Bhutan’s capital is transforming the flood-prone Memorial Chorten stream into a blue-green corridor that combines flood protection, ecological restoration, and inclusive public space.
A new blue-green corridor is taking shape along Thimphu’s Memorial Chorten stream in Bhutan. City planners want to turn the flood-prone waterway into a safer, greener public space. The stream flows past some of the capital’s most visited landmarks.
The Memorial Chorten stream is one of five key waterways identified in Thimphu’s long-term city plan. It connects the city center to the Wang Chhu River. Rapid construction and heavier rains have made the corridor increasingly prone to flooding.
The stream passes near the National Memorial Chorten, a well-known Buddhist stupa in the capital. It also runs by the Royal Bhutan Police Headquarters and the Changlimithang area. Despite this central location, much of the corridor remains hard to access today.
Queen Ashi Phuntsho Choden Wangchuck built the Memorial Chorten decades ago in memory of the third king. Today it stands as one of Bhutan’s most visited religious sites. Its surrounding stream corridor sees heavy foot traffic from residents and visitors alike.
Flooding has become a growing concern across Thimphu in recent years. A flash flood tore through the nearby Dechencholing community in 2025. Officials say the city, originally planned for a much smaller population, now faces mounting climate pressure.
Thimphu Thromde, the city’s municipal government, has now finalized a revitalization design plan for the site. The project blends engineered flood controls with nature-based solutions to build a blue-green corridor. Together, these measures aim to lower flood risk while restoring the stream’s ecological health.
Planned work includes restoring riparian plants and naturalizing the stream channel itself. New retention ponds would capture stormwater before it floods nearby streets. Waste interception systems would also help keep pollution out of the waterway.
New walking trails, viewing areas, and solar-powered lighting would open the future blue-green corridor to the public. Better pedestrian paths are also expected to improve safety around the stream. Recreational spaces are planned to encourage residents to spend time outdoors.
Thimphu’s planned blue-green corridor will combine naturalized stream channels, stormwater retention ponds, and waste interception systems with solar-powered walking trails, viewing areas, and recreational spaces, turning a flood-prone urban waterway into a safe, accessible public amenity. Photo by Dechen Wangmo, courtesy of UNDP.
Inclusive design guided much of the planning process from the start. Planners want the corridor to feel safe and accessible for women, children, and older residents. The site’s design also considered people with disabilities.
The design plan came together through the Disaster Resilient Infrastructure Project. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) supported the effort. Funding came through the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, or CDRI, and its Infrastructure Resilience Accelerator Fund.
A separate ongoing initiative will help carry the design into construction. That project, backed by UNDP and the Global Environment Facility, focuses on wider urban climate resilience. Reports indicate Bhutan has allocated roughly $24 million toward related stream corridor work.
That broader initiative also covers more than 30 kilometers of stormwater drains across central Thimphu. The Global Environment Facility and the Royal Government of Bhutan jointly fund the six-year effort. Together, these projects mark one of the largest urban resilience pushes in the country’s history.
Engineers, landscape architects, and gender specialists all contributed to the design. Local agencies held site assessments and community consultations before finalizing plans. That collaborative process shaped decisions on everything from drainage to lighting.
Officials describe the effort as one of Bhutan’s first projects to combine several goals at once. Disaster resilience, ecological restoration, and inclusive public space design all come together in a single corridor. Few urban projects in the region have attempted such an integrated approach.
The project supports goals set out in Bhutan’s National Adaptation Plan. It also echoes the country’s long-term strategy for low-emission, climate-resilient development. Urban human settlements remain a key focus area under both documents.
Officials hope the corridor can serve as a practical model for other Bhutanese cities facing similar flood risks and growing pressure on urban waterways. Lessons from Thimphu could soon help guide blue-green corridor projects along other rivers and streams, showing how restoring natural waterways can strengthen urban resilience while creating healthier public spaces. For a small mountain kingdom, restoring one stream could provide valuable lessons and help protect many more communities from future flooding.
