STATUS OF URBANIZATION IN SRI LANKA: A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Abstract

Urbanization is the process which transforms predominantly village culture into predominantly urban culture. It is a powerful phenomenon in the socioeconomic development of a country. The main purpose of this paper is to review the literature in relation to urbanization in Sri Lanka to understand the present status of urbanization in Sri Lanka. This literature review adopts a traditional (narrative) review approach to explore and synthesize the existing body of knowledge on urbanization in Sri Lanka. Selected scientific publications written in the last 50-year period were used for this review and the review is completely qualitative. As many researchers pointed out, although many areas in the country have gained remarkable urban characteristics over the last two decades, the absence of a proper official definition based on a scientific approach to identifying the urban areas has under-estimated the country’s level of urbanization and does not adequately reflect the real picture of urbanization. As the World Bank revealed it is evident that Sri Lanka’s urbanization pattern is characterized by a low-density-ribbon urban development pattern. There is a rapid growth of urbanization along the periphery of cities like Colombo and other regional cities and their transport arteries. Therefore, Sri Lankan cities are being connected with ‘ribbon growth’ along road connections between cities. This pattern of low-density-ribbon urbanization development is difficult to plan and manage and it leads to economic inefficiency and makes service delivery uneconomical. It also increases congestion and related environmental damage, while reducing the potential efficiency gains from agglomeration economies. Therefore, this urban development pattern of the country is a severe challenge in promoting sustainable urban development. The review revealed that urban sprawl is one of the key challenges facing Sri Lanka’s cities today. Economic growth and urban-rural migration, recent large development projects such as the port city project, change in trade and investment climate in the country as Colombo's emergence as a regional hub for trade and investment and increase in per capita income of the population are major demanding factors for urban living. However, a new method which is suitable for identifying emerging urban centers and incorporating the urban sprawl of the existing ones into the national urban system should be formulated.