Kirtipur Awas wins Transformative Cities People’s Choice Award

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Dec. 23: Kirtipur Sambriddha Awas located in Kirtipur Municipality has won the 2022 Transformative Cities  People’s Choice Award in the  housing category. This decision was announced at an international online event held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

More than 16,000 people from across the globe voted online to determine the winner out of 12 selected international finalists in four different categories.  This has been considered one of the most participatory public city awards in the world.

The Urban Community Support Fund of Nepal was represented by Lajana Manandhar, founder and executive director of its secretariat Lumanti Support Group for Shelter. “We are very happy to receive this award. This comes as a recognition of all the struggle and the effort to provide a better housing solution to the needy,” she said.

A feature article by Pallav Ranjan “Learning From Relocation Of Homeless Families” published in The Rising Nepal’s Friday Supplement on October 14, 2022 had played an influential role for winning the award.  Author Ranjan said that he interviewed and interacted with multiple concerned stakeholders to prepare the article. 

The facts and touching humanitarian stories presented in the article played their roles to bring home the award, said Ranjan. The article can be accessed at https://bit.ly/3YmyoHJ. Ranjan said this was perhaps the first planned urban relocation project in Nepal that provided a successful alternative to 43 families made homeless by urban development.