One of six top cities to live in, the aim:

Major facelift for Colombo

By Shirajiv Sirimane

The Government plans to make the City of Colombo one of the top six destinations in the world to live in. This ambitious project has already been undertaken and the plans are to complete it in two years. The project is being planned, coordinated and executed by the Urban Development Authority (UDA) under the supervision of its Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

The modernised Race Course building

The new look Dutch Hospital premises

One of the key problems that were identified in making Colombo the best city in the world was the slums and illegal constructions. It was also surprising to note that some illegal constructions including residences had been in place for nearly three decades, which proves that successive governments have just turned a blind eye when State property was being invaded.

"So much so, the Municipal Councils have even gone to the extent of collecting taxes from them," an official from the UDA said. Another major problem in making Colombo a beautiful city was the pavement hawkers. It is a global norm that pavements should be free for pedestrians to walk on; to achieve this objective, several new shopping complexes were built in Pettah, Nugegoda and several other areas for these hawkers.

"We also went to the extent of repairing pavements to international standards and the first example is the pavement stretch from Kollupitiya to Bambalapitiya," said UDA, Additional Secretary (Technical), Rohan Senevirathna. It would be extended to Wellawatta. Speaking at the Techno 2013 press conference in Colombo, he said that it had been noted that there are 800 acres of prime land in Colombo being occupied by slum-dwellers. "One of the major problems we faced in relocating them and providing them with new houses was the cost since the Government has to provide them alternate land as well spacious housing to live."

To overcome this, the UDA successfully launched a debenture issue and raised Rs. 10 billion. In addition, the land is being leased to companies to carry out real estate and leisure sector projects and this is currently being executed successfully.

An artist’s impression of the new apartment and residential building near Gangarama

One such project is the Commercial Company land which is now being developed by Indocean Developers (Pvt) Ltd., an Indian developer, and Abans for high-end apartments, residential and recreation activities. The 69-storey mixed-use Indocean development is in the city centre and will face the Beira Lake, with pedestrian-accessible retail outlets at ground level.

Community space

The design includes expansive family and community space amenities such as community gardens, shared outdoor spaces within the upper levels of the building, and individual roof gardens or terraces for every residence, a hallmark of Safdie's design philosophy to provide access to outdoor spaces in high density urban housing.

The former Army Headquarters building would be used by Shangri-La of Hong Kong to build Sri Lanka's first seven star hotel.

The Army Headquarters and the other two Forces' headquarters are being moved to a single facility in the Battaramulla area.

"This would be Sri Lanka's biggest ever building," he said. In addition, the Transworks Building in the Fort has being given to an Indian developer who is building the Krrish Tower which would comprise two towers interlinked with two bridges. One of the towers would have 95 floors, making it the tallest building in South Asia. The Krrish Group would also develop and restore the old Transworks building, making the development the world's 10th biggest development happening during the time.

The total extent of land is four acres and the group has already given Rs. 41.1 billion for the lease of the land. The balance Rs. 800 million would be paid by the end of next month. Another project would be the port city development in land area claimed by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority near Galle Face. "The funds would go towards building houses for shanty-dwellers and people who are being relocated and also towards the beautification of the city." Flooding in and around the Colombo City has been occurring for many years and causes considerable economic disruption and social hardships to a large segment of the population. The urban poor, who mostly live in low-lying areas prone to flooding, are particularly hard hit by the problems caused by flooding.

Flood control

"We aim to improve the flood control and drainage infrastructure and management system of the Colombo water basin." The canals are also being cleared and these would be used for high-end leisure sector transportation similar to other developed countries. "We hope to raise some of the existing bridges for this purpose."

Simultaneously, water lands were transformed to mini lakes, putting a stop to flooding in the city of Colombo.

"These lakes also have walkways and wetland parks for the people to relax in." He also said that the Colombo Municipality too is coordinating with the UDA, especially for the improvement of public conveniences in the Colombo Municipal area. "The Metro Colombo Urban Development Project and its successful implementation, together with other initiatives of the Government to develop Colombo, will help transform this city into a truly world class one", said Secretary to the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

He expressed these views delivering the keynote address at the inauguration ceremony of the Metro Colombo Urban Development Project (MCUDP) in Battaramulla.

MCUDP is a US$ 223 million World Bank-funded, three-year urban regeneration program aimed at reducing the physical and socio-economic impacts of flooding in the Metro Colombo region and improving local infrastructure and services.

Modern paid toilets were being built and old colonial properties such as the Dutch Hospital and Race Course were developed to have more places for relaxing and meeting, propelling Colombo upward as the best place to live in the world.