Articles
What Development Has Done to a Town: Lessons from Hambantota, Sri Lanka
Authors:
Shalini Mariyathas ,
Department of Town & Country Planning, University of Moratuwa, LK
About Shalini
Shalini Mariyathas is a Lecturer at the Department of Town & Country Planning, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka where she specializes in Planning Theory, Urban Conservation and Urban Design. She earned her Masters in Urban & Regional Planning from Ball State University, Indiana and B.Sc (Hon) in Town & Country Planning at the University of Moratuwa. Mariyathas is also a Chartered Town Planner and the Editorial Assistant of Bhumi, the Planning Research Journal of University of Moratuwa.
Nihal Perera,
Professor of Urban Planning at Ball State University
About Nihal
Nihal Perera is Professor of Urban Planning at Ball State University, as well as the founder and Director of the CapAsia immersive field-semester in Asia. In addition to the USA, he has taught in Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka. The two-time Fulbright Scholar awardee: to China (2006–07) and Myanmar (2015-16) was also Senior Research Fellow at the National University of Singapore (2010) and has received three Fulbright-Hays awards. Perera‘s research, as a leading scholar of social space, focuses on how ordinary people create and negotiate their own spaces. His publications include articles on feminizing the city, competing modernities in Chandigarh, competing visions for Dharavi and books entitled Decolonizing Ceylon (OUP 1999), Transforming Asian Cities (Routledge 2013; Co-eds with Tang), and People’s Spaces (Routledge 2016).
Abstract
Hambantota, Sri Lanka was subjected to a massive transformation in the past decade (2005-2015). What used to be a town of 10,000 people, now has a harbor, an international airport (both second only to the one in the national capital Colombo), cricket stadium of the highest caliber. It is also the only city crossed by massive highways. No other town in Sri Lanka has transformed this significantly after independence. It is also a Municipal Council, which is considered the highest order city. This transformation was politically driven, since it is located in the district of the then President, Mahinda Rajapaksa (2005-2015), consequently there was no lack of funding and political will. It was the planners’, development specialists’, and building contractors’ dream.
How to Cite:
Mariyathas, S., Perera, N. and Yehiya, M., 2016. What Development Has Done to a Town: Lessons from Hambantota, Sri Lanka. Bhumi, The Planning Research Journal, 5(1), pp.57–72. DOI: http://doi.org/10.4038/bhumi.v5i1.24
Published on
25 Dec 2016.
Peer Reviewed
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