sequence of Urban Hubs and nodes along a corridor that parallels the Wang Chhu and expressway. This movement stem will eventually be enhanced by an electric tram or light rail system. The hubs along the stem will be located at bus-cum-tram stations, where taxi stands, shops, and convenience activities will be located. These will often be Neighborhood Nodes as well, serving the basic needs of small residential communities (Refer section 2.14 - Urban Villages). There will be adequate parking, so that one can leave their two and four wheelers and ride on into the pedestrian city center on public transport, or catch a bus to the airport!

These hubs would have a variety of functions. In addition to Neighborhood Nodes, which serve the nearby inhabitants, some would have institutions like colleges or government offices where a large number of people may need to commute. There could even be a biotech park, or other “clean” industrial areas at some hubs (Refer section 2.19 - Knowledge City). The Spine Concept allows new nodes and hubs to be attached later as the nature of the city evolves.

The Urban Corridor must be planned so that a rail track for electric trams, or a light rail system, can be introduced at a later stage. A decision about the “time spacing” and distances between nodes is a structural aspect of the plan.

Again, key to this Urban Corridor is the Wang Chhu, which must be upgraded, trained and guarded as a sacred thematic feature of the city.

A Public Bus System is the Appropriate Technology for Thimphu’s Urban Corridor