Sure, plenty of us have been on or at least heard of wellness retreats or mindful getaways, which often involve going off-grid and doing lots of yoga. But an entire mindfulness city? That’s not so common – but the South Asian country of Bhutan has just revealed its plans to build exactly that.
The project will be headed up by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), a design and architecture firm that will bring the King of Bhutan’s vision of the brand-new Gelephu Mindfulness City to life.
Plans for the new city, which will be a 250,000 acre destination in the south of Bhutan, are aimed at harnessing a blend of ‘Bhutanese tradition, nature, and modern living’, according to the announcement, to create a ‘modern Buddhist lifestyle destination’.
In more practical terms, the designs feature a low-density urban development between the Phibsoo Wildlife Sanctuary and the Royal Manas National Park. There will be 11 neighbourhoods dotted between the 35 rivers and streams that run through the site. The region’s paddy fields have also been factored into the design, which will protect these developments from monsoon season floods.
The city will serve as a gateway for tourists to explore the rest of Bhutan, accoding to the announcement. A set of nine bridges will be built as major landmarks, each dedicated to one of the country’s ‘gross national happiness domains’ (a set of pillars, which includes stuff like public spaces and agricultural preservation, that form the basis of Bhutan’s philosophy). And every bridge will have a function – one will act as a Vajrayana spiritual centre allowing for glimpses into the daily practices of monks, one will be a healthcare centre, one a greenhouse, and one will even include an airport.
And if all that doesn’t sound spectacular enough, the city’s design will also include dams, the last of which will be hydroelectric. The announcement describes these as an embodiment of the coexistence between nature and culture, and they double as viewpoints for visitors and those on meditative walks.
It all sounds rather impressive. What's more, Gelephu already has tourism infrastructure such as hotels, but it reached its first milestone on December 23 with the official opening of the region’s new airport.
Keep an eye on Bhutan’s tourism website for more updates as this mindfulness city comes to life.
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