Land Pooling as a Land Development Tool in Rural Context: “A Case Study of Deukhuri Dang”

Abstract

Nepal has rapidly urbanized during the past ten years. Numerous urban areas have been designated as a result of this urban transition, and numerous land development strategies, such as Site and Services, Guided Land Development (GLD), and Land Pooling (LP), have been used. The administration wants to develop Deukhuri Valley in the Dang district as the future site of the province capital, but LP projects are facing obstacles there as well. In this study, the Deukhuri Valley is used as a case study to evaluate the viability of LP as a land development technique in a rural setting. The province government wants to develop Deukhuri Valley in Dang district as the future site of the province capital, but the initiated LP projects are facing obstacles there as well. The research looks into the practices now in place for LP implementation, community acceptability, and the financial viability of LP projects. The study combines secondary data sources like policy papers and geographic data with primary data gathering techniques including site observation, structured questionnaires, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions. The descriptive data along with comparative analysis showed that there is a lot of skepticism about the land development initiatives among the populace, which is largely attributed to mistrust of the government, slow initiation to the project, and insufficient attempts to raise awareness.