Post-disaster (Re)Construction of Heritage: Negotiating Value, Authenticity and Acceptable Change in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

This paper examines the earthquake-prone Kathmandu Valley in Nepal, and the recurring cycle of destruction and reconstruction of Nepal's built fabric. The extent and nature of damage caused by the Gorkha Earthquake, not only to globally recognised monuments and sites, but to innumerable locally significant buildings and places, has intensified the growing academic and professional debates on post-disaster reconstruction of built heritage. This paper will question the existing frameworks as dictated by framework, down to the community-based practices of care and of religious belief that each impact the sites. his paper frames reconstruction of heritage as being more than a process of physical rebuilding and may be understood as an expression of asserting (and re-establishing) community identity.