World Urbanism Day marked

Kathmandu, Nov 29 :  The World Urbanism Day which is also called the World Town Planning Day has been observed under the slogan, 'think global, plan local' in Nepal too. The Day which falls on November 8 was observed on Monday due to election code of conduct in place earlier.     
    
Nepal has been marking the day since 2019. Various government and non-government organizations jointly observed the day. Department of Urban Development and Building Construction also organized a programme.    
    
Although Nepal has committed to achieve sustainable development goals by 2030, it is challenging to achieve the goals. Urbanization should therefore be made an important agenda of development.    
    
Officiating Secretary at Ministry of Urban Planning, Padma Kumar Mainali, viewed unless the development is owned by locals, development will not reach fruition. The local people must be linked to development, he added.    
    
On the occasion, Mayor of Bagmati Municipality, Bharat Kumar Thapa, said, "Nepal can be made one of the best livable cities in 10 years if policies framed with positive thoughts of people's representatives and employees were implemented effectively."    
    
Various non-government organizations joined hands with government bodies and municipalities to mark the day. At the programme, local initiatives and international experts' views were shared on how sustainable development could be achieved. (RSS)