Applicability of ‘New Urbanism Concept’ for Sri Lankan Urban Planning: Seeking a Fusion of Sustainability Principles and Development Regulations

Despite the fact that sustainability is one of the most discussed themes in recent times, its application in policy-making and implementation remains feeble. Analogous to other seminal fields to which, the aforesaid issue pertain, the fields of Architecture and Urban Planning have seen no exception. Consequently, adhering to sustainability principles in formulating and implementation of development regulations is conveniently neglected in the Sri Lankan context. One of the main underlying reasons for most of the present-day burning global issues (i.e. fuel/energy crisis, social/environmental degradation, intolerable rate of inflation and financial catastrophe etc.) is due to the neglect of the notion of sustainability. The misuse, mismanagement and exploitation of available resources – natural and man-made alike – while paying minimal attention to the most emphasized sustainability principles, have led the country to the critical chapter it is currently in. This paper investigates the possibility of adhering to sustainability principles in formulation and implementation of development regulations for Sri Lanka. In the study, the present-day development regulations in practice are analysed in terms of ten sustainability principles stipulated under discourse of ‘New Urbanism Concept’ (NUC). Thereby, the need of fusing development regulations with the provisions of sustainability principles is highlighted, to make them more applicable in resolving present-day urbanization issues.