Gelephu Mindfulness City in Bhutan is a blueprint for urban progress that prioritises the wellbeing of people and the planet. Rose Dykins reports

The mountain kingdom of Bhutan has plans to develop a 1,000 sqkm city – the same size as Singapore – with the mindfulness of its citizens at the heart of its design.

Located near the town of Gelephu, along Bhutan's southern border with India, the masterplan for Gelephu Mindfulness City includes a new international airport, railway connections, a hydroelectric dam that will also incorporate a temple, public spaces and residences - with 11 different "ribbon-like" neighbourhoods that blend with the area's 35 rivers and streams.

These neighbourhoods will be designed like mandalas, with repeated patterns that originate from a central public space.A collaboration between Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), Arup and Cistri, the blueprint for Gelephu Mindfulness City is informed by Bhutan's Gross National Happiness index (GNH).

Bhutan's unique approach to development seeks to balance the material, spiritual, emotional and cultural needs of society in its future plans, rather than purely measuring success on economic output. Instead, Bhutan's GNH index measures four key metrics of progress: environmental conservation, good governance, the preservation and promotion of culture, and sustainable socio-economic development (which revolves around citizens' health, wellbeing, education, and social equity).

The architectural concept for Gelephu Mindfulness City is a mid-to low-rise city that blends with Bhutan's pristine natural environment, with a series of inhabitable bridges.

Each bridge will house a different element of the city, including a university, a healthcare facility, a hydroponic greenhouse, a cultural centre, a spiritual centre, a market, the hydrolectric dam and the new airport (construction of the latter is already underway).

In keeping with Bhutan's status as the world's first carbon-negative country, sustainability and natural preservation is woven into the core of Gelephu Mindfulness City. Traditional Bhutanese-style buildings will be crafted from natural materials such as wood, stone and bamboo.

Paddy fields will be established alongside the city's rivers to help protect against flooding forming: "urban terraces that cascade down from the hills to the valley." These will also function as "biodiversity corridors" where local plants and wildlife can thrive, while ensuring migratory paths of elephants remain undisturbed.

Bjarke Ingels, BIG's founder and creative director, says: "We imagine the Mindfulness City as a place that could be nowhere else, where nature is enhanced, agriculture is integrated and tradition is living and breathing – not only preserved, but also evolved. Shaped by waterways, Gelephu becomes a land of bridges, connecting nature and people, past and future, local and global.”