Bhúmi, The Planning Research Journal Vol. 03, No. 01, June 2013 STRATEGIC STRUCTURE PLANS FOR PELIYAGODA, JA-ELA AND WATTALA Local Planning Studio 2012 of 2008/2012 Undergraduate Batch Department of Town & Country Planning, University of Moratuwa Reported by Shalini Mariyathas ________________________________________________________________________ Introduction The strategic structure plans for Peliyagoda, Wattala and Ja-Ela come at an opportune time when the urban development process in Sri Lanka Negombo is expanding into every city, town, village and even at each node through various development Katunayake projects. However, it has been an argument that the kind of urban development that is being Seeduwa undertaken presently results many negative impacts and its outcomes are not favourable as they do not meaningfully incorporate the site- specific issues. These three development plans Kandana reconcile such issues by carefully identifying the root causes of the spatial issues and planning failures if not otherwise addressed. During the period of November 2011 – January 2012, the final year undergraduate students of the Department of Town Country Planning involved in a studio project to prepare strategic structure plans for Colombo Peliyagoda, Wattala and Ja-Ela which are competing with each other, having so many potentials not only in terms of resources but also in Figure 1: The Three Towns on A3 Belt terms of location. PELIYAGODA STRATEGIC STRUCTURE PLAN What is Peliyagoda? One of the key elements that draw the image of Peliyagoda is Kelani River. Kelani River defines Peliyagoda, adds aesthetic and pleasing value to Peliyagoda, and acts as the natural landmark to Peliyagoda. Thus, the Kelani River is ultimately considered as the Southern and Eastern boundary of the project region. With the population of approx. 30,000 Peliyagoda currently acts as an industrial capital of the country. Figure 2: The Physical Setting of Peliyagoda Level IV Planning Studio 2012 ________________________________________________________________________ Urban Situation Analysis Since the plan-making adopted Strategic Planning approach, the careful study of the present situation of the town was an important phase. The present situation is analyzed as part of the Urban Situation Analysis of the planning process. The Urban Situational Analysis is composed of understanding the evolution of space of Peliyagoda, reviewing the previous development plans and policies that impacted Peliyagoda, understanding the spatial form of the town and identifying the key issues and challenges in the present town and the root causes of those issues which needs to be immediately worked out through the proposed plan. The Urban Situation Analysis brought out many facts that are very important Figure 3: Physical Growth of Peliyagoda for deciding a strategic development direction for Peliyagoda. The way the early settlers used Kelani River and adjoining marshy areas indicated that filling of these sensitive land covers is the major reason for why certain present issues are existing in Peliyagoda. In other words, the way Peliyagoda has grown so far is not complying with what needs to be conserved and how it needs to be used. Meanwhile, in the present days, Peliyagoda has become a town that is having high political interest in terms of development. Due to the present character of Peliyagoda as a town that is fully occupied by industries and warehouses, the national, regional and Figure 4: The Present Setting of Peliyagoda local development plans prepared by government and other planning agencies have targeted Peliyagoda to be an industrial logistic hub, an urban service center, and a metro region with high end development. Figure 5: Images of the Physical Settings of Peliyagoda Town 52 Strategic Structure Plans for Peliyagoda, Wattala and Ja-Ela The Strategic Vision, Goals and Objectives The desirable development direction was decided from the alternative development scenarios. This helped to articulate certain principles through which the strategic vision should be derived. The principles were to keep the town multi-functional, high end, eco-people-friendly and accessible. Ultimately, the strategic vision was “The Magnetic Oasis”. The vision also had goals and objectives as means to achieve the vision. More importantly, a detail SWOT analysis was carried out to diagnose what are the strengths and opportunities in the town and it's region that can influence on achieving the vision, also what are the weaknesses and threats that need to be approached properly as Peliyagoda moves on to the future. Strategic Directions For Peliyagoda to become the Magnetic Oasis in year 2020, certain strategic directions are proposed that utilize the potentials and resolve the burning issues. The strategic directions are: 1. Promote catalytic spatial structure 2. Ensure sustainable urban land use management 3. Create elegant contact development 4. Develop as a national economic hub 5. Make sustainable neighborhoods 6. Promote the city as an attractive Figure 6: Proposed Spatial Structure international destination Plans within the Plan The strategies need to be specific and focused as well as need to cover the entire Peliyagoda. This concern required the preparation of various sub plans as part of the Strategic Structure Plan. The sub plans prepared were physical structure plan, economic development plan, environmental management plan, settlement development plan, infrastructure development plan and implementation plan. 1. Physical Structure Plan A shift from the existing linear form of city structure to nodal spatial form was proposed for Peliyagoda as a means to promote the catalytic spatial structure. Present Spatial Form: Linear Form Proposed Spatial Form: Nodal Form Figure 7: Proposed Spatial Form 53 Present Spatial Form: Linear Form Proposed Spatial Form: Nodal Form Level IV Planning Studio 2012 ________________________________________________________________________ 2. Infrastructure Development Plan The primary objective of the Infrastructure Development Plan is to ensure the multimodal, green and smart transportation in Peliyagoda. The actions taken to provide infrastructure for multi-modal transportation requirements are: 1. Establishment of bus transit terminal (with “park and ride” center for automobile users) 2. Connect the missing linkages and achieve road capacity, and provide necessary street signs, signals and street lights 3. Upgrade multimodal transportation (Air taxi provision, bicycle lanes, train service, roads and streets, highways, three-wheel lanes, etc) 4. Increase greenery and use of street furniture 5. Establish proper regulation system for transit network of Peliyagoda and appoint a Monitoring Committee Figure 8: Proposed Infrastructure Development 4. Environmental Management Plan Peliyagoda is richly blue and green having the Kelani River and marshes around. This will be considered as a potential to attract international tourists and business communities to visit Peliyagoda. The primary objectives of the Environmental Management Plan are to establish water transportation for recreational purpose using Kelani River and internal canal network, to promote waterfront development along existing water bodies, to establish high-end shopping centers and hotels to attract high income community to Peliyagoda, and to introduce an integrated solid waste management system to reduce the harmful environmental impacts. Figure 9: Proposed Green Layout There are three strategies proposed to achieve the environmental use and protection of Peliyagoda: 1. Improve the green paths and areas to promote a green network ACTIONS i. Removing of industries that are occupying in Sapugaskanda and Biyagama areas. ii. Removing of settlements in Pattiya East, Pattiya North and Meegahawaththa iii. Landscaping Kelani River reservation (creating jogging paths and bicycle paths) iv. Landscaping Peliyagoda junction and Nawaloka Junction area 54 Strategic Structure Plans for Peliyagoda, Wattala and Ja-Ela 2. Mitigation mechanisms for flood that is caused by both river and the canal network ACTIONS i. Establish flood protection wall along the Kelani River bank ii. Introduce rainwater harvesting system iii. Introduce permeable paving to decrease the runoff rate iv. Widen the canals and increase the capacity. v. Establishment of storm Figure 10: Proposed Solid Waste Management water retention ponds with System recharge wells vi. Build two additional pump stations in Peliyagoda. 3. Introduce an Integrated Solid Waste Management System ACTIONS i. Application of waste management cells to optimize the waste collection mechanism ii. Optimize the solid waste management and collection mechanism iii. Optimize solid waste transport mechanism iv. Enhance the economic value of solid waste. v. Solid waste management plan 5. Settlement Development Plan It is found that 51% of the Peliyagoda residents are under low income category. Therefore, this plan aims at proposing sustainable neighbourhoods. The primary objectives are providing adequate housing for 4,630 families by year 2025 and promoting vocational training to create skilful community in Peliyagoda. These identified 4,630 families are currently occupying along the Kelani River reservations, Canal reservations and railway reservations. Under this Figure 11: Proposed Settlement Development Plan 55 Level IV Planning Studio 2012 ________________________________________________________________________ plan, three resettlement projects were identified with the