Gelephu Mindfulness City:
Pitching the upcoming Gelephu Mindfulness City as the biggest “co-operative project” in Bhutan, the Bhutanese Prime Minister recently said that he was grateful for India’s support on the 2,500 sq.km. “Zero Carbon” city being developed.
- It is an innovative urban development project that integrates economic growth with mindfulness, holistic living and sustainability.
- The GMC project has been envisioned by the King of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck.
- It is located in the south-central part of Bhutan and covers over 2500 square kilometers (bigger than Singapore).
- It is a first-of-its-kind Special Administrative Region (SAR) in Bhutan.
- The city will be built around a series of inhabitable bridges.
- It is expected to be a low-rise city which will have its own university and health care facilities for both western and traditional medicine.
- The planned city will have eleven “ribbonlike neighborhoods” that incorporate the area’s 35 rivers and streams.
Neighborhoods will be designed like mandalas, with repeated patterns organized around a central public space. - The city will have its own international airport.
- It will also have several markets and spiritual centres.
- To protect against flooding, paddy fields will be built along the rivers, “forming urban terraces that cascade down from the hills to the valley,”.
- It will have its own government and have the independence to have its own lawmaking, as well as an independent judiciary.
- It will have two protected areas – a national park and a wildlife sanctuary.
