In search of a home: Exploring the norm of urban slum rehabilitation projects in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Due to global and local economic and social influences, informal settlements have been a choice for the deprived communities of urban poor. The growth of these settlements has been a long-standing predicament since the time of its acknowledgment in the 20th century. As a result, discussions for constraints and solutions were opened for this aberration in the urban fabric. As a developing country, Sri Lanka faces the complications of housing a large urban population. Due to its scale, a significant economic gap exists between the urban poor and the affluent classes; this causes a segregation which consequentially affects disparities in housing situations. As a result, the urban poor seek refuge in housing, named as under-served settlements (USS) by the government of Sri Lanka, in this case ‘informal settlements.’ Informal settlements tend to have negative connotations with the general public, mainly due to their disorganized nature and excessive growth of informality. ‘Informality’ is an attribute embedded in their lifestyles. It is commonly derived through employment structures and reflected in their housing design as a necessity. Rehabilitation projects were suggested as an idea to improve the status of the housing situation. But, most do not reflect proper analysis and thus, have failed to satisfy the social, cultural and lifestyle needs of the urban poor. The purpose of this thesis is to propose housing for a focused community of low-income labourers named Natami. The Natami, who are categorised under the urban poor, are a neglected community with minimal access to housing and comfort. Part of this community are displaced and another cluster are living in ‘informal settlements’ that are at risk of losing their homes due to on-going slum rehabilitation programmes. Natami are employed in the ‘Pettah’ market, which is a sub-city of Colombo (main commercial centre) in Sri Lanka known to be the pinnacle of informal employment. The natami play a vital role in the operations of delivering goods throughout this market. Considering their work life and work ethics, the Natami are considered as a viable example of a community to be incorporated into this thesis. Using informality as an initiation method of approach as opposed to a problem that creates a rift, the design proposal is aimed to set a housing scheme that bridges the current rehabilitation programmes with the needs of the urban- poor. The proposed design, in this thesis, allows for future expansion in houses according to the increasing needs of Natami: of changing dynamics of families and promoting community upbringing. Generally, it is expected that allowance for expansions could cause disorganization and excess growth and subsequently, lead to the repetitive cycle of negative perceptions and further government interference. Hence, this thesis searches for architectural elements to create limitations for excess growth. For this matter, studies of three chosen slums in Sri Lanka along with the analysis of precedent studies and Sri Lankan traditional elements were used to distinguish architectural elements that mitigate the repetitive cycle whilst maintaining the innate needs of the Natami. It was identified that the study of the neglected aspects within the urban poor could be used as a point of origin for plausible solutions.