Making Colombo city a ‘green’ business metropolis

New amendments to the City of Colombo Development Plan, devised originally by the Urban Development Authority (UDA) in 1999, is aimed at making the capital, a greener city, without compromising its progression to becoming an international business centre on the lines of Singapore and Dubai, a senior official of the UDA said.

Prassana Silva, UDA Deputy Director General told The Sunday Times FT that under the amendments variations in certain socio-economic factors, mainly population, over time have been included. “We’re trying to keep with the need for higher density while trying to maintain the green factor,” he said.

While the plan, which pertains to the areas within the Colombo Municipality limits when made in 1999 already had a number of environment-friendly tips for the city, the new amendment has taken this to heart. Some of the significant changes include: increased set backs from the roads and the landscaping of the roads, increased Floor Area Ratio (FAR), plot coverage and height restrictions. “You can have higher density if you manage the building and include landscaping on the road fronts,” he said.

High-rise apartments

“We encourage high-rise apartment buildings because the vision is for Colombo to become an international business centre,” said Mr. Silva, going on to add that if employment is to increase and more youth are to join the workforce, work space would be one of the major requirements in the future.

The UDA through its amendments are encouraging the increase in high-rises for more than this reason. The closed-off area around the Beira Lake in Colombo is planned to be opened up for the construction of a number of up- market high rises.

According to Mr Silva, the UDA usually discourages water-bodies within city limits to be eclipsed by construction and therefore are promoting these apartments. Denying conflicting agendas, he pointed out, “If we expand vertically instead of horizontally, then we have low plot coverage.”

With the last census in 2001 showing Colombo to be the most densely populated with more than two million people and a 3,330 person density per square km, lower plot coverage has become the by-word in the construction and planning sectors.

Certain areas in the city referred to as Special Primary Residential Zone (SPRZ) have limitations on the high-rise front with height limits and constraints on building structures. Silva mentioned areas in Colombo 5 and Colombo 7 including Keppetipola Mawatha and Amarasekera Mawatha.

Contd. on page 11 Aesthetics vs. HSZ’s

The necessary evil of the High Security Zones within Colombo seriously impairs the aesthetic beauty of the city, Silva said. The requirement in these areas is that visual access is not granted to the “target” spots. To avoid this, the UDA proposes a number of methods including walls and “buffer buildings”, which stand between the target and the living areas as well as windows built at various angles.

The Sri Lankan Institute of Architects (SLIA) an independent body of professionals was one of the stakeholders called in by the UDA to suggest these changes. A senior official of the Institute said that they are reviewing the amendment and hoped to give in some revisions to the UDA.

“They (the UDA) should have a concept of what Colombo City should be after the amendment, after a couple of years,” a senior official of the SLIA said. While praising the UDA for its efforts, he questioned whether any clear model had been applied. He also pointed out that as Colombo is not a new city but an evolved one, certain factors should be taken into account when planning, such as the decade-old street planning systems, the depreciating infrastructure and the mixed ownership of the property within municipal limits (public and private).

The SLIA will also be proposing some changes on the widening of streets, citing the fact that certain in-depth studies need to be undertaken prior to widening and that the UDA might not have carried these out.

One of the chief concerns of the plan’s amendments, he said would be on the topic of zoning. The city is divided into zones which dictate the type of development that can be carried out in those areas. The SPRZ are zones which limit construction and give various requirements for parking, space, etc while also curbing business establishments to small-time enterprises only.

“We should not be overly sensitive about cities; we have to look at urban realities.” said the official, “These are two different ends I don’t think you can make them meet”. (TR)