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| Background
to CMR Structure Plan |  |
| Planning
History of CMR | |
| Patrick
Geddes Plan - 1921 | |
Physical plans have been prepared
for Colombo since colonial times. The first attempt was made by Sir Patrick Geddes
in 1921, confining the planning area to Colombo City Boundaries. The main concept
of the Plan was to make the City of Colombo "The Garden City of the East".
The tree lined streets (Bauddhaloka Mawatha) and the grid system of roads in Cinnamon
Gardens are legacies of the Geddes Plan which still provide the most sought after
residential areas in the city
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Patrick Abercrombie Plan - 1948 |
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In 1948 Patrick Abercrombie developed
a plan which was approved by the Central Planning Commission in March 1949. The
Plan focussed on the City of Colombo and the surrounding region covering nearly
220 sq. miles which extended up to Ja-Ela in the North, Moratuwa in the South
and 14 miles inland to the East. The main problems highlighted in the Abercrombie
Plan were the high concentration of economic, trade and port related activities
in the city and their effects. Decentralization of activities was one of the main
objectives of the Plan. The introduction of Satellite Towns in Ratmalana, Homagama
and Ragama were based on the proposal made in the Plan. Zoning Proposals were
introduced in the Plan including Character Zoning and Density Zoning.
| Colombo
Master Plan Project (UNDP - 1978) | |
The Master Plan Project for the
Colombo Metropolitan Region consists of two inter-related documents namely the
Colombo Metropolitan Regional Structure Plan and the Colombo Urban Area Plan.
The Colombo Master Plan Project, which pursued a balanced regional development
strategy, covered the Colombo district including the area now classified as the
Gampaha District and part of Kalutara District. The
Planning Unit was divided into Central Sub-region and Outer-region. The central
sub-region consisted the Colombo urban area while the outer region consisted,
the outer urban cluster. However, the strategy of the balanced spatial development,
was not successful. Unchecked urban sprawl continued at a rapid rate than in the
past and the Colombo urban area continued to expand beyond its physical limits
as defined in the Colombo Master Plan. The Centres that were designated as nucles
of development in the outer sub region have also failed to achieve the anticipated
accelerated development.
Certain projects were, however, implemented such
as the Investment Promotion Zone in Katunayake. The establishment of the Urban
Development Authority (UDA ) as a planning organization was also a direct outcome
of the Colombo Master Plan. Although the concept of Kotte as an administrative
capital and the establishment of Greater Colombo Economic Commission (G.C.E.C)
in the north of Colombo were not part of the plan, they were implemented as special
projects by the governments in the early 1980s.
| City
of Colombo Development Plan - 1985 | |
The City of Colombo Development
Plan was prepared and gazetted by the UDA in 1985 and it represented a document
that enabled the UDA to carry out zoning and building regulations. A
review of the urban development since the CMP reveals that there were no significant
planned development except the implementation of few projects such as supreme
courts complex, Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte Parliament complex, Biyagama and Katunayake
IPZ. The development that has taken place during the last twenty years has significantly
changed the urban environment in and around Colombo. This development has brought
positive changes such as economic diversification, new employment opportunities
and better infrastructure facilities as well as negative outcomes such as environmental
pollution and congestion. The
decision to prepare a Structure Plan for the Colombo Metropolitan Region has been
greatly influenced by the changes during the last twenty years. At the same time
new development concepts in the planning field have emerged focusing more on the
need to address the negative effects of development and environment. These concepts
and techniques have been used in developing the planning framework of the Structure
Plan.
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