Settlement patterns are the physical foundations of a society. They can fragment societies or integrate them. Disjointed projects, land uses, zoning and land markets can segregate age groups, income groups, ethnic groups and occupational groups. These traditional planning techniques can increasingly isolate people and activities in an inefficient network of congestion and pollution rather than joining them into diverse and human scaled communities.

It is the purpose of this Structure Plan to lay out the main structure, the central themes, the coherent ideas, and the necessary actions to forge a better future. It is time to define the Bhutanese Dream in terms of sustained urban form and fabric. It is time to reclaim the Public Domain where the spirit of Bhutan dwells.

What do we mean by the “public domain?” We mean areas, places and spaces that belong to everyone. Some places belong to us all. The Parthenon, the Taj Mahal, the Eiffel Tower and the Pyramids belong to us all. Do the Greeks have the right to destroy the Parthenon, or the do Indians have the right to destroy the Taj Mahal? These are the places that are the “public domain” of the world community! They belong to no city or to any nation. Just as there are public domains of the world community—icons of man’s civilization—there are also national public domains, and those of individual cities as well! These belong to the entire nation.

The Lutyens plan for New Delhi uses a system of public domains to build up an imagery of the national ethos. The Connaught Place is linked to the Central Vista via Jan Path, which crosses the Raj Path at a huge Public Square that is enclosed by cultural institutions. Along the Raj Path, starting with the Rashtrapati Bhavan, on to Vijaya Chowk, on to the India Gate…an entire spatial sequence is created. In Paris there is the Arch de Triumph, the Champs Elysees, the Place de la Concorde, the Tulleries Garden, the glass Pyramid, the Louvre, the Rue de Rivoli, which continues on and on through the Place Vendome and the Place des Vosges. This kind of concern with and attention to “place making,” must be of concern to us also.

When the Americans celebrate or demonstrate, they head to the Capital Mall in Washington, D.C.! This is the “public domain” of the American people. Such physical places are abstract metaphors for cultural and national sentiments. These are essential for the building of a national ethos. Creating these sentiments through public domains is the essence of designing the capital city of Bhutan.

Dancers at the Thimphu Tshechu Accent the City’s Unique Culture

Thimphu’s Lugar Cinema Square is a Popular Public Domain

Just as there are international and national domains there is an entire hierarchy of meaningful “public domains.” Some of these are:

At any scale, it is not the individual space itself, but its placement in a social milieu and often in clusters and chains with other such spaces, which work together to create an urban fabric of community gathering places. Society is about how people relate to each other and gather together. Cities are about providing the places for community to happen! A variety of such spaces provide choices and make selection meaningful and make different interactions in different space unique.

There are many types of public domains. The community owns most domains; others are held in trusteeship by institutions, or even privately owned and managed. The most elemental “public domain” is the footpath. Footpaths become more sophisticated when roofed over and are called arcades. Shelter gives the footpath more versatility and significance. Arcades become even richer when they expand into outdoor courtyards and there are festive activities, like cafes and art exhibits. These can lead on to gardens, through plazas to play grounds, weekly markets and the riverfront.

Hundreds of towns and cities in Europe have exploited and enriched the public domain by separating vehicles from pedestrian areas. Paving and adding street furniture make these open areas into public “living rooms.” The public domain is a human domain. This domain can be nurtured in a number of areas besides the City Core. There are opportunities to enhance the Tashichho Dzong area through lighting, an amphitheatre, restructuring the administrative offices, paving areas and planting. There are opportunities along the Wang Chhu, in residential neighborhoods, in cusps of trees over looking the city, and in the form of a City Gateway to the south of the city.