Urban Governance, Planning & Environmental Law

It is observed that Housing and Town Improvement Ordinance (H& TI) and
Town and Country Planning Ordinance (T&CP) are not strong enough to
Control, regulate and promote urban activities in urban areas in Sri Lanka.

Compare, contrast and discuss how far the Urban Development Authority Law
(UDA Law) No 41of 1978

(Including amendments) has been contributed to control, regulate and promote

Urban activities in urban areas in Sri Lanka with appropriate examples.

Y.G.I.Saman Kumara

Department of Town and Country Planning

University of Moratuwa

Sri Lanka
Introduction

According to the Sri Lankan contest, a large number of legislations have been enacted for
the provision of powers necessary for planning the urban area as well as rural area. Some
of these legislations are designed to encourage people for development of urban lands.
Others are designed for the control of development activities initiated by private sector
parties in order to avoid environmental and health risks, security purposes, city
beautifications and any other social requirement initiated by the planning agencies. There
are more than 100 ordinances and acts passed by the parliament of Sri Lanka that directly
or indirectly influences the urban environment and the livelihoods of the people.

There are two types of key objects have reviving as why number of major legislations
enacted in the past to enable local government authorities.

01. Town development plans and improvement schemes for the state and

02. The establishment of new government institutions and authorities for urban
development

Among much legislation, four legislations have been identified as the key instruments for
creating institutions, structures and procedures for urban development in Sri Lanka.
Following section will present purposes of and institutions created for implementation of
legislations. Rules and regulations implemented as a result of enactment of legislation are
also discussed.

1. Local Government Legislations

 Municipal Council Ordinance

 Urban Council Ordinance

 Town Council Ordinance

 Pradesiaya Sabha Act.

2. Housing and Town Improvement Ordinance

3. Town and Country Planning Ordinance

4. Urban Development Authority Law

Among those three legislations, the first one is highly oriented to govern for some define
boundary with political authority. Second one and third one have enacted to purpose of
providing legal context for whole country and urban development Authority law is
applicable to whole country after the declaration under the act.

Housing and Town Improvement (H&TI) Ordinance of 1915

This ordinance has been enacted in 1915 when Sri Lanka was a colony under the British
rule. The H&TI Ordinance has been the oldest as well as basis for all subsequent laws of
urban planning and development. As stated in the ordinance, the purpose of it was to
provide for better housing of the people and improvement of towns. It was expected to
deal with existing problems of insanitary conditions and urban overcrowding as well as to
prevent such conditions in the future.

As the economic situation of most industrial countries during this period is based on the
free enterprises, the state control on urban development was minimum. Most legal
provisions were enabling legislations for the local authorities to manage insanitary and
overcrowding situation with private sector and other civil society organizations. The
ordinance had been enacted to empower the urban local authorities that included
municipal, urban and town councils. It had given powers to these local authorities for the
implementation of H&TI Ordinance in addition to any powers of such local authority
under any other enactment.

Key features of the H&TI ordinance:

 It is an enabling legislation to empower local government bodies

 Local authorities can take two major measures under the law in order to
control the urban development:
 • Preventive measures

• Remedial measures

 The law has given a detailed Schedule of Rules as standards to be enforced

by local authorities for the prevention of occurrences of environmentally insanitary
situations and the construction of structurally unsafe buildings for public and human
habitation in urban areas.

 The Mayor or the Chairperson of the local authority was empowered under
preventive measures to control and guide the construction of all kinds of buildings
and streets within his/her jurisdiction area.

 Instruments given by the law for local authorities to implement preventive

measures for buildings are as follows:

 Approval for erection and re-erection of any building

 Approval for alteration of any building

 Inspection of building operations

 Offences and legal actions to be taken by the local authority against for those
who fail to comply with the requirement of this law.

 Issuing of Certificate of Conformity (COC)

 Appeal process for those who are not satisfied with the actions taken by the
local authority

 Instruments given to implement preventive measures for Streets,

 Developing properties setting apart streets and back lanes

 Demarcation of street lines

 Demarcation of public street according to standards presented in schedule of

the ordinance
  Construction of private streets

 Offences and legal actions to be taken by the local authority against for those
who fail to comply with the requirements of law

 Appeal process

 By laws for regulating and preventing character of special areas.

 Urban local authorities were given powers to create an institutional structure

for planning and implementation of ten types of Improvement Schemes as Remedial
Measures to solve the problem of insanitary conditions in towns and cities.

I. General Improvement Scheme

II. Redistribution Scheme

III. Rebuilding Scheme

IV. Re-housing Scheme

V. Housing Accommodation Scheme

VI. Street Scheme

VII. Street Intersection Scheme

VIII. Street Widening Scheme

IX. Back Lane Scheme

X. Building Scheme

 Law has specified the definition of each scheme and the implementation and
completion procedures

 Under this law, the local authority has the power to stop the construction or
to remove part of or the complete building (Obstructive Building and Insanitary
 Dwellings) if it is considered unfit for human habitation or dangerous or injurious to
health.

 Local authorities are given powers to acquire any land or building or part of
land or building is considered necessary for the purpose of the ordinance. Acquisition
of property and payment of compensation to the affected parties will be carried out
with the approval of the respective minister under the Land Acquisition Ordinance.

 Standards for Buildings, Rooms and Streets in the law as rules are given in
the annex.

 According to the ordinance, the implementation responsibilities have been

giving to the local authority, but political authority may not appear to control or
prevent any activity by force in general context.

This ordinance is applicable to the basic level of city but not having powers to manage,
develop and control rapid development or modern city context.

Town and Country Planning Ordinance No. 16 of 1946

Town and Country Planning Ordinance came into effect in 1946. The purpose of the
ordinance as cited in the ordinance itself is.

“ To authorize the making of schemes with respect to the planning and development of
land in Ceylon, to provide for the protection of buildings and objects of interest or beauty
to facilitate the acquisition of land for the purpose of giving effects to such schemes and
to provide for matters incidental to or connected with the matters aforesaid.”

In order to achieve the above objectives, a national level consultative body known as
‘Central Planning Commission’ was established to provide advise to the minister who is
in charge of planning and development of land in the country. Most important outcome of
the ordinance was the creation of the Department of Town and Country Planning and the
appointment of the Government Town Planner as the head of the department. The
function of the department was to prepare planning schemes and to act as technical
agency to provide technical assistance to prepare town-planning schemes for every
municipality and every town within the meaning of the Urban Council Ordinance. As per
the ordinance, the Department was responsible for the preparation of three types of
planning schemes:

I. Regional Planning Schemes

II. Detailed Planning Schemes

III. Outline Planning Schemes

Due to the limitations of financial resources and manpower, many local authorities had
been unable to prepare Town Planning Schemes for their respective towns. Some towns
in the country were important due to their history and location architecturally prominent
and important religious structures. Under this law, the Minister in-charge of the subject of
town and country planning can declare such towns or areas to be developed as special
projects or planned towns.

The Department in collaboration with the respective local authority carries out Planning
and implementation of new towns development. Important feature of the ordinance was
that the urban local authorities remained as the planning and executive authority of
planning schemes. Attempts have been made through this Ordinance to improve the
technical capacity of urban local authorities for the preparation of planning schemes as
well as implementation of preventive and remedial measures entrusted to local bodies
under the Housing and Town Improvement Ordinance of 1915.

The ordinance has been amended in several time as follows purpose of the practice of the
planning and the policy implementation as well as budget allocation and project
prioritizations.

Ordinance No. 13 of 1946

 0

Town and country planning ordinance is still applying to the rural area development as an
effective ordinance to concentrating the health, sanitary and living environment. Modern
urban context is making more complexity urban character with multidisciplinary
approach, with social, physical, economical and environmental perspectives.

The Urban Development Authority Law of 1978, No 41

With rapid urbanization that was taken place in the country after the independence in
1948, powers and functions given to urban local authorities and to the Town and Country
Planning Department under the existing legislations were not sufficient to address the
complex issues emerged in urban areas. In the late 1970s, the government of Sri Lanka
with the technical assistance of the UNDP, a Master Plan for Colombo Metropolitan Area
was prepared. In view of the limited capacity of Colombo Municipal Council and other
local authorities in the metropolitan area, this plan made several recommendations to set-
up a new institution with necessary powers for implementation of the Colombo Master
Plan and some innovative solutions for solving the housing, water and sanitation
problems of the urban poor.

As recommended in the Colombo Master Plan Project, the Urban Development Authority
was set up in 1978 under the Urban Development Authority Law, No. 41. Under the law,
a new institution called Urban Development Authority (UDA) was established. As cited
in the law, the purpose in establishing of UDA was ‘to promote integrated planning and
implementation of economic, social and physical development areas as may be declared
by the minister to be Urban Development Areas and for matters concerned therewith or
incidental there.’

The amendment to the Urban Development Authority Law introduced in 1982 made it
mandatory for the UDA to prepare Development Plans for all areas declared under
section 3 of the UDA Law and also authorized it to carry out physical development
Control in such areas. By the end of 2000, UDA has declared Municipal Councils, Urban
Councils and Pradeshiya Sabhas as Urban Development Areas.

In order to achieve the objectives of the UDA, it is vested with following powers

1. Preparation and implementation of integrated plans for physical development,

2. Preparation of development plans including capital investment programmes,

3. Preparation of schemes for environmental improvement,

4. Carrying out building, engineering and infrastructure development projects,

5. Acquisition and disposal of movable and immovable property, clearance of slums and
shanties,

6. Rendering of technical advice to other Government Agencies on problems of land use

and location,

7. Co-ordination and control of development projects carried out by other Government

Agencies,

8. Formulation of land use policy in declared areas,

9. Preparation and implementation of development plans for declared areas covering such
aspects like land use and density zoning, street line set backs, height of buildings, open
spaces, control of environmental pollution, parking, landscaping ect, and

10. Exercising of development control to ensure conformity to development plans and

planning regulations.

The head office is situated in Colombo; A Board of Management constituted by the

senior officers of relevant ministries carries out the management of its affairs.

The UDA has delegated some of its functions and powers to Heads of local authorities to
carry out development control activities. In order to facilitate preparation and
implementation of development plans, the UDA has established Planning offices in some
of the local authorities. New set of Planning and Building Regulation gazetted by the
UDA in 1986 is being enforced in declared areas replacing the provisions of the Housing
and Town Improvement Ordinance which are considered inadequate to deal with
development control problems of highly urbanized areas in and around Colombo and
other regional town centres.

Comparison of Town and country planning ordinance and Unban Development

Authority Act

There are number of differences within these two legislations and some provisions are
cited as improved and many of the provisions have been added to the act. Rules for
Buildings, Rooms and Streets under Housing and Town Improvement Ordinance of 1915,
For the first time in Sri Lanka, the Housing and Town Improvement Ordinance of 1915
empowered urban local authorities and imposed a set of planning and building rules to
administer urban development in general and to encourage individuals to carry out their
construction to a set of standards.

These rules are given as planning standard in the schedule of the Ordinance. Those urban
areas, which are not declared under the UDA Law, the provisions of H&TI are still
applicable. They have been designed mainly to ensure the health and structural safety
aspects of the building.

These rules have been introduced, as preventive measures for local authorities to monitor
that the people are not living in insanitary environments in towns. They are used mainly
to control, administer or regulate the following aspects of the buildings:

1. Height in proportion to the width of existing streets

2. Reservation of proportion of site as open space

3. Size and ventilation of inhabited rooms

4. Open air spaces at side or interior of buildings

5. Open space in rear of buildings

6. Access from single room tenements to street

01. Height of all buildings except places of religious worship will be decided based on
the width of existing street.

02. Reservation of proportion of site of domestic building, factory or workshop as built-

up area.

 In general on any site, this area should not exceed two-thirds of the total area
of the site.

 Area not covered should be retained as part and parcel thereof.

 No structure shall be erected upon the reserved other than latrines, bathing
and cooking places as may be allowed by local by –laws and approved by the
chief executive of the local authority.

 No roof or projection of build is allowed to build over any part of area so

reserved.

 This rule can be exempted under special circumstances subject to the

approval of the minister.

3. Size and ventilation of inhabited rooms of domestic building:

 An average height of at least 9 feet and no place less than 7 feet.

 If a domestic building has only one habituated room which should not be
less than 120 sq. feet in size and all other additional rooms not less than 90 sq.
feet.

 At least one side of room must be an external wall abutting on the open air.

 Each side of such room must be not less than 8 feet in length.

 The height of every door in such rooms must be less than 6 feet.

 It must have opening into an external space that

 Must be not less than one-seventh of floor area of the room.

  Aggregate opening of both doors and windows should not be less than one-
fifth of the floor area.

 In every case opening of each window must be not less than 8 sq.feet

 Every window mentioned above must open to a "Standard Light Plane".

Such plane must be open to sky and free from any obstruction other than
eaves or sunshades projecting to an extent of not more than one and half feet
from the place of building.

4. Open air spaces at side or interior of buildings:

The external open space referred above must in no case be than 7 ½ feet in width from
the side of a building.

5. Open space in rear of buildings

Minimum width of the rear of every domestic building, factory or warehouse must be 10
feet.

6. Access from single room tenements to streets

 Rows or blocks of buildings inhabited in tenements by the poor people,

 Front face of such buildings less than 100 feet in length must be provided
adequate direct access to a public street from each tenement.

 When such tenement buildings are enclosed wholly or upon three sides, the
following conditions shall be enforced:

 The interior of such courtyard shall be not less than 15 feet in all directions.

 Such a courtyard is enclosed wholly the "Standard Light Plane" should be

450.

 When tenements are arranged back-to-back, with approval of chairman /

mayor of local authority, the health officer should inspect and certify that said
 tenements are so constructed and arranged as to secure effective ventilation of
all habitable rooms.

 Any such range of block shall not exceed three stories in height.

7. Width of street

In order to improve the environmental sanitation in new land subdivision schemes and all
other improvement schemes, this law has imposed standards (scales) upon local
authorities to maintain a minimum width of street in proportion to the number of plots
served by the respective street or road.

 Every new street intended for carriage traffic should be not less than 40 feet
in width.

 Width of street is decided when it is intended to serve limited number of

premises according to the following table

The Street is intended for services of Approved Minimum Width

 Not more than two premises 10 feet

 More than 2 but less than 6 premises 20 feet

 More than 6 but less than 14 premises arranged as to front on to an open

space 20 feet Local authority can approve:

 A Street intended for foot traffic only of not less than 20 feet in width.

 A back lane or other service passage for sanitary or other special purposes of
not less than 10 feet in width.

As the H&TI Ordinance being the basis for regulatory framework of urban development
in Sri Lanka, standards introduced as rule at that time were presented in the above
section. The general comments on the impact of those rules on the lives of the urban poor
people are as follows.
  These rules have been primarily developed and implemented for the
improvement of health aspects of the buildings and public health conditions of
the towns in general.

 The affordability of different income groups for housing and basic services
has not been taken into consideration in the development and implementation
of the rules.

 At the time of this Ordinance was introduced to Sri Lanka, the issue of slums
and shanties in towns was marginal. Therefore, rules in the Ordinance have
been designed to improve the health conditions of existing slums rather than
upgrading of low- income settlements.

 Rules of the Ordinance had been designed based on the similar legislations
introduced in the Europe at that time for improvement of public health
situation of towns after industrial revolution.

The Urban Development Authority Planning and Building Regulations – 1986

The Urban Development Authority was set-up in 1978 under the Urban Development
Authority Law, No. 41. As cited in the law itself, the purposes of the establishment of the
UDA was to "promote integrated planning and implementation of economic, social and
physical development areas as may be declared by the minister to be Urban Development
Areas and for matters concerned therewith or incidental thereto".

Under the section 3 of the Law, any area that is suitable for development in the opinion of
the minister will be declared in the Government Gazette on "Urban Development Area".
In all declared areas, thereafter, the rules and regulations created by the UDA will be the
valid law for any kind of development, management and control of physical development
activities. In this case above law can cited to declare not only the urban area but also the
urban development area identified by the authority as developable in future with high
potential of the urbanization.

Part II of the legislation has given powers for UDA to carry out its functions. Under these
powers, UDA is not only a planning agency but also it can implement projects and carry
out businesses to generate resources for urban development in the country. As far as this
study is concerned powers given under Section 8 (j), (n), and (r) of the law are important.
Those powers as stipulated in the act are as follows.

8 (j) - To develop environmental standards and prepare schemes for environmental

improvements in such areas (declared areas)

8 (n) - To cause the clearance of slums and shanty areas and to undertake the
development of such areas

8 (r) - To regulate any planning projects or schemes prepared by any government

agency or other persons in such areas

A set of comprehensive urban planning and building regulations was developed and
tested in selected urban local authorities by the UDA during the first five-year of its
operation. In March 1986, the UDA gazetted those regulations may be cited as the
"Urban Development Authority Planning and Building Regulations – 1986. Under the
provisions of the law, these regulations are applicable to every area declared by the
minister as "Urban Development Area".

When these regulations are compared with the previous rules, they are very
comprehensive, detailed and more emphasis has been given to the aspects of
construction, control in development.

Physical development activities in towns declared under UDA Law are currently being
guided by the above regulatory framework. Even though urban local government bodies
were the planning and execution authorities under H&TI Ordinance and T&C Planning
Ordinance, under UDA Law this responsibility is still vested with the UDA. Some of
these powers have been delegated to the mayors and chairpersons of local authority. But
whenever the Minister needs to them into the control of central government, it is done
under this Law.

On contrary to the centralization of urban development functions to a single authority,

UDA Law has provisions to create special regulations for areas declared as special
projects in towns under the same law. While it was developing more conventional
planning and building regulation for general urban development, UDA has allowed
special programmes to innovate and practice different set of regulations which are
appropriate to the special physical and socio-cultural situations of the towns.

Public health, daily commuter’s needs and the structural safety of the buildings have been
the major factors considered in developing general regulations. These regulations have
not considered or it is not designed in a way that enables informal sector or the urban
poor to continue their livelihoods or to protect their livelihood assets within a new urban
development plan.

Any land situated within the limit declared under this law, if authority deciding must be
acquire purpose of urban development activity, have premises to acquire before
compensating to the land owner under the given premises of 38(a) of land acquisition act.

UDA is not only the legislation it is the Authority having strength to planning, financing,
implementing and monitoring the identified projects or urban plan by the Authority with
professional interventions.

This act is highly concerning about the urban area and given regulatory and legal
provisions more applicable for the any type of urbanized context.
References-

Published by parliament of the democratic socialist republic of Sri Lanka, 1978, The
Urban Development Authority Law of 1978, No 41

Published by parliament of Sri Lanka, 1946, Town and Country Planning Ordinance No.
16 of 1946

Published by parliament of Sri Lanka, 1915, Housing and Town Improvement (H&TI)
Ordinance of 1915

Archt./Plnr. Veranjan Kurukulasuriya (Director/Research), Sri Lanka 2011 – 2030

National Physical Plan And Project Proposals 2012, National Physical Planning
Department, Ministry of Construction, Engineering Services, Housing & Common
Amenities

Plnr I.S Weerasoori, 2014- Housing and Town Improvement Ordinance presentation,
Urban development Authority.

Plnr. I.S. Weerasoori (Dy. Director General), 2012, PLANNING LAW PRACTICED IN
SRI LANKA (presentation), Urban Development Authority.

Plnr. I.S. Weerasoori (Dy. Director General), 2012, Town & Country Planning Ordinance
and Amendment Act (presentation), Urban Development Authority