| Project Detail |
Luang Prabang is a city in northern Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, with a remarkably well-preserved historic townscape that was inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage in 1995. Luang Prabang is one of the leading tourist attractions in Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, and the number of tourists increased from about 62,000 to over 860,000 between 1997 and 2019, an increase of nearly 13 times in about two decades. Although tourists hardly visited Luang Pranag in the past few years due to the COVID-19 pandemic related restrictions, the number of tourists will be likely to recover to the level of pre-COVID-19 as travel restrictions are lifted.
Luang Prabang is in transition, where several regionally-significant projects are changing the urban structures within and around the city. These projects include the Lao-China Railway operational from December 2021, and other planned projects such as an expressway from Vientiane to China, a new bridge across the Mekong River connecting Luang Prabang and Chompet, and Luang Prabang Special Economic Zone. Collectively, these projects may influence both land use and development patterns, as well as mobility patterns and the number of visitors to Luang Prabang. The historic city of Luang Prabang is facing critical urban challenges with unprecedented development pressures on the urban center as well as urban periphery with continuous increases in population, tourists, and economic activities.
Limited mobility options and traffic management encourage motorbikes and driving, creating problems such as traffic congestion, illegal parking, and road safety issues. Significant population and tourism growth as well as new land developments result in higher demand for travel and strains on the existing system that exacerbate transport problems.
In this context, Luang Prabang urgently needs to build capacity of key actors engaging in urban transport. It is also critical for Luang Prabang to formulate a transport master plan that guides future transport system and traffic management, which enables Luang Prabang to continue to grow sustainably as a center of tourism with cultural heritages, while also meeting the mobility needs of local residents and workers.
With this background, JICA provides technical cooperation to DOT, DPWT and other concerned agencies, which support them to enchance their capacity in urban transport through producing three outputs described below.
The Overall Goal
Priority projects are implemented in accordance with the Urban Transport Master Plan for Luang Prabang to prosper as a sustainable city of tourism.
Project Purpose
The capacity for planning and project implementation of the government agencies involved in urban transport in the tourism city of Luang Prabang is strengthened. |
