ABSTRACT
Nepal is in the process of rapid urbanization with more than 60 percent of the population living in cities. Living in a city means sharing a limited amount of space with a great variety of people. Open spaces are essential for physical, mental and social reasons. Public open spaces are essential at normal times and a must in the event of a disaster. The quality of public spaces becomes increasingly important for the attractiveness of cities. Bhaktapur was chosen as the target of this study because of its efforts to maintain the city as one of the cleanest in Nepal. Taking the case of Bhaktapur, this chapter finds that an open space strategy is the result of collaboration between many partners, including the public sector, community organizations and private entities, confirming that the local community and local authority took the lead.
