Open Knowledge Nepal
Urban Atlas Nepal is an open data and methodology layer for understanding urban risk and planning across Nepal's cities — structuring scattered, secondary research into ward-level intelligence that's usable for real decisions.
Urban Atlas Nepal is the data and methodology layer — not a single app, and not a static repository of files to browse.
SmartHousing Nepal is the first application built on top of it: currently covering Kathmandu Valley's 247 wards, helping residents and municipal planners factor flood, earthquake, and air quality risk into housing and budget decisions.
As the underlying atlas matures, it's designed to support future applications and additional cities — always keeping the core risk data open.
“Urban Atlas Nepal is the data and methodology layer. SmartHousing Nepal is the first application built on it, currently covering Kathmandu Valley, with future applications and cities planned as the platform grows.”
Urban Atlas Nepal
Platform — methodology, data standards, national framing.
SmartHousing Nepal
Product line — may expand to other cities over time.
Live today
SmartHousing: Kathmandu Valley
247 wards, flood, earthquake, and air quality risk.
Flood exposure, earthquake risk, air quality, disaster preparedness, infrastructure gaps — cities experience all of these together, but the data describing them almost never does. Studies live in separate PDFs, separate agencies, separate silos, with no shared ward-level view connecting them.
Urban Atlas Nepal exists to close that gap: a single layer where climate risk, safety, and planning data can be structured, compared, and built on — regardless of which application sits on top of it.
Our first lens is housing, through SmartHousing Nepal. The layer underneath is built to carry more.
Live now
Our first application, SmartHousing Nepal, applies this atlas to housing decisions across Kathmandu Valley.
247 wards mapped
3 risk layers
Kathmandu Valley current scope
Currently scoped to Kathmandu Valley. Expansion to other cities is planned as data and partnerships allow.
Open SmartHousing NepalAs real usage from SmartHousing validates demand, we expect the atlas to support use cases beyond housing — evaluated one application at a time, not promised in advance.
Partner with usUrban Atlas Nepal is built by Open Knowledge Nepal (OKN), a Kathmandu-based civic technology and open data nonprofit with four-plus years of experience in civic-tech deployment and municipal partnerships across Nepal.
4+
years building civic technology
5
municipalities using IDMS
Open Data Nepal
another OKN civic-data platform