The case of Colombo, Sri Lanka by Sevanatha Contact Source: CIA factbook Urban Resource Centre 14 Schol Lane, Nawala Road, Rajagiriya Sri Lanka Tel/Fax: 94-1-878893 I. INTRODUCTION A. NATIONAL OVERVIEW 1. Location and Climate Sri Lanka is an island situated in the tropics, between sion. Monsoon rain, which is the dominant type, occurs the latitudes of 6 and 10 degrees north just at the south- in two monsoon periods per year. These two seasons ern tip of India. It covers an area of 64,454 km2 includ- have been identified as the south-west and north-east ing the large inland water bodies, which constitute about monsoons. Convection rain and depression rain occur 1,156 km2 The island is pear-shaped, the maximum mainly during the inter-monsoon periods. The annual north-south distance being 435 km and the greatest average rainfall varies between 1,000 ml in the arid parts east-west width being 225 km. The mountainous area in of the north-west and south-east of the island to over the south-central region, which rises to 2500 metres is 5,000 ml on the south-western hill slopes. Relative surrounded on all sides by coastal plains, narrow in the humidity varies generally from about 70 per cent during west, east and south, but broadening to an extensive the day to about 90 – 95 per cent during the night. In the area in the north. The coastline of the country is about Dry Zone these values are about 5 per cent lower. 1,600 km long (Mendis, 1998). Climatically, Sri Lanka falls into two distinct regions – The Wet Zone and the Dry Zone. The Wet Zone corre- 2. Demographics sponds mainly to the south-western quadrant of the Sri Lanka's first population census was taken in the country, which covers about 30 per cent of the land area year 1871, and was repeated every 10 years thereafter. while the remaining 70 per cent of the land area forms According to the first census, the total population of the the Dry Zone. country was recorded as 2,400,400 people A distinct variation in temperature can be observed (Department of Census and Statistics, 1871). 100 between the Central Hill Country and Low Country with years after the first census, in 1971 the country's popu- minimum and maximum average temperatures of 17.6C lation had increased to 12,698,900 people (Department and 25.8C in the Hill Country and 24.3C and 31.5C in of Census and Statistics, 1971). The subsequent pop- the Low Country respectively. ulation censuses were taken in 1981 and 2001 (no cen- The country receives rainfall throughout the year iden- sus was taken in 1991 due to civil disturbances in north- tified by three types: monsoon, convection and depres- ern and eastern parts of the country). The total popula- Urban Slums Reports: The case of Colombo, Sri Lanka tion of the country according to the population census of As indicated in the above table, it is clear that the 2001 was 16,864,687 (Department of Census and country's GDP is still dominated by the service sector Statistics, 2001). activities and the agriculture sector. The manufacturing It was revealed that particularly from the 1980s to the sector, although it has received a great deal of attention, present, the annual population growth rate has been particularly since the early 1980s (when the economic below 1.5 per cent (Department of Census and liberalisation policies were introduced), its contribution Statistics, 1981). According to the Human Development has not yet even reached a quarter of the country's GDP. Index, life expectancy was 71 for males and 76 for females (Central Bank, 2001) The country has a litera- cy rate of 91.4 per cent, 94 per cent for men and 89 per 5. The Urbanisation Pattern cent for women, indicating the benefits of equal oppor- According to the census of population, the country's tunities in education (Central Bank, 2001) . population is concentrated into three major economic sectors. These include Urban, Rural and Estate Plantation sectors. According to the 2001 census, 72.2 3. Racial Composition of the Population per cent of the country's population live in the rural sec- Sri Lankan society is a multi-racial one in which a tor, 21.5 per cent in the urban and 6.3 per cent in the majority Sinhalese and several minority racial groups estate plantation sector (Department of Census and have been living together for centuries. The racial and Statistics, 2001) This provides a clear picture of the spa- religious composition of the population according to the tial distribution of population, which is predominantly a 1981 census is indicated below. rural bias distribution. In Sri Lanka, there is no clear definition of urban 4. Economic Trends areas. The urban status for an area is statutorily con- Sri Lanka being a developing country, its economy ferred purely for local administrative purposes by the relies mainly on agriculture and service sector activities. minister in charge of local government. The urban Its GDP growth rate has been fluctuating over the years administrative areas are identified by two categories, and observed varied between 6.9 per cent in 1993 and municipal council areas and urban council areas. 4.7 per cent in 1998 which was moving up to 6.0 per Presently, there are about 18 municipal council areas cent in the year 2000 (Central Bank, 2001). and 37 urban council areas in Sri Lanka. The rest of the With continuing a war situation in North/East country falls under rural councils, which are known as province, since early 1980s , the country's economy Pradeshiya Sabhas (PSs) "local councils". There are was managed to maintain a GDP growth rate of above about 254 such PSs in the country. (Source :Sri Lanka 5% . This was reflected in the per capita GNP which Instiute of Local Goverance,2002) The municipal council has ranged from 804 US$ to 841 US$ during the period areas include most of the districts and provincial town 1997 – 2000 (Central Bank, 2001). centres located throughout the country. The Colombo Table 2: Economic Statistics / National Accounts 1978 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Table 1: Racial and Religious Per Capita GNP US $ 175 587 651 709 747 804 826 813 841 Composition of the Population Real GDP Growth% 8.2 6.9 5.6 5.5 3.8 6.3 4.7 4.3 6.0 By Ethnicity % By Religion % GDP by Sectors Sinhalese Buddhist Agriculture % 74.0 69.3 30.5 24.6 23.8 23.0 22.4 21.9 21.1 21.3 20.5 Sri Lankan Hindus Mining and quarrying % Tamils 12.6 15.5 1.8 1.9 2.0 1.9 2.0 2.1 1.9 1.8 1.7 Indian Tamils Muslims Manufactu-ring % 5.5 7.5 20.0 15.2 15.4 15.7 16.2 16.4 16.5 16.8 17.4 Moors Christians Construction % 7.1 7.6 4.9 7.2 7.3 7.4 6.9 7.0 7.6 7.6 7.0 Others Others Services % 0.8 0.1 42.9 51.1 51.5 51.9 52.4 52.6 52.8 52.9 53.4 Source: Economic and Social statistics of Sri Lanka 2001, Central Bank of Sri Lanka Source: Economic and Social Statistics of Sri Lanka 2001, Central Bank of Sri Lanka 2 UNDERSTANDING SLUMS: Case Studies for the Global Report on Human Settlements 2003 Municipal Council functions as the country's primate work as self-employed people and or running their own urban centre accommodating a residential population business usually earn more than Rs. 500.00 per day. of about 642,000 (2001) and a daily floating population Thus an average unskilled worker could earn about Rs. of another 400,000, making it a city of over one million 4,000.00 to Rs.5,000.00 per month while a skilled work- population (Department of Census and Statistics, er can earn more than Rs. 6,000.00 per month. It was 2001). found through recent investigations carried out in urban One of the significant features of the urbanisation poor settlements where SEVANATHA have been patterns of Sri Lanka is its slow rate of urban growth. It engaged in improvement work, that self employed is evident that the rate of urbanisation over the past 50 urban poor earn over Rs. 8,000.00 per month years has been very slow and the share of urban pop- (SEVANATHA, 2001). In this context, it can be said that ulation remains below 25 per cent of the Country's pop- the informal sector activities in Colombo provide reliable ulation. Another significant feature is the low level of opportunities for the urban poor to earn a reasonable migration of population from rural to urban areas. This income. may be due to several factors such as the smaller size However, many of the informal sector activities in the of the country allowing people to reach towns and cities city face problems of integrating into the city's formal within a reasonable time, and then to move back to sector activities. The pavement hawkers are not allowed their place of residence, low transport costs, and above to operate in some busy streets. The Urban all the reasonable level of infrastructure development Development Authority as well as the Colombo that has been taken place in the rural areas of the Municipal Council are making arrangements to provide country.