Urban regeneration the need of the hour

by Elmo Leonard

The city of Colombo sits on an urban nightmare time bomb, due to inadequate measures of urban regeneration, persisting through decades. "Now, we cannot say that Colombo will turn out to be like Mumbai or Chennai, teeming with shanty townspeople, with packed trade and immobile infrastructure, because these metropolises are being regenerated," president Chamber of Construction Industry of Sri Lanka (CCISL) Surath Wickremasinghe said.

The tool of regenerating available land within cities, is very successfully employed in the metropolises of neighbouring countries of South Asia.

In comparison, in the developed world, urban regeneration grows in sophistication, generating immense economic and social benefits to city dwellers, adding mobility, and beauty to the surroundings and attracting investment and visitors. Singapore is a classic example of adding value to available land by providing infrastructure, while this town planning concept is commonplace, through every city, small and big.

Colombo's land prices are skyrocketing, being a measure of inadequate town planning, Wickramasinghe said. Unencumbered land in Colombo 3 and 4, fetches over Rs. 4 million (Rs. 106 to a US dollar) per perch. Land in lesser prestigious Panchikawatte, Colombo 10 is priced around Rs. 3 to 4 million per perch. Encumbered land with slums and shanties found all over the city, currently sell at Rs. 400,000 to 500,000 per perch.

Wickremasinghe questioned, how so many warehouses, built over 50 and 100 years ago, by the British, still stand in Colombo, while in cities overseas, warehouses are shifted outside the urban zone. In other countries, such prime blocks of city land are developed with high technology infrastructure, divided into plots and sold by auction.

Such undeserved land could be better regenerated in large plots, and the larger the plot regenerated, the more value could be added.

Ironically, too much of waterfront land lies underutilised in local cities, when waterfronts add beauty, and has to be paid for, overseas. Contrary to this, much land, sandwiched between Colombo's Beira Lake and sea in Slave Island which multiplies value, goes under-utilised.

The same is true in areas around the Jethawanaramaya temple and the sea waterfronts of Colombo, Wickremasinghe said.

Regenerated land brings down the price, makes it affordable to the citizens who wish to live in the town, and affords the chance of living comfortably.

Colombo's sea and waterfronts are packed with shanty dwellers who should be moved out. Even Slave Island, Colombo 2, has many such places which could be developed, where the economy could gain from commercial activity, Wickramasinghe said. "If you don't utilise land well, adverse problems will arise, with time," he said.

Wickramasinghe lauded the development of Panchikawatte, Colombo, where 2,046 shanty dwellings are being moved out for relocation. Satellite towns, could be developed around Colombo, but it must be linked by road and rail to the capital city, Wickramasinghe said.

In rural Japan, there is no lack of infrastructure facilities, such as water, electricity, and telecommunication.

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