1. The document discusses achieving ecological balance in growing cities through culture-environment parity in development planning. 2. It argues that considering both the environment and local culture is necessary to develop cities in a sustainable way and prevent "civilization disasters". 3. The ideal model incorporates cultural values into planning to minimize the "cultural shock of development" and ensure long-term sustainability through community participation and responsibility.

1. CULTURE-ENVIRONMENT PARITY IN DEVELOPMENT PLANNING A WAY OF ECOLOGICAL BALANCE IN GROWING CITIES BY Keshav Nepal Kathmandu, Nepal ECOCITY WORLD SUMMIT 2008 PROCEEDINGS

2. Structure Of The Paper Civilization vs Development Development vs Culture Environment and Culture Culture-Environment Parity in Planning Development vs Environment General Introduction

3. GENERAL OVERVIEW Cities: venture improving the means and modes of human life Success is devil: Cities pose threats to environment and to human life, both Newer technologies and modernization also factors of worsening situation THE GREAT PARADOX The trend contributed to develop a psychology as if the development and environment has been mutually exclusive to each other. Human civilization can never accept an option of either/or

4. THE NEED Finding a development model in which both of the exclusives could thrive together. Recognize the nature and natural systems as an integral component of the venture, rather than merely consumable. Achieving lasting sustainability through incorporation of cultural parameters of consumer societies. A unique approach: socio-technical approach for achieving ecological balance in growing cities.

5. NEW CONCEPTS Growth disaster Environmental breakeven of development Organic city design City Antigens (City RH Factors) Ecological benefit Cultural shock of development.

6. THE CITY GENESIS Urban systems -result of human “Struggle for Existence” Necessity is the Mother of Invention: Cities have been the best of comfortable domicile New urban form and feature, and a fairly wider connotation of cities The ‘heaven of dream’ posing threats to the safety and comfort A diagnostic analysis shows that it has come from the human deeds itself. Trespassers of rule of consensus of coexistence in ecological systems Nature reacted in reprisal

7. Insert Table World Urban Population Density by Country & Area, 2006

8. World Urban Population, 1950-2005 with Projections to 2020

9. THE GTOWTH DISASTER The more the growth of density and size of cities, the more stress on the ecological interface, This impending growth generated disaster can be termed a ‘Growth Disaster’ HARDWARE CITY PLANNING VS CITY ANTIGENS City designers had been well aware of the ‘Growth Disaster’ since long, Both east and west Cultural design patterns in the east Garden city of Ebenezer Howard in the west Modern concept based in hardware arrangement: creating the skeleton

10. C ITY ANTIGENS: Transformation Drivers to Hardware Approach One, Physical attributes of development form only city skeleton, Two, Cities survive only in system of settlements (city to city relationship is complementary while urban-rural settlements maintain continuum relationship. Three, City is not superior to natural systems; but is liable to obey the rules in those systems. Four, City is not only the domicile of a biological human being; it is also the abode of culture and cultural beliefs. Five, Only people do not live in cities; thousands of other members of the system of nature, both living and non-living, also constitute the city components. Six and the Last, City is an additional member in the society of ecological interface of nature.

11. THE CITY-NATURE CONTINUUM The six City ANTIGENS transform hardware approach into Organic and contribute to create a synchronizing effect of city-nature continuum (CNC) .

12. ENVIRONMENTAL PURSUE OF DEVELOPMENT The physical attributes of city development have inverse relationship with environmental attributes. The dynamic nature of city development renders environmental qualities also dynamic Curve of environmental balance assumes a descending nature with ascending nature of development, a source of Civilization Disaster. The relationship visualized in the figures below.

13. Environment Development Time Status EBoD t 0 Idea l Practical Time Status t 0 t l

14. Figure A represents the existing trend Environmental Breakeven of Development (EBoD), the Oval Blue The pink area: quantities of resources that can be consumed within the safe limit of oval blue Resource consumption beyond the oval blue promotes civilization disaster Role of time dimension in determining the coordinate of Oval Blue The rapid the rate resource consumption, the higher becomes the rate of environmental degradation, thereby arriving at the point of oval blue with very little go-up of development Gradual rate of consumption: gives nature sufficient time for 'self accommodation' either by assimilation or by regeneration Figure B visualizes the significance of self-regeneration, and, the need of integrated ecological measures The ideal approach to maintain the curve of environment in the upward direction, which seems practically impossible due to various factors, most importantly the replacement of biological natural system by inert elements of physical development.

15. Analysis of Fig B Practical approach to keep the descending gradient as low as possible Keeping the down gradient low is a time consuming, more time needed for self-adaptability Significance of t 0, t 1 and t 0+ t1 Time lag of development Ecological Benefit, opportunity for sophisticated life The great paradox: we cannot abandon development to make compromise with nature The best option keeping both curves in an ascending nature together At the worst, the environmental curve remaining horizontal with the ascending nature of development The sustainability concept of is maintaining the curve of environmental balance above EBoD.

16. INERT BIOLOGY OF LIVING CITIES Though cities appear inert, all thriving cities physiological processes Cities once brought into being by people start to bring people in them. Cities generate people. Cities consume resources and produce excrement, as does the human being Cities have social life, that of linkages with other cities and villages in hinterlands Lack of sufficient input or excessive effort laden to it makes it feel fatigue The hardware planning approach does not recognize the biological characteristics of cities, it handles all urban elements in isolation as if inert materials Mutual dependency of living and non-living things of nature and residing human being in cities, both within and between, can ensure a lasting life to cities and comfortable life to residents Newly growing cities should recognize the settlement society and city culture City culture is an agglomeration of city organics and human culture

17. GRAVITY OF CULTURE Human being is the driver of city development, but culture drives human beings. Therefore for cities, culture is the driver of its driver, the super driver Culture is something that defines: The way we live The way we die The way we organize and The way we perceive Culture is one of the fundamental deciding factors of human needs, and then deeds People feel belongingness deeply to anything if it is closely related to their culture and customs Feeling belongingness also refers to the perseverance of caring and sharing the importance of too Failure due lack of public participation, or because of lack of belongingness Several cities thriving since centuries along the string of cultural ties and customs People in developing countries can better understand the cultural sense of sustainability, environmental preservation and like that

18. CULTURE-ENVIRONMENT PARITY: A COURSE TO GO The preventive and correctives measures producing little output Maslow’s model of needs Dynamic Model of Keshav Nepal: Culture in the Steering wheel of Development program Development is a dynamic phenomenon, and so is the culture Dissimilar rate of change of development phenomenon and culture The widening gap of the status of development and culture generates darkening gray area The opacity can be called the Cultural Shock of Development (CSD) , an undesirable byproduct

19. CONSEQUENCES OF CSD Very strong cultural ties: may inhibit the outputs of development, or the developmental returns could also be used to further dogmatize the Cultural stagnancy. Flexible cultural ties: development activity may prevail to cause cultural values to cease to bind the society in a string. This may lead to end the social cohesion promoting social disintegration. Therefore, the ideal model of development would be to keep the opacity of CSD as low as possible, This could be done only if cultural values have been considered in development planning

20. Fig 3: Maslow's model of hierarchy of needs

21. URBAN DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM RESOURCES NEEDS & DESIRES EQUILIBRIUM OF FUNDAMENTAL FORCES OF URBAN DYNAMICS EXTERNAL ECONOMIC INFLUENCE EXTERNAL TECHNICAL INFLUENCE EXTERNAL PHYSICAL INFLUENCE CONSTRAINTS

22. Darkening Gray Area of Cultural Shock of Development (CSD) Time Rate of Change Development Culture Fig 5

23. CONCLUSION The developmental disparity between countries has put the developing countries in a haste of making development happen fast. The hasty approach more prone of producing environmental and cultural problems The ideal model for city development can be a 'go together' approach with environmental considerations. The organic design model with considerations of dynamic characters of cities could help to find cohesive approach of development and environment. While environmental considerations in planning are needed to make the cities sustainable, incorporation of cultural parameters becomes a must to ensure effective implementation, and making the society responsible to continue the design considerations happen for a long duration of time to come. Therefore, culture-environment parity in development planning in growing cities can be a best way for maintaining the ecological balance.