In Bhutan, the National Comprehensive Development Plan 2030 Formulation Project was implemented with the cooperation of Japan to promote balanced rural-urban development, and the National Comprehensive Development Plan 2030 (CNDP2030) was formulated in 2019.CNDP2030 is a national land use planning and the national land structure, and sets the direction of regional development through regional structural analysis for regional development promotion and regional analysis on industrial development, including proposals for economic corridors. Among them, the Regional Center Concept (see note) is proposed to promote the alleviation of population concentration in the northwestern part of the country (the metropolitan area centering on the capital city of Thimphu and the international airport in Paro) and the correction of disparities among regions. However, regional-scale planning, including the regional center concept, requires the formulation of a statutory plan to realize the said concept. This cooperation will support the formulation of regional development plans and spatial plans in the South-Central region and provide guidelines for the national implementation of these plans, thereby realizing the regional center concept proposed in the Comprehensive National Development Plan 2030 (CNDP2030) and promoting the development of a well-balanced regional development strategy. This will contribute to the promotion of national land development and the correction of regional disparities.
(Note) The regional center concept is a concept in which service centers are developed in a hierarchical manner with the regional center (core city) as the center, prefectural center (capital city), and counties, and are connected by a network of public transportation and other means.
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