Selected planning policy guidelines to alleviate urban sprawl and related issues in the Colombo metropolitan region

Abstract

This Chapter will discuss some planning concepts related to urban and suburban growth and also the theories related to urban growth and regional spatial structure. It will also examine the applicability of theories of urban growth and regional spatial structure to metropolitan planning. Then it will highlight the need for planning policy guidelines to alleviate the urban sprawl and the issues related to urban sprawl in metropolitan regions through a planning intervention. This Chapter will attempt to identify the relationships between Sri Lankan Economic Policies, particularly since post independence era and the physical expansion in the CMR in terms of its land use changes that leads to urban sprawl. It will also attempt to find out some negative impacts of urban sprawl in suburbs of the City of Colombo. This Chapter will attempt to discuss physical planning indicators of the basic functions in the global economy and their effects for urban sprawl in the CMR. Then it will y HI iv attempt to discuss how far the past physical planning efforts and physical planning legislation have been able to tackle the problems associated with urban sprawl under the influence of the global economy This chapter will attempt to scrutinize the practical experience of the spatial policies/strategies which have been adapted by various countries for their metropolitan areas to get the optimum benefit while alleviating the problems of urban sprawl. Then it will attempt to do a situational analysis in the study area in terms of location population, housing, infrastructure, land use, employment regional share of GNP, environment etc. This chapter will contain conclusions and recommendations