Paro Valley – Gateway to the country
Thimphu City lies in its own small valley. Some day the capacity of the valley to accommodate more people will be exhausted and the carrying capacity of the valley will be complete. We should not wait for this to happen. Just as there must be a peripheral control zone above the city there must also be a National Capital Region extending down toward Paro and possibly including Paro. Some of the National Capital Region facilities, like the International Airport, are already in Paro.
There are a host of other activities, which should not be in the city. These can be planned for now. There are other facilities in the city that are not appropriate. These functions would function more effectively outside of the city. These will be noted briefly.
• Industries: There are a number of industries, which must immediately be requested to shift out of the city. But we must accommodate them in to the Regional Plan. The sawmills are an example of these. Furniture and other woodwork shops are other examples. In fact these wood based industries have a great potential for growth and expansion and we must facilitate them. It is proposed that the wood working industries and other industries be placed in a satellite town to the east of the city toward Punakha.
• Auto City: The problem of the repair of automobiles, large and small trucks, busses and agricultural vehicles is a major one. An appropriate location between Paro and Thimphu must be found for this activity. Major workshops, body shops and auto parts wholesaling would be placed in the Auto City. On the other hand we must consider a few small repair shops for private cars in discrete locations within the city boundary.
• Wholesale Marketing and Storage: At some point the wholesale market will have to be shifted out of the city. This is because wholesale shops require an immense number of delivery trucks to service them. The wholesale market of Thimphu would also serve Paro, Punakha and Wangdi. Likewise the Sunday Market attracts numerous trucks and transit population. This may be shifted to the Wholesale Market and Storage Town, and it will supply neighborhood retailers who will operate throughout the week. There will also be a new City Market in the Urban Core for fish, meats and vegetables.
• Military Bases and Police: The Royal Government of Bhutan must respect the needs and the requirements of the various security units posted within the city. At the City Consultation on the Structure Plan a number of participants queried whether these activities would not be served better in more appropriate locations. If this were so they should be placed at strategic “entrances” to the National Capital Region and their present locations used for other national purposes.
• Satellite Towns/Villages: Villages already exist in the National Capital Region, which must be taken into consideration. These will have to be seen as part of the urban region. People working in the city will begin to settle in these settlements. In other world capitals such settlements begin to grow in an unplanned manner long before planning catches up with them. It would make sense to designate some of these as Satellite Towns and to begin planning rudimentary urban infrastructure. They may be considered as nascent Urban Villages and developed along the same pattern as other neighborhoods within the city. Providing a bus link would be a major benefit to these villages. Other infrastructure could follow. These Urban Villages may ultimately take population pressure off of the city of Thimphu proper.
• The Olympic City
would require a minimum of sixty acres of land. The Olympic City will require
phased development over a twenty year period and the land blocked for this development
should be in a location like Namseling which would come within the urban development
corridor over the next two decades.
There must be a regional plan prepared to incorporate these activities and to
facilitate their growth and success. The Structure Plan will include some sketch
proposals for such a plan.
Paro Valley – Gateway to the country