Bhutanese Dwellings: Sustaining the State of Wellbeing-ness

Abstract

lthough Gross National Happiness (GNH) is acclaimed as the Bhutanese overarching goal of
development, the country’s pursuit of modernization and urbanization has inevitably brought about a decline in vitality of traditional communities and indigenous dwellings. This paper aims to explore how to sustain the state of wellbeing-ness of the Bhutanese dwellings in the evolving context. Considering the abundance of natural and cultural landscape vis-à-vis the deficiency of human resource and skill in agriculture, Shari village is selected as the case study representing the nationwide concerns. Based on field surveys, interviews and documents provided by the DCHS, this paper proposes the smart collaboration of place, people, and profession as keys to regenerating the state of wellbeing-ness of the community.