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Urbanization in Bhutan.

Article Excerpt
Bhutan has wandered without a map into that psychological



territory where a magical innocence is lost and there are no signposts to what lies ahead. ... The Bhutanese are in some kind of bardo [transitional state] ... waiting to see if they will enter the next life as a nation selectively modernized for the common good but otherwise unaltered, or as a small third world country. --Barbara Crossette, 1995 Surely there must be another way to enlightenment! --Siddhartha Gautama, quoted in Karen Armstrong, 2001

Modernization's destabilizing effects frequently afflict emerging nations. Common problems evoke convergent pressures to find similar solutions. Bhutan's "middle way" development strategy offers a model for navigating competing pressures that holds promise by successfully infusing both cultural and functional elements. In this study I examine the elements that affect urbanization as the country steers internationally between isolation and absorption by powerful neighbors and domestically between an absolute monarchy and a democracy. Urban concerns flow from several common issues (Potter and others 2004). Migration to primate centers often leads to a mismatch of skills and employment opportunities, with familiar negative consequences. Population pressure exacerbates inadequate infrastructure, particularly affecting poorer parts of cities and aggravating tensions among groups. The regional problem lies in avoiding urban primacy, wherein large cities drain national resources (Pugh 1996). Sociodemographic considerations focus on how culture affects the development process. Political strategies revolve around management of these challenges, often triggering a rebalancing transition.

Sociocultural as well as political institutional characteristics shape human economic behavior and the process of development (Kasarda 1991; Yeung 2005; Radcliffe 2006). Mechanisms to cope with modernization reflect cultural roots. Their deployment in support of culturally appropriate and functionally useful steps constitutes a "middle way" of moving forward without rejecting meaningful identity roots from the past. My research examines forces that shape the formation, implementation, and emerging consequences of urbanization policy in the small Buddhist constitutional monarchy of Bhutan. The country's state of development at the edge of modernity--for the first time electing a legislature and prime minister, receiving a new king, and joining the World Trade Organization, all in 2008-creates an opportunity to monitor transition to development in a world marked by highly uneven patterns (Leinbach 1995; Smith 1996).

BHUTAN AND ITS URBAN POLICY

A challenging physical environment constrains settlement in relation to topography, climate, and land use within resource limits. Bhutan's limited amount of relatively flat land lies along river valleys between steep mountains that shape the external spatial urban morphology of all but its southernmost cities (Figure 1). These are dotted along the northern fringe of what was left of the Duar Plain in Bhutan's domain after the British extended India's northeastern boundary. Bhutan covers 47,000 square kilometers, roughly half the size of the state of Indiana and slightly larger than Switzerland. Elevations range from 97 to 7,550 meters above sea level along the northern border with Tibet (CIA 2008). Forests cover less than three-quarters of the land, with one-tenth glaciated and slightly more than one-fifth inhabited or cultivated (Fraser, Bhattacharya, and Bhattacharya 2001, 47).

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

According to the first accurate, total count, as of 31 May 2005 the population of Bhutan stood at 672,425, including 37,443 people classified as temporarily unsettled. The urban population comprised 196,111 persons, or almost 31 percent of the populace. Population growth of around 3 percent per year produces one of the world's lowest density rates (OCC 2006). The smallest, basic settlement unit is a village, including isolated concentrations of several housing units clustered in relative proximity. The next largest enumeration category comprises 201 subdistricts or towns; then come 20 districts, including several villages and some towns (Rizal 2002). The hierarchic city population range reflects agricultural roots by following Zipf's rank-size distribution for urban settlements. Small landholders constitute slightly more than half of the population (Rinzin and others 2005).

The gradual pace of connection to the outside world via both virtual--television, the Internet--and physical roadways stems from a combination of topography and location in a dangerous neighborhood. Bhutan combines lessons learned--and loans obtained--from the experience of other small nations, including Denmark and Japan, with its own situation of...

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