Kathmandu is a city so strangled by development and pressures related to the values of land (which near doubles every 3 years) that natural green space seldom exists. The Nepali people, however are from a rich ecological state and it quickly becomes obvious that city dwellers go out of their way to create some semblances of the natural world. Plastic flowers adorn even the poorest lobby spaces and real plants can be found in more elaborate locales. The rest of the natural will of the populous is forced upwards – to the roofscapes of buildings. Nearly all roof terraces and balconies show small and large attempts at the urban provision of trees, shrubs and even lawns.
At times, the efforts seem to be striving towards overcompensation – to the point that the placement and containers for plant specimens can become haphazard and seemingly circumstantial. Bath tubs, oil drums and discarded containers of many materials become planters. The goal of achieving vegetation takes priority over the aesthetics of the means through which it is accomplished. Nevertheless, these informal, private green projects serve an important function – providing some of the only options for (near) peaceful retreat from the noise, traffic, and dust of the city below.
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