Analysis of investment in public facilities and amenities in urban development plans in Bhutan : how systematic is it?

The Urban Development Plans (UDPs) prepared in Bhutan usually lack priority investment plans and Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) of the proposed investments. While analyzing economic returns and conducting CBA form an integral part of other projects in Bhutan, especially donor funded projects, such analyses have never been never been prioritized in the preparation of the UDPs . Only those UDPs that are outsourced to experts have to be accompanied by phase wise investment plans and the CBA of the proposed interventions. This is simply because of the lack of an Urban Economist and Investment Planner in the human settlement planning sector. Subsequently, there was no awareness or any priority given to such requirements either during the planning phase or after implementation. The Spatial Planning Standards (SPS) 2017 is the only guiding document that specifies the minimum requirements for public facilities and amenities depending on the population. All plans prepared from 2017 onwards have been based on the SPS while plans prepared prior to 2017 were based on other national and international standards. The proposed investment pattern varies depending on how the UDPs are formulated. Sometimes, despite the area and the population density of an area, it has been observed that investment in smaller areas is higher than in some of the bigger towns. Therefore, this study aims to highlight such inconsistencies through the case studies of six UDPs by considering several analyses. Finally, the study provides recommendations on how to achieve uniformity while carrying out population projections, and demand calculation for public facilities and amenities to come up with a consistent, fairly accurate, and an implementable investment plan.