The development of city planning in Sri Lanka

Early History

The Sri Lanka has a long history of spatial planning going back more than 25 centuries, as evident from the past excavations in Anuradhapura city.

The first Nagara (city) to emerge in Anuradhapura, the first and longest surviving organized capital of Sri Lanka and the major city of the present North Central Province. The City acquired urban characteristics in 377 B.C., functioning for many years as a royal and aristocratic residential district called Anuradhagama. According to the chronicle of 'Mahavansa', King Pandhukabaya converted Anuradhagama to an urban settlement called Anuradhapura with built necessary services and defense to make it his capital. Anurahdapura was the beginning of the ‘Nagara System’, the concept of urban settlements in Sri Lanka.

Anuradhapura was the capital of Sri Lanka until 993 A.D. During this period many settlements developed to the status of Nagara, even though they did not reach standards comparable to Anuradhapura. The Nagara System had reached an advanced status by around the second century BC.

Rohana, a settlement contemporary with Anuradhapura, became an affluent population centre and remained as an independent territory through the most part of the early history of Sri Lanka. Sometimes it's power rose above the capital and was a threat to the kingdom. Rohana’s major population centre was known as Magampura or Mahagama, meaning the “Greatest Settlement.”.

After 993 A.D. various capitals emerged from time to time. One such capital was Sigiriya (478-496 AD) founded in the central part of the North-Central Province, but in a location distant  to any of the major population centres existing at that time.

As a result of this historical development, there are  five cities in Sri Lanka listed as world heritage cities by UNESCO. These cities are Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Sigiriya, Kandy and Galle.

 

The Colonial Period

City planning during the colonial occupation (1505-1948) was mainly confined to Galle and Colombo and a few town centres where the colonial administration administered its trade and defence activities. During the Portuguese occupation (1505-1658) Colombo remained a small harbour and a fortress.  However, during the periods of Dutch domination (1658-1796) and British domination (1796-1948) , the City of Colombo developed as a main centre of trade administration and commercial functions. It did not develop into a large commercial centre until the 19th Century.

During the British period, planning had its roots mainly in town sanitation. In the period between 1890-1915, the Sanitory Boards and Improvement Commissioners were established. They were entrusted with the task of providing better housing and improvement of towns under the provision of the Public Health Ordinance, the Housing and Town Improvement Ordinance and various Local Government Ordinances. These Ordinances covered remedial and preventive measures and marked a general improvement in housing and street schemes.

Sir Patrick Geddes was invited to draft a plan for the City of Colombo, incorporating areas of more developable land and introducing the garden city concept. His proposal was to have sub-urban centres. He viewed the development of Colombo Port as a major factor that would influence the spatial pattern of city growth.

After the Second World War the Government invited Professor Cliffored Holliday, another eminent British town planner, to study the problems of Colombo City and prepare a plan. His man concern was zoning proposals and he envisaged that these proposals would stabilise the structure of the city and promote planned future development. His proposals included a street system and traffic plan. Holliday’s suggestions were later incorporated in the Town and Country Planning Ordinance of 1947.

The Post Independence Era

In 1948, the Government invited Sir Patrick Abecrombie to prepare a regional plan for Colombo and its surrounding region, covering an area of 220 square miles. The region included the capital city, the adjoining built-up urban area and a considerable extent of rural country in the periphery.

Abercombie’s Regional Plan and his proposal for the development of the Colombo Metropolitan area were subsequently amended according to the decisions of the Central Planning Commission in 1957, to carry out the planned development of satellite towns within the region in order to accommodate the overspill of the people from crowded city area. It was felt that Abecrombie’s plan was not adequate to accommodate the rapid changes taking place in the urban areas, especially in Colombo and its surrounding sub urban areas. The Government sought UNDP assistance to mitigate the perceived problems. This was the beginning of a build up of a consensus on the necessity of a Master Plan for Colombo and it’s environs.

The Master Plan for the Colombo Metropolitan Region of 1978 consisted of two interrelated documents, namely the Colombo Metropolitan Regional Structure Plan and the Colombo Urban Area Plan. The Colombo Master Plan Project, which pursued a balanced regional development strategy, covered the Colombo District including the area now classified as Gampaha District and part of Kalutara District.

The Urban Development Authority 

The establishment of the Urban Development Authority as a planning organization was also a direct outcome of the Colombo Master Plan. The City of Colombo Development Plan was prepared and gazetted by the Urban Development Authority in 1985 and it enabled the UDA to implement zoning and building regulations.

A review of urban development since the publication of the Colombo Master Plan shows that several significant planned developments have taken place. These include the Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte Parliamentary Complex, the Superior Courts Complex and the Biyagama and Katunayaka Free Trade Zones. The development that has taken place during the last twenty years has significantly changed the urban environment in and around Colombo.

The decision to prepare a new structure plan for the Colombo Metropolitan Region was greatly influenced by the changes during the last twenty years. All aspects of the region, such as infrastructure, transport, health, education, industry, housing and agriculture have been taken into account. The proposed strategies for physical formations are aimed at making the City of Colombo more orderly and environmentally friendly and yet highly dynamic and economically diverse. The strategy of the CMR Plan is to utilise this natural layout by making further improvements for sustainable development through the application of appropriate environmental and physical planning strategies.

The new Structure Plan addresses strategies for the Core Area, Growth Centres, Industrial Townships, other Urban Centres and the Physical formation of the future CMR. In developing these strategies, the various demands for lands that arise from population increase, expansion of industrial activities, growth in commercial and service sectors and the need to preserve the fast dwindling environmentally sensitive lands have been taken into consideration.

The new Structure Plan also proposes zoning and building density regulations for the CMR. The objective of introducing these regulations is to ensure that future urban development conforms to environmentally and aesthetically acceptable standards.

National Physical Planning Department

establishing of National Physical Planning Department to replace the former Town & Country Planning Department.

The Current Situation

 As the planning issues in the city are complex, a comprehensive planning approach is essential, integrating all urban issues that are currently seen as well as those that are likely to emerge in the future. Such an approach is needed to prepare the city of Colombo to face the challenges in the next century.