Urban agriculture in Kathmandu as a catalyst for the civic inclusion of migrants and the making of a greener city

This research explores the opportunities offered for green city-making on the recently secured Bagmati riverbanks in Kathmandu which is subject to rapid inward migration from landless rural farmers. It asks what the theory and practice of architecture can contribute in this setting to support the fit between emergent bottom-up initiatives and top-down city investment. To do this it deepens and extends loose fit theory, research methods and reflective practices to investigate latent possibilities, assemble a narrative of embedded change and create spatial imaginaries of topographical change on the Bagmati riverbanks. It argues that by making explicit the relationships between setting and occupant, stimulating and representing alternative imaginaries and framing a civic discourse, architectural theory and practice can play a significant role in both integrating migrants into civic institutions and at the same time helping to generate a greener city