Point of view:

Role of town planners in urban development

by M. T. O. V. Peiris and R. S. U. Kumara

The discipline of town and country planning has a broad set of activities focused on practical planning. The planner identifies and solves problems of urban and rural land use development, industrialisation, energy, transportation, telecommunication, shelter and growth through devolution of power to sub national levels. The planner integrates all these factors to create a sound land use system.

Town and country planning is not new to Sri Lanka. Historical perspectives of ancient Sri Lankan city planning give classic examples of better town planning. Starting with the early Anuradhapura kingdom in the third century BC, it had unique fortresses, palaces, pagodas and reservoirs. Sigiriya is one of the marvellous creations of planning. We have evidence to prove that before the introduction of modern town planning to Sri Lanka by the British, our ancestors had deep and efficient knowledge on city planning with land use compatibility.

Proud historical heritage

Therefore, as Sri Lankans, we have a proud historical heritage where it can stand for the foundation or base of town planning. As undergraduate planning students, we have engaged in plan making exercises together with the ground level analysis. The completion of the degree program creates a complete and dynamic young planner who can rely on ground level reality for resolving urban development issues in different contexts in different times.

Urban development in Sri Lanka had several faces in different times, and the young planner has the knowledge and rational decision-making power which can suit any condition.

This ability differentiates the young planner with others to make better decisions to satisfy the needs of stakeholders in any community issue. But today in Sri Lanka, it is hardly being seen in the town planner's activity on administration level.

There are urban development areas declared by the Urban Development Authority (UDA). The Colombo Municipal Council has a separate section for solving town planning issues, where as other councils do not have any. In this context, the planner has to face multiple challenges in between his task and arising issues of Sri Lanka. Firstly, it is important to identify the definition of urban development, its level in Sri Lanka, urban areas related issues and the limitations in the current strategies, how young planner's intervention matters in these cases.

Urban development in Sri Lanka

The term 'Urban Development' comprises a wide meaning which includes physical, socio-economic and environmental aspects in a given urban area; but in respect of town planning a greater emphasis is laid on the physical development of land within the urban entity. Litchfield succinctly points out to this aspect when he says: "Physical development has its socio-economic implications. And from the regional and national level the growth with which that development is concerned cannot take place without the contribution of the buildings and infrastructure provided by physical development. Increases in productivity and output cannot be provided without the built fabric which is to house the machinery and labour.

"Sri Lanka is a fast developing country where urban development is a prime requirement to achieve the development on the way to be a developed country. With the current economic structure, a developing country's prime focus is to achieve development through accelerated economic growth policies where developed countries focus on the environmental conservation and reduction of adverse consequences on environment. Under these circumstances Sri Lanka's economy requires more urban activities, mainly industrial and commercial based activities. With the improvement of built infrastructure such as highways, expressways, airports, harbours, power plants, water supply schemes and economy-based built forms such as industrial parks, commercial developments and economic zones.

Create urban development

The Sri Lankan context in above development trends are significant.

We can identify the urban character of many towns and higher agglomeration of commercial and industrial activities in and around. Also the population concentration of these major towns have exceeded their threshold limits, so surrounded suburbs supported them with the attraction of overspill population.

With the expansion of urban activities, Colombo Metropolitan Region has highest spatial boundary as a region which is a classic example of development as well as the complexity of urban form. Town planner's rational decision-making power really matters on these situations to guide its development towards a correct path. Hambantota harbour and Mattala airport create more urban areas in the southern area and the southern expressway linking Hambantota and Colombo will develop the suburbs specially based on 11 major interchanges.

In the same way the Eastern revival and Northern area development will create more urban centres within the next decade. Sri Lanka has a definite trend of urbanisation and urban development all over the country. In this situation, it can easily convert this development into an ad hoc situation if there's no proper management of land uses through promotional and controlling mechanism.

Urban development related issues

Urban area related issues are common to any country. Every country faces similar problems with the achievement of developed levels. But the continuation of the same problem shows the management issues and negative attention on the ground level situation. Sri Lanka faces this problem for a long time especially with the commercial capital-Colombo. With the urbanisation trend and increase of services within the core areas of the town create lots of congestion, pollution and many socio economic issues. Sometimes it's less attention on the actual situation from the ground level perspective by the officials.

However, lack of direct intervention of the young planner on the problem solving exercise is significant in these cases. Existence of urban issues in Sri Lanka can be analysed under two themes.

Those are the issues due to haphazard development within the urban areas and management issues with the institutional set up. But, when we analyse the ad hoc development in Colombo and other urban areas,the integration of all these factors, institutional deficiency, and loopholes in the legal system as well as the attitudinal problems of the people can be seen. This happens with the land use changes in urban areas.

A section of the Colombo city

Spatial planning perspective explains the land use changes with the demand on land for the highest and best use. Based on the profitability and utility values of the people, industrial, commercial land uses are dominated in urban localities.

Small land plot sizes, high rise development, decrease of agricultural uses are common changes in land use activities in urban areas.To manage this conversion of land use, the spatial planner's intervention is necessary at the town and country level.

The problems created by this situation, unless corrective action is taken on systematically planned basis, can be expected to manifest in several ways such as: 1. Land encroachments into available state land which will include in environmentally sensitive areas by causing severe adverse effects; 2. Land encroachments in the urban periphery, which is extending even in to available private lands; 3. Further fragmentation of agricultural land, either by private sector developers or by the state sectors, where necessary, to procedures by enforcements of the Land Acquisition Act; (irrespective of appropriate urban development in terms of plans which deal into ad hoc land development) 4. Unplanned urban expansion (urban sprawl).

There are issues raised with the urban development in the environment. Traffic congestion in main arteries, road accidents, insufficient road width for increasing vehicle population, poor traffic management systems are some problems related to road infrastructure.

Also vehicular emissions, green house gases (GHGs) create air pollution and urban heat islands which has a heavy impact on urban areas.

Colombo city is facing this problem and this created Colombo as the 4th worst city to stay in the international arena. High density population is one reason for this problem.

Average population density in Sri Lanka is about 300 persons per km2, but it's 2000 persons per sq. km in Colombo city.

This very high population density not only creates transport and other infrastructure issues, also the socio economic problems with health, education related problems are also significant.

The population concentration exceeded the threshold levels in Colombo, the same as many district capitals in Sri Lanka such as Gampaha, Kalutara, Matara, Badulla and Kandy.Rural-urban migration with more infrastructure and services in urban centres has to be managed by professionals and experts in the subject as town planners.

To be continued