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On the 26th of March 2025, a Regional Roundtable on Urban Governance and Development was organized by Niti and co-convened and sponsored by , Australia, with national and international stakeholders.

The roundtable was chaired by Honourable Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Urban Development Prakash Man Singh. The minister encouraged such regional dialogue highlighting common concerns of Kathmandu with other South Asian cities like those of clean rivers, clean air, disaster preparedness and heritage conservation.

The discussion focused on two themes of how urban governance can drive economic growth in the capital and coordination between government tiers for inclusive and sustainable urban development.

For the first thematic discussion, need for private investment in rapidly urbanizing areas like Kathmandu, more holistic approach to urban governance, ecological balance, focus on infrastructure as well as spatial planning, unemployment concerns of youth, study of internal migration patterns, connectivity for Nepali markets, indirect impact of high land prices on intangible cultural heritage as well as impact of criminal activities, poverty, and unemployment on the urban economy were highlighted by the national stakeholders during their participation. In additional, international stakeholders emphasized on regional approach to economic growth rather than a one-city approach through various examples, as such from India, including those of climate action plans and shared services.

The second thematic discussion focused on shifting from traditional hierarchical coordination to working in the area of Joint Service Arrangements for urban governance in a federal Nepal, highlighting insufficient resources and capacity at the local level, issues of duplication of roles of three tiers of the government, and need for functional provincial government and urban policies for workforce and labourers. Perspectives on collaboration and approach to governance were also drawn attention to by international stakeholder regarding this.

The regional roundtable concluded with a stress on human element and identities as cities informed by culture as well as the importance of connectivity to nature and enriching connections, especially on a regional level as such of South Asia.

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