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Global Environment
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Rationality of the use of Remote Sensing based Land Use Maps for Identification of Emerging Urban Centres in Sri Lanka
L.H. Indrasiri
Urban Development Authority
7th Floor, Sethsiripaya, Battarmamulla, Sri Lanka
Tel : 94-1-874554, Fax: 94-1-873642
Abstract
For quite a long time Sri Lanka was facing a problem in deigning its urban centres in a scientific manner and as such the status of urban was conferred on a Ministerial decision for local administrative purposes.
Since the urban centres considered as catalyst for regional development a new approach is necessary to be adopted for the identification and definition of urban centres in Sri Lanka. This paper make an attempt to explain how the land use maps prepared by the Survey Department was utilized for the identification, demarcation and estimation of population of the emerging urban centres of Sri Lanka.
1. Introduction
The government development objectives for the urban sector meant to create required condition for efficient economic system and to improve the standard of living, including housing and urban infrastructure.
The dominance of Colombo in the urban system in the country and continuous arguments on the slow pace of urbanisation with changing urban status due to classification problems has create certain specific problems related to the definitional problem of urban centres such as difficulties in the :
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identification of emerging urban centres with size and class differences.
- Analyzing the trends and pace of urbanisation in relation to the economic development
- persisting slow pace of growth in relation to the spatial distribution of the functions as a result of not updating the boundaries of existing urban areas for nearly 35 years of existing urban areas for nearly 35 years in keeping with the pace of urbanisation
- formulation of an urban strategy based on a rational urban hierarchy
- examination of underlying factors of urbanisation pattern and confrontation of the associated impacts in relation to land use, concentration of population and provision of basic infrastructure facilities
- minimization of regional disparities in the provision of urban facilities and orientation of Government priority projects to crate multiple effects to regional growth
This paper explains the process under taken for the identification of emerging urban centres the District Land use Maps prospered by the Survey Department Based on remote sensing data. It further explains how this identification was proved in follow up studies and how these were used to analyses the hierarchical structure of these centres, the urban population and the physical growth of urban centres.
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