Colombo Port City master plan presented to UDA
The master plan of the Colombo Port City development project was presented to the Urban Development Authority (UDA) at a special gathering of over 200 UDA officials and other industry specialists recently.
Since the project’s physical construction on reclaimed land is now in progress, the project company requested for the current updated plan to be presented to the UDA’S planning committee.
However, the UDA Chairman requested the project company to present the revised plan not only to the planning committee but to all relevant officials including, town planners, architects and a number of other professionals who are involved in UDA planning, so that all parties would be on the same page in sanctioning the revised plan.
The master plan for Port City was done by SWECO, a Swedishbased planning consultant. Surbana Jurong was brought on board to prepare Development Control Regulations (DCR) for Port City.
The DCR provides a clear mechanism for the implementation of the master plan and directs both public and private sector developments with a set of development objectives, definitions and regulations. The regulations are essential to enforce the vision and objectives of the master plan in a transparent manner.
Surbana Jurong took the key essence of the previous master plan and refined it further through urban design guidelines. The soul of the project is sustainability and quality lifestyle. The urban structure of Port City is designed for liveability, social security, tolerance and inclusion, thereby contributing to a higher quality of life. It emphasises a well-balanced relationship between the public, semi-public and private realms, where different kinds of spaces give rise to a wide range of uses and activities.
The presentation was made by Executive Urban Planner Preethi Reddy of Surbana Jurong, one of Asia’s largest urban, industrial and infrastructure consulting firms based in Singapore; offering architecture, master planning, engineering and related services. Surbana Jurong is also drawing up the Megapolis plan and Trincomalee master plan.
UDA Chairman Dr. Jagath Munasinghe, addressing the large gathering of officials, members of the architects and engineering associations, planning, and land selection committees, said that it was time to read and understand what was happening elsewhere in the world and how international organisations plan their activities. He added that this knowledge would give UDA officials the exposure they needed on the new methods and modern ways of doing things.
The presentation was followed by a ‘Q&A’ session at which a number of queries were fielded by the project company team, Preethi Reddy, the UDA Chairman, Nihal Fernando, Project Director for Port City Colombo appointed by the Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development and Nihal Rupasinghe, Secretary to the Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development.
Institute of Architects Sri Lanka President D.H. Wijewardene, who said the plans drawn up seemed easy to control once the systems were in place, asked if there would be a role in the project for local architects in terms of designing buildings in Port City. He said that in order for the development to benefit local experts (architects and engineers) there should be a regulatory process for knowledge transfer.
The UDA Chairman said that the UDA would be asking for qualified persons such as engineers, architects and town planners to participate in an approval process.
Answering for the project company, Managing Director of Port City Colombo Jiang Houliang said that 70 percent of their employees were locals. “We have probably 15 percent Chinese and another 15 percent foreigners, but 70 percent of our colleagues are local and we work with a number of local architects and landscapers.”
Project Director Nihal Fernando responding to a question on municipal council ordinance and if there would be a separate council to govern the Port City, said as per the tripartite agreement signed between the Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development, the Urban Development Authority (UDA) and the project company, provision for the management of the International Financial City has been made via a joint venture company formed between the government and the project company, of which the government will own 49 percent and the project company 51 percent. This is in order to have a smooth administrative process that allows for ease of doing business, where developers would be provided with necessary facilities, he further explained.
Other questions asked included the soil requirement for the park land and green areas within the Port City; what impact it will have on the environment if the soil was being obtained locally.
Port City’s Environment Team Leader W.A.D.D. Wijesooriya, addressed the soil requirement, saying that the project company was already in discussions with other development projects which were removing soil to begin their projects. The project aims to use soil that is disposed of by these projects instead of digging for soil which would cause an environmental problem, therefore, it would be a win-win situation for all.
Nihal Fernando said that apart from that, the Sri Lanka Land Reclamation and Development Corporation was in the process of doing research on the supply of a special compost and experiments are already being carried out. He says around 30 trees were being planted within the Port City with different soil samples and a system where they could mix the sand with compost and other materials to make a suitable planting ground was being looked at.