Abstract:
The urbanisation of Sri Lanka is accelerating, with over 20% of the country’s population residing
in cities. Although there has been further momentum towards the modernisation of infrastructure
development by utilising new technology and policy systems, a significant sociological
gap remains that critically examines how power, development discourse, with technological
practice converge in the construction of built environments. The current study was conducted
to comprehend the sociotechnical aspects that frame urban development in Sri Lanka by examining
the power dynamics that influence the built environment, exploring the structural gaps
impeding the development of the built environment, and assessing the current influence of digital
communication technologies on stakeholders’ collaboration by using new urban sociology,
political economy of space, and the network society as the theoretical frameworks of the study.
Qualitative methodology was employed, with data collected via observation, key informant interviews,
20 semi-structured stakeholder interviews, and documentary analysis. Thematic analysis
was conducted via NVivo software, following Dawson’s (2019) six-phase process. It was
revealed that the built environment is a hybridised, imbalanced interaction mediating between
governance systems, technocentric decisions, and limited stakeholder collaboration. 65% of
coded data pointed to political meddling, often overriding technical merit in planning decisions.
Institutional fragmentation and technocratic practices were revealed to marginalised community
voices. Due to a lack of policy provisions, only 9% respondents revealed utilising integrated
digital communication platforms, resulting in major inefficiencies and duplication. The study
concludes that built environments result from an intricate combination of sociotechnical factors,
with political influence, fragmented institutions, and limited digital coordination that hinder equitable
development. To address these challenges, institutional reforms are necessary to promote
participatory planning, legalise virtual communication spaces, and harmonise social and
environmental analyses at the planning level, ultimately calling for a modern, technology-driven
community participatory planning approach. These findings invoke policy reform, interdisciplinary
academic research, and agendas for stakeholder collaboration, capturing the suitability
of merging technology and sociological insight towards sustainable development outcomes in
the built environment.
