Institute of Town Planners Sri Lanka (ITPSL) celebrates its 40th anniversary
The Institute of Town Planners Sri Lanka celebrated its 40th anniversary and held the Annual General Meeting (AGM) 2021/2022 on 26th March 2022 as a hybrid mode having its operational activities at the Blue Water Hotel, Wadduwa, under the theme “Facing the Future with Confidence”.
The President, Plnr. Devsriyani Jayasundera (FITPSL) felicitated two senior members of the ITPSL, Plnr. ( Prof.) P.K.S. Mahanama - Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Moratuwa and Plnr. N.P.K. Ranaweera – Director General of the Urban Development Authority for their achievements in such high positions.
Vidyajothi Emeritus Professor Dr Willie Mendis (FITPSL) – One of the two pioneers of Town and Country Planning education in Sri Lanka, addressed the gathering on Evolution of Urban Planning as a Profession in Sri Lanka.
Representat ives of CHEC Por t City Colombo Pvt. Ltd. Made a special guest presentation on the Colombo Port City Development Project and its marketing strategies.
Hon. Eng. Dr Nalaka Godahewa, State Minister of Urban Development, waste Disposal and Community cleanliness who was the Chief Guest of the event gave an eye-opening speech on the current economic crisis. The key points he made were: “All the countries in the world whether developed or developing borrow money for development activities. Borrowing is not a problem as long as they are invested in productive projects that could generate adequate funds for payback. The foreign debt rate as far back as 1989 was as same as the present, however, no one called it a debt crisis as we could pay it primarily because they were long term concessionary loans and thus, the payment did not become a pressure on the nation”.
“The current crisis in Sri Lanka – the debt crisis is attributed to (i) elevation of Sri Lanka to middle income earning country resulting in denying concessionary long terms borrowings, (ii) borrowing short term sovereign bonds, (iii) Governments not focusing on long term new foreign currency earning avenues, (iv) borrowed money not investing in income- earning projects, ( v) missed opportunities, and (vi) delayed decisions “The first sovereign bond of USD 500 million was raised in 2007 and then another USD 500 million in 2009 to develop post-war infrastructure. From 2009 to 2014 the Government raised another USD 5 Billion through sovereign bonds. The Government that came to power in 2015 borrowed a total of USD 12.5 billion again through sovereign bonds. Thus, both Governments made critical mistakes of borrowing and not investing in money generating assets. Foreign debt in the country piled up without a significant increase in foreign income. Savings of the country had to be used to pay debts”. “During the last 10 years the gap between the imports and the export was largely bridged with foreign remittanc
es and tourism earnings. Both income sources collapsed due to the Corona Pandemic”. Unfortunately, Sri Lanka is still doing the same mistakes instead of rectifying them.
We need to work on new export sources. Provision of technical and professional services can earn more money than sending maids. A qualified nurse in a foreign country can earn more than USD 7000- 8000 per month. Our ITC industry can play even a bigger role in exporting ITC services”.
He concluded the speech stressing the need for new foreign exchange earning avenues and reengineering existing avenues to make them more productive.
Plnr. Hemantha Jayasundera ( Past President, ITPSL) made a special presentation on “Town Planning Profession – The Way Forward”. He highlighted the role of urban areas as engines of national economic development and that Urban Planners have a critical role to make our urban areas play such a role to overcome the current economic crisis of the country.
He stressed the necessity of creating enabling business environments in our cities to attract foreign investments. Giving an example he stated, “directing all the four universities in Colombo ( Moratuwa, Jayawardhanepura, Colombo, and Kelaniya) to produce most demanding graduates to cater to the businesses creat
ed by the 3rd industrial revolution will make Colombo attractive to high-end investors, branding Colombo as the City of Intelligence”.
“To make our cities competitive, it is necessary to depart from traditional urban planning practices and deploy Strategic Planning instruments. He defined the strategic planning related to urban development based on competitiveness and proposed to plan cities similar to the corporate sector plans businesses. He stated that “globalization has been promoting economic growth throughout the world and it is the driving force behind urbanization resulting in an exponential increase in global trade. We need to develop enabling business environments in our cities to exploit the opportunities in global trade. The other key drivers that the Urban Planners need to understand in this direction are the vibrant movement of international capital, movement of countries from comparative advantage level to competitive advantage level, movement of the centre of gravity of the world economy from developed to developing economies, particularly towards Asia, technological advancements, environment concerns, research and development, and particularly the performance of medium-sized cities as against megacities”.
He also stressed the need for re-engineering urban financing. Creating enabling financing environment is the key which depends on the degree of competitiveness and governance. Giving
reference to Port City, his view was that its fundamental business principle is showcasing Sri Lanka to international investors and creating a globally competitive business environment. It is the duty of the Planners to integrate the benefits of Port City with other urban areas to get the optimum benefits.
Due to the rapid changes in the role of cities urban planning has become challenging. Thus, the Urban Planners should also be aware of the negate aspects of urban development processes with global developments such as destabilizing developing countries for natural resources exploitation climate change and related impacts on Sri Lanka and the positive aspects such as third industrial revolution and associated benefits. More importantly to play the challenging role the need to acquire 21st-century skills, which is more important than curricula subjects.
In memory of ITPSL’s 40 years, an e-coffee table book was launched by the President of ITPSL under the name of “REMINISCENCE UNFOLD”.
The most expected vibrant event of the celebration was the award ceremony. Awa rds for best performance were presented under six categories namely: ITPSL Honorary Award ( A lifetime Award) - Plnr. J. M. L. Jayasekara – Past President, (FITPSL),
ITPSL Award for Planning Excellence
(Planning Processes and Programs) – Planning Team of the Urban Development Authority for the Preparation of Ratnapura Development Plan 2021-2030, ITPSL Award for Planning Excellence (Planning Projects) - Planning Team of the Canopus Pvt Ltd. for the Development of Arivakulam AquaLeisure Park, ITPSL Award for Planning Research - Plnr. Dr Charithmali Chethika Abenayake & Plnr. Dr Amila Buddhika Jayasinghe of the University of Moratuwa, Emerging Planner of the Year - Plnr.
Kadampeswaran Thulasivarman, Young Planner of the Year
- Mr Dilan Sankalpa.
“................” dancing group made the 40 th-anniversary celebration a colour event.
Plnr. Priyani Nawarathne, Secretary of the ITPSL delivered the vote of thanks recording her appreciation for the leadership given by the President and the Executive Council 2021/ 2022 and Plnr. Chinthaka Rathnasiri ( Chairman), Plnr. Dr Upuli Perera (Convener), and the organizing team for the 40th anniversary, for their support and dedication, to making the event memorable. L. She also thanked the members who joined the event physically and virtually and supported in various ways. The event ended after a fellowship dinner organized by the ITPSL.