Sri Lankan Cities Research Articles

Behavioural attitudes of three-wheeled taxi drivers towards mitigation of on-road air pollution in urban cities in Sri Lanka: a qualitative study from South Asia

ObjectivesIn recent years, urban areas across South Asia have experienced alarming levels of air pollution, primarily attributed to the rapid growth of motorised transportation. Three-wheeled taxis, commonly known as ‘tuk-tuks’,...

Choice modeling of grocery shopping behavior: A Sri Lankan case study

Different retail forms play an integral part in the urban landscape in Sri Lankan cities shaping its spatial form. In planning new and different grocery retail forms, the main considerations are usually location, distance to population catchments and income levels. But distance-based descriptive methods are incapable of predicting the actual shopping behavior of grocery shoppers due to unrealistic assumptions that, for instance, shoppers will select the closest facility. Therefore, this study for the first time attempts to apply a behavioral model to determine the key drivers behind the store choice decision of grocery shoppers in a Sri Lankan city. A conceptual framework of individual choice behavior is adopted based on random utility theory and involves the application of a choice experiment. The analysis is based on a sample of 350 respondents representing households within the Piliyandala town area - a suburb of Colombo, Sri Lanka. The major findings are that, rather than distance being a primary influence on where people shop, attributes of retail destination such as quality of the products, price of the products and variety of goods available are more significant when maximizing utility. Thus, even though, supermarkets are typically perceived as the grocery retail form that maximizes utility, traditional grocery stores still continue to be a still popular icon of the retail landscape. This study, therefore, provides a study of how traditional grocery stores and modern supermarkets co-exist in suburbs of a major city in a developing country such as Sri Lanka. Further it broadens the understanding of grocery shopping behavior thereby facilitating the planning and design involved in commercial land uses related to grocery shopping. This is important given planners have been shown to be slow and conventional in responding to rapid changes in suburban form and function. Our findings can assist urban policy makers to reevaluate the retail policy framework in suburbs of Sri Lankan cities and therefore contribute to the facilitation of greater social and economic vibrancy in traditional economies.

Study on the applicability of sponge city concept to flood resilient in Sri Lankan cities: Boralesgamuwa and Sub Urban Areas

In the last few decades, climate change and urbanization have made natural disasters worse all over the world. This has increased the likelihood of flash flood disasters. The purpose of this research is to determine if the six key processes (retention, detention, infiltration, purification, storage, and drainage system) of the China sponge city concept have been accounted for in the projects carried out to construct flood-resilient towns in Sri Lanka, as well as the influence of flood mitigation. This research has identified projects that have adapted the concept's main processes by reviewing the report of the Weras Ganga Development Plan, conducting key informant interviews, and a field survey. As a result, flood height is reduced in Boralesgamuwa and sub-urban areas. But some stages are missed because the SCC is not applied as a concept to flash flood control projects in Sri Lanka.

Integration of Formal and Informal Sector in Waste Management System in Sri Lankan Cities, Special Reference to Homagama

‘Solid waste management has been identified as a massive problem in especially developing countries, and there is no specific solution found for that. It is also a topic that gradually comes with a growing population, rapid urbanization, and fast development. There are two parties involved in waste management activities in the developing world, the formal sector and the informal sector. Both sectors play a specific role in the solid waste management process, but there is no official contact between these two sectors, which has an impact on the weekly waste management process. The purpose of this study is to investigate the formal and informal sectors' contributions to the waste management system, the importance of informal sector involvement in solid waste management, and to identify opportunities for integrating both sectors into the waste management process. Here, mass balance analysis is used to identify the waste flow within the boundary, and an integrated visualisation tool is used to identify possibilities for integrating formal and informal sectors in this Municipal solid waste management process. The result suggests the potential for integrating these two sectors in the municipal solid waste management system. It will provide mutual benefits for both sectors, public, health, and environment. Based on the findings, integration of both sectors will be a better solution for the solid waste management system in Sri Lankan cities.

Mapping the operation of Airbnb in Sri Lankan cities

Airbnb is most famous as a part of the growing “sharing”, “peer-to-peer”, or “digital” economy where the platform transformed the traditional tourist accommodation services through its novel business model. In order to comprehend the influence of Airbnb on the tourism and hospitality landscape, it is critical first to understand the market and how Airbnb operates. Therefore, in this study, we explore the operation of Airbnb in Sri Lanka using descriptive statistics and maps by analysing the scrapped data of the Airbnb website. The study results show that Airbnb has been well established on Sri Lankan soil as an alternative accommodation service provider, and the listings have been scattered across the country. However, most listings tend to concentrate in the city centres of famous touristic districts and tourist resort regions in Sri Lanka. These findings will provide a valuable avenue for further investigation of the operation of Airbnb in Sri Lanka.

A novel self-learning approach to overcome incompatibility on TripAdvisor reviews

Among social media networks, TripAdvisor acts as the main role because everyone is eager to share and review their thoughts on their travel experiences in different destinations. Sentiment analysis is a method that can be used to analyze people's behaviors and opinions on public and social media platforms. In this study, hotel reviews are extracted from the five most attractive Sri Lankan cities, and user-written reviews are compared over user bubble ratings, which define overall travelers' experiences as a numerical scale that ranks from 1 to 5. We find that the compatibility between user-written reviews and bubble ratings has a low correlation because bubble ratings may not represent the overall idea of users' genuine opinions expressed in their reviews. To address this problem, a two-phase approach is proposed: (1) the ensemble method to improve the performance of lexicon-based outputs and identify the correctly matching user review and bubble rating; (2) the self-learning approach to finding the sentiment of a review that does not properly label by the user. The performance is studied by considering reviews incompatible with the sentiment of user bubble rating and the sentiment generated by the proposed model. For example, regardless of bigram “not good”, the average percentages of the word “good” for each negatively identified review from the proposed model and bubble rating are 25.63% and 38.85%, respectively. Thereby, it is apparent that the negative sentiments derived by bubble rating have significantly more positive words compared to the proposed model.

A Geo-Spatial Analysis for Characterising Urban Sprawl Patterns in the Batticaloa Municipal Council, Sri Lanka

Urban sprawl related to rapid urbanisation in developed and developing nations affects sustainable land use. In Sri Lanka, urban areas have mostly expanded in a rather spontaneous, unplanned manner (based on the current settlers’ subjective movement) rather than conforming to the local government’s development plan. This growth inevitably leads to uncontrolled urban sprawl in many Sri Lankan cities, including Batticaloa. So far, Sri Lanka’s planners or researchers have not yet tackled the sprawling developments in this city. Understanding the different forms and patterns of urban sprawl is the key to address sprawling growth. This study aims to identify the characteristics of urban sprawl in the Batticaloa municipal council using Geographic Information System (GIS) and remote sensing technology. Landsat satellite images for the years 2000, 2010, and 2020 as well as 2002, 2011, and 2019 population data were used and analysed using ArcGIS’ maximum likelihood classification tool and the density function, respectively, to delineate the characteristics of urban sprawl. The results revealed that low-density development, leapfrog development, commercial ribbon development, and scattered growth are the influencing characteristics of urban sprawl in the Batticaloa municipality. These characteristics were found mainly in the urban edge of the city and have led to urban sprawl. The finding provides knowledge into recognising the characteristics of urban sprawl with empirical evidence. It affords a clear direction for future studies of urban sprawl in rapidly growing cities that are numerous in Sri Lanka, and the identified characteristics of urban sprawl can be useful in minimising future sprawl. This result can be a tool for future urban planning and management in the Batticaloa municipality.

An Assessment on Performances of Public and Private Waste Management Systems in Sri Lankan Cities

Sri Lanka, being a developing country, currently undergoes high influx of population, rapid infrastructure developments and increasing urbanization. These have paved the way for the increase of solid waste generation rates in the country. However, the majority of the Sri Lankan cities have failed to manage their waste sustainably due to lack of proper management system. Assessment of the existing solid waste management system would be an important step towards developing a sustainable SWMS in the future for these cities. In this context, this study aims to investigate the performances of public and private sector waste management systems, to learn from each sector by identifying the positive and negative aspects of their performances and to identify the ways that can uplift the entire solid waste management system sustainably. The study employed both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods in the Negombo municipal council area whereas Multi-criteria analysis was incorporated as the main analysis technique. Findings revealed that, Private sector has better performance in economic and social measures than the Public sector whereas the Public sector has better performance in environmental measures. Accordingly, findings suggest that public private partnerships, performance measuring, regulating and benefit and risk sharing mechanisms should be incorporated towards the long-term sustainability of future SWMS.

Impact of COVID-19 lockdown on air quality of Sri Lankan cities

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the complete lockdown of many cities worldwide. Lockdowns have significantly changed human behaviour, such as fewer or no industrial activities and limited road and air transport, affecting the environment. In this study, we aimed to assess the variability and trends of PM2.5 (mass concentration of airborne particulate matter < 2.5µm) and carbon monoxide (CO) before and during the COVID-19 lockdown period in Sri Lanka. Data were collected in “Urban Background”, “Public & Mixed Residential”, and “Primary Residential” areas using small sensor technology, KOALA air quality sensor units, from five locations, three in Kandy, and two in Colombo city. Daily averages (24h) and daytime averages (08:00 AM to 8:00 PM) were calculated for the period before (before March 20th) and during (March 20th to May 10th) the lockdown. Air pollutions level before & during COVID-19 lockdown were compared, then Mann-Kendall and Sen's slope tests were performed to determine trends of PM2.5 and CO, and the magnitude of the trend. Meteorological parameters were fairly similar before and during both cities' lockdown periods, while both PM2.5 and CO concentrations declined. The highest average reductions of PM2.5 and CO were observed in Colombo's “Urban Background” area (52.4% and 46.7%, respectively). In Kandy, “Urban Background” site had a higher reduction of PM2.5 and CO (30.2% and 41.2%, respectively), compared to “Primary Residential” (10% and 9%, respectively). The daily averages of the pollutants' concentrations were higher before the lockdown period compared to during. Overall, a significant downward trend was observed of air pollutants over the entire study period. In Sri Lanka, the COVID-19 lockdown improved air quality significantly in urban areas.

Effect of social capital on the life satisfaction of paratransit drivers in Sri Lanka

The three-wheeler, a Sri Lankan form of paratransit, is a popular and important mode of transport in Sri Lankan cities due to largely insufficient public transport systems. However, knowledge of the three-wheeler industry including the role of drivers' groups and the effect of these groups' social capital related factors on the driver's life satisfaction is scarcely available. Thus, the objectives of this study are to clarify the actual condition of the industry and to identify the social capital related factors that affect drivers' life satisfaction in three cities in Sri Lanka. To this end, extensive interviews were conducted and revealed that national and local governments do not control the numbers or management of three-wheeler drivers and vehicles, but they do receive rent for using public road space for parking. In order to determine the effect of social capital factors, including working conditions and societal trust levels, on three-wheeler drivers' life satisfaction, we developed an ordered logit model based on questionnaire surveys in three target cities. In addition, the differences among the cities examined regarding provincial policies for three-wheelers, the percentage of drivers who have other jobs, and relationships between drivers' societies were revealed. As a result of the analysis, we identified differences between drivers based in the three cities regarding the social capital and work-related variables that have the greatest impact on their life satisfaction. In particular, we found that drivers based in the city of Kandy emphasized general social capital variables over work conditions and salary, but the opposite was obtained for the cities of Colombo and Moratuwa.

Remote Sensing Data and SLEUTH Urban Growth Model: As Decision Support Tools for Urban Planning

Sri Lanka is experiencing speedy urbanization by converting the agriculture land and other natural land cover into built-up land. The urban population of Sri Lanka is expected to reach to 60% by 2030 from 14% in 2010. The rapid growth in urban population and urban areas in Sri Lanka may cause serious socioeconomic disparities, if they are not handled properly. Thus, planners in Sri Lanka are in need of information about past and future urban growth patterns to plan a better and sustainable urban future for Sri Lanka. In this paper, we analyzed the characteristics of past land use and land cover trends in Matara City of Sri Lanka from 1980 to 2010 to assess the historic urban dynamics. The land use change detection analysis based on remote sensing datasets reveal that the conversion of homestead/ garden and paddy into urban land is evident in Matara City. The historic urban trends are projected into the near future by using SLEUTH urban growth model to identify the hot spots of future urbanization and as well as the urban growth patterns in Matara City up to the basic administrative level, i.e., Grama Niladari Divisions (GND). The urban growth simulations for the year 2030 reveal that 29 GNDs out of 66 GNDs in Matara City will be totally converted into urban land. Whereas, 28 GNDs will have urban land cover from 75% to 99% by 2030. The urban growth simulations are further analyzed with respect to the proposed Matara city development plan by the Urban Development Authority (UDA) of Sri Lanka. The results show that the UDA’s city development plan of Matara will soon be outpaced by rapid urbanization. Based on the calibration and validation results, the SLEUTH model proved to be a useful planning tool to understand the near future urbanization of Sri Lankan cities.

Role of International and National Standards in Improving Quality of Life in Urban Environments in Sri Lanka

Urbanization is a global societal trend where the proportion of people living in cities increases while the proportion of people living in the country side diminishes. Sri Lanka is in the phase of development after the end of civil war. For the past few years, Sri Lankan cities are urbanizing at an unprecedented scale and expected to rise further in future. Therefore, we are facing many challenges to ensure the development in a sustainable manner and to guarantee the high standard of living to all citizens. Standards contribute sense of urgency to improve urban quality of life by improving energy efficiency, increasing resource efficiency, increasing public safety, planning urban development, developing services and infrastructure, improving transport system, intelligent use of resources, creating more livable environment, reducing impact to bio diversity and ecosystem and acting to mitigate climate change.

A survey of pet feeding practices of dog owners visiting a veterinary practice in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

In Sri Lanka, home‐cooked diets are often fed due to the cost and poor availability of commercial diets. Milk has traditionally been a popular food to give to dogs in this country. There is a recent perceived increase in the number of owners choosing commercial diets for their pets. This study aimed to determine how dog owners visiting a single veterinary practice in Colombo fed their pets. We hoped that this would help achieve a general understanding of pet feeding practices in Sri Lanka and gain some basic demographic information on the owned dog population. The study was conducted via questionnaires distributed to pet owners visiting a first opinion and referral practice in Colombo. Hundred questionnaires were collected and analysed, 69% of study dogs were neutered, 42% of dogs were fed only home‐cooked food, while 18% were fed only commercial food. About 40% of dogs were fed a mixture of commercial and home‐cooked food, 49% of dogs were fed milk as a separate meal in addition to their normal diet and 57% of dogs received dietary supplements. Dogs consuming commercial food for more than half their intake were no less likely (P = 0.75) to receive dietary supplements than dogs fed homemade food for more than half their diet. This study provides some basic information regarding the feeding practices and demographics of the owned dog population in one Sri Lankan city, Colombo, highlighting some areas of concern.

The interrelationship between dengue incidence and diurnal ranges of temperature and humidity in a Sri Lankan city and its potential applications

BackgroundTemperature, humidity, and other weather variables influence dengue transmission. Published studies show how the diurnal fluctuations of temperature around different mean temperatures influence dengue transmission. There are no published studies about the correlation between diurnal range of humidity and dengue transmission.ObjectiveThe goals of this study were to determine the correlation between dengue incidence and diurnal fluctuations of temperature and humidity in the Sri Lankan city of Kandy and to explore the possibilities of using that information for better control of dengue.DesignWe calculated the weekly dengue incidence in Kandy during the period 2003–2012, after collecting data on all of the reported dengue patients and estimated midyear populations. Data on daily maximum and minimum temperatures and night-time and daytime humidity were obtained from two weather stations, averaged, and converted into weekly data. The number of days per week with a diurnal temperature range (DTR) of >10°C and <10°C and the number of days per week with a diurnal humidity range (DHR) of >20 and <15% were calculated. Wavelet time series analysis was performed to determine the correlation between dengue incidence and diurnal ranges of temperature and humidity.ResultsThere were negative correlations between dengue incidence and a DTR >10°C and a DHR >20% with 3.3-week and 4-week lag periods, respectively. Additionally, positive correlations between dengue incidence and a DTR <10°C and a DHR <15% with 3- and 4-week lag periods, respectively, were discovered.ConclusionsThese findings are consistent with the results of previous entomological studies and theoretical models of DTR and dengue transmission correlation. It is important to conduct similar studies on diurnal fluctuations of humidity in the future. We suggest ways and means to use this information for local dengue control and to mitigate the potential effects of the ongoing global reduction of DTR on dengue incidence.

Jesuit Missionaries in Post-Colonial Conflict Zones: The Disappearance of ‘Father Basketball’ in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka

In August 1990, Father Eugene John Hebert SJ disappeared while trying to reach his home in the Sri Lankan city of Batticaloa. Caught in the midst of the turmoil that confronted Tamil and Muslim minorities after the peace-keeping operations led by the Indian armed forces collapsed, Father Hebert was one of thousands of victims who perished in the violence that engulfed the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka between June and September 1990. Since the early stages of the ethnic conflict (1983–2009), American Jesuits stationed in Tamil-speaking areas of the island had become de facto human rights activists, being virtually the only remaining trusted mediators between the different factions involved in the armed confrontation. Their efforts to foster peace and dialogue in the region were far from their original assignment as educators—which Father Hebert had been conducting since his arrival in 1948. This article not only traces Father Hebert's life trajectory from Louisiana to Sri Lanka, it also reflects on the cultural impact that the presence of American Jesuits had in the entire region, as well as on the changing responsibilities they assumed in the volatile political context of the island that took them from coaching basketball to becoming catalysts for peace.

Traditional Small Retail Shops vs. Emerging Supermarkets and Shopping Malls in a Sri Lankan City

Street retail shops are an emblematic image of the Sri Lankan urban landscape. Retail shops vary in size, sell a diversity of household, mechanical and convenience items and appear as an integral part of urban form. While retails shops provide essential services to a variety of consumers generate employment and make urban streets vibrant, there have been few investigations into the nature of retail form in Sri Lanka. It appears that the global spread of supermarkets and shopping malls are transforming the retail space in Sri Lankan cities. Utilizing field observation data, this study investigates the extent to which traditional retail outlets dominate the retail form in the urban landscape, creates employment, and attracts customers. This study also examines to what extent city retail outlets are retained as shop houses. Results show that while Sri Lankan traditional small retail shops form a greater number of retail shops and continue to be an emblem of the urban landscape, the development of a few new shopping malls and supermarkets have impacted the daily shopping behaviour of people and are slowly transforming the retail form as well as urban landscape.

A disaster resilient built environment in urban cities

Purpose – This research aims at making recommendations to empower the Sri Lankan local governments in creating a disaster resilient built environment. Disasters make a huge impact on the built environment. In turn, failure of the built environment can create significant impacts on social and economic activities. Thus, when moving towards safer cities, it is important to develop the built environment in such a way that it can withstand threats posed by natural disasters. Various stakeholders need to get involved in the process of making a disaster resilient built environment, of which the local governments need to play a critical role, as they are the closest government body to the local community. However, local governments are facing a number of challenges in responding to city resilience activities. Design/methodology/approach – The research adopts case studies as its research strategy and investigates three cities in Sri Lanka which are potentially vulnerable to disasters. A number of expert interviews have also been conducted to supplement the case study findings. Findings – The paper presents the challenges faced by the Sri Lankan municipalities in creating a disaster resilient built environment and provides recommendations to empower municipalities to effectively contribute to city resilience. The paper suggests amending policies related to establishment of municipal councils and disaster management to provide more authoritative powers for municipalities to effectively engage in city resilience building. Findings also revealed the importance of addressing financial and human resource issues, which were the main drivers of hindrance. Furthermore, all relevant urban development plans, risk maps, disaster resilient planning, construction and operation guidelines and resilient land use practices need to be integrated into existing planning and building regulations, and proper monitoring and control mechanisms have to be established to ensure compliance with the regulations. In doing so, it is important to raise awareness of council officials of disaster risks and resilient practices by way of organising educational programmes such as seminars and workshops. It is also suggested that municipal officials should be involved in national-level decision-making with regard to their local areas and to establish proper communication channels to exchange decision and information related to city resilience. Research limitations/implications – The paper is based on case studies in three cities and a number of expert interviews, which are limited to the Sri Lankan context. Inputs from other cities from developed countries may further validate the recommendations. Originality/value – The paper highlights the challenges faced by the local governments in creating a disaster resilient built environment within Sri Lankan cities and provides recommendations as to how the local governments could be empowered in creating a disaster resilient built environment within cities.

Challenges in Creating a Disaster Resilient Built Environment

With the increase in occurrences of high impact disasters, the concept of risk reduction and resilience is widely recognised. Recent disasters have highlighted the exposure of urban cities to natural disasters and emphasised the need of making cities resilient to disasters. Built environment plays an important role in every city and need to be functional and operational at a time of a disaster and is expected to provide protection to people and other facilities. However, recent disasters have highlighted the vulnerability of the built assets to natural disasters and therefore it is very much important to focus on creating a disaster resilient built environment within cities. However the process of making a disaster resilient built environment is a complex process where many challenges are involved. Accordingly the paper aims at exploring the challenges involved in building a disaster resilient built environment. Paper discusses the findings of some expert interviews and three case studies which have been conducted in Sri Lanka by selecting three cities which are potentially vulnerable to threats posed by natural hazards. The empirical evidence revealed, lack of regulatory frameworks; unplanned cities and urbanisation; old building stocks and at risk infrastructure; unauthorised structures; institutional arrangements; inadequate capacities of municipal councils; lack of funding; inadequacy of qualified human resources; and corruption and unlawful activities as major challenges for creating a disaster resilient built environment within Sri Lankan cities. The paper proposes a set of recommendations to address these prevailing concerns and to build a more resilient built environment within cities.

DEVELOPMENT OF DESIGN PARAMETERS FOR AN INCLINED STEP-GRATE COMPOST VESSEL TO TREAT URBAN SOLID WASTES

There are several methods and systems of managing urban solid wastes. Aerobie systemsor managing wastes arc less expensive and the composition of wastes in most Sri Lankancities is conducive to compost making since the biodegradable component is high,The total quantity of organic matter generated in the urban centres if used as compost willstill not satisfy the demand for it. These basic problems could he solved by makingcompost [rom biodegradable urban wastes. facilitating the management of these wastes andalso providing organic matter for long awaited sustained and assured agriculturalproduction in Sri Lanka.The development of a feasible system or compost making was the challenge taken up by theDcpnruucnt or Agricultural Engineering. A series of studies were undertaken to determinesome of the major parameters to rcalise the concept of an inclined step-grate compostmakingvessel.The studies indicate that (l.'i% moisture content should be maintained for optimumconditions for compost making, The bulk density increases with time and It is inverselyproportional to mass, Within the first 20 days of degradation or mixed wastes. most of thevolatile solids react producing largely carbon dioxide and water, The generated heat fromthis reaction actuates the process or evaporating excess moisture. The reduction in massand increase in density can be expressed mathematically.A calculation or heat and mass balances was obtained for a 3-meter pile of wastes, Thesecalculations were based on data obtained from an Engineering Model. Several or the majorparameters such as the retention time. suction. heating and cooling system for moisturecontrol were developed to design a versatile bio-reactor to produce compost for treatingwastes aerobically.

Creating a disaster resilient built environment in urban cities

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the role and challenges for Sri Lankan local governments in creating a disaster resilient built environment within urban Sri Lankan cities.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on a literature review and a case study conducted in the Batticaloa city of Sri Lanka, supported by expert interviews among local and other government officials, policy makers, practitioners and academics who are engaged in disaster management and urban planning within the country.FindingsThe literature and empirical data reveal that local governments are facing a number of challenges in contributing to making cities resilient to disasters. Some of the issues that have emerged are inadequate financial and human resource capabilities; a lack of knowledge of disaster risks and vulnerabilities; the need for long‐term political commitment; a lack of focus on pre‐disaster planning; inadequate legislative authority; a lack of clear cut responsibilities and coordination among agencies; and a lack of involvement in major development activities, physical planning and regulation of land use. It is important to address these challenges faced by local governments in creating a disaster resilient built environment in a holistic manner to ensure effective disaster risk reduction within cities.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper is based on partial findings of research which aims to explore and propose mechanisms to empower the Sri Lankan local governments to make cities more resilient to disasters, within the context of the built environment.Originality/valueThe paper identifies the weaknesses of the current institutional arrangements in place for creating a disaster resilient built environment in Sri Lanka and highlights the challenges faced by a local government in creating a disaster resilient built environment within a Sri Lankan city.