Browsing by Author "Kariyawasam, S"

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Choice modeling of grocery shopping behavior: A Sri Lankan case study
(Elsevier, 2025) Vithanage, C; Wattage, P; Kariyawasam, S; Wilson, C; Khanal, U
Different retail forms play an integral part in the urban landscape in Sri Lankan cities shaping its spatial form. In planning new and different grocery retail forms, the main considerations are usually location, distance to population catchments and income levels. But distance-based descriptive methods are incapable of predicting the actual shopping behavior of grocery shoppers due to unrealistic assumptions that, for instance, shoppers will select the closest facility. Therefore, this study for the first time attempts to apply a behavioral model to determine the key drivers behind the store choice decision of grocery shoppers in a Sri Lankan city. A conceptual framework of individual choice behavior is adopted based on random utility theory and involves the application of a choice experiment. The analysis is based on a sample of 350 respondents representing households within the Piliyandala town area - a suburb of Colombo, Sri Lanka. The major findings are that, rather than distance being a primary influence on where people shop, attributes of retail destination such as quality of the products, price of the products and variety of goods available are more significant when maximizing utility. Thus, even though, supermarkets are typically perceived as the grocery retail form that maximizes utility, traditional grocery stores still continue to be a still popular icon of the retail landscape. This study, therefore, provides a study of how traditional grocery stores and modern supermarkets co-exist in suburbs of a major city in a developing country such as Sri Lanka. Further it broadens the understanding of grocery shopping behavior thereby facilitating the planning and design involved in commercial land uses related to grocery shopping. This is important given planners have been shown to be slow and conventional in responding to rapid changes in suburban form and function. Our findings can assist urban policy makers to reevaluate the retail policy framework in suburbs of Sri Lankan cities and therefore contribute to the facilitation of greater social and economic vibrancy in traditional economies.
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Conservation versus socio-economic sustainability: A case study of the Udawalawe National Park, Sri Lanka
(Elsevier, 2020) Kariyawasam, S; Wilson, C; Rathnayaka, LIM; Sooriyagoda, KG; Managi, S
National parks have been used over the years as a model for preserving and conserving plants and animals. Governments also use parks as a tool for rural poverty elimination. Although national parks have been located in the living and working environments of local residents, the surrounding communities are typically not allowed to gain substantial benefits. This can lead to unsustainable practices including over extraction of park resources and illegal use of parks’ natural assets. In light of these issues this paper firstly examines the role of national parks in ensuring socio-economic sustainability. Secondly, it examines the level of local participation and inclusiveness through a case study of the Udawalawe National Park. A value chain-based methodology is employed to estimate the local economic share of the park value chain. Results indicate that factors affecting inclusiveness such as human capital, financial capital, social capital, gender, location, level of complementarity between tourism and local livelihoods, and absence of endogenous growth policies have limited both local participation and their share in a park's value chain. This indicates the need for revenue sharing and integrated tourism cluster development programmes to offset costs and risks of locals, and to improve local attitudes towards conservation.
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Partial information and complex development decisions: Illustrations from infrastructure projects
(Elsevier, 2019) Kariyawasam, S; McGovern, M; Wilson, C
This study assesses the theoretical and practical limitations of evaluations of infrastructure projects. Existing tools used in such evaluations typically exhibit two main limitations. Firstly, they tend to accommodate only two dimensions at once and rely on extensive use of averages for additional dimensions. Secondly, they mostly produce a narrow (project exclusive) or information that is too general, thereby precluding both broader and more detailed interpretations at once. Development decisions so informed are consequently based on partial information. Too often this has produced unsatisfactory outcomes for some stakeholders along with increased risks and heightened uncertainties. This is particularly the case for infrastructure projects. This paper proposes an alternative approach to development decision-making called ‘complex stakeholder perception mapping’ (CSPM). CSPM's evaluations inclusively involve a spectrum of insights and perception maps which offer flexibility, combined with complex perceptions of multiple stakeholders on multiple aspects of development. Applicability of CSPM is demonstrated using four perceptual dimensions in infrastructure development evaluation. Different perception combinations and individual group perceptions generate patterns which indicate aspects and groups that need attention. This approach generates rigorous interpretations of information at both the micro and macro level of the project environment, thereby supporting well-informed strategic decision making to advance project outcomes.
item: Conference-Extended-Abstract
Performance improvement and energy saving potential of internal combustion engines in large-scale power generation
(2006) Kariyawasam, S; Witharana, S
Thermal power stations supply the majority of electricity demand in Sri Lanka. According to eEB's statistics for year 2004, more than 63% of the total annual energy demand was supplied by thermal plants, which amounted to 5,080GWh. By that year, the total installed capacity of Thermal power plants was 1,073MW, with the internal combustion (IC) engines having a share of 543MW. In terms of the number of operating hours, the Ie engines are preferred to Gas turbines due to fuel economy. In total, eEB had spent nearly 20 billion rupees to fuel its thermal power plants during the year 2004. Today the fuel costs are even higher. A 1% improvement in efficiency of all thermal power plants in Sri Lanka would return a saving of approximately 500milion rupees a year.
item: Conference-Full-text
A study on the process of studentification: a case study of Katubedda neighbourhood
(Department of Architecture, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, 2018-10-05) Shanmugarajah, D; Kankanamge, N; Ratnayake, R; Kariyawasam, S; Wijesundara, J; Dayaratne, R
Studentification has been identified as a form of gentrification by many scholars. Spatial restrictions in an urban fabric, which are close to academic intuitions, lead to studentification. This form of gentrification is popular in many countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States of America where universities create towns and cities. Such studentification characteristics also could be identified around some of the leading universities in Sri Lanka. University of Moratuwa is one such university in Sri Lanka where students from all over the country come for their higher education. Clearly, the impacts of university students could be observed in the immediate vicinity. Thus, this research incorporates both qualitative and quantitative tools to provide a comprehensive explanation for this phenomenon. The objective of this study is to investigate the studentification process took place around the Moratuwa University. The process of studentification is examined through the lenses of economic, spatial and cultural changes that have occurred in the area. More than 200 land lords within a 500m walking distance from the university were interviewed to achieve the research objective. The study results show that the university has a great impact in changing the community in various dimensions such as standards of living and quality of life. The increasing demand for student accommodation has changed the entire socioeconomic structure of the community living around the university. New investors have started to invest in this area targeting the students as their main consumer base. This study provides economic, social, cultural and physical evidences and the assessment can advance the understanding about the process of studentification happening in the Moratuwa university neighbourhood. Local authorities and city planners will be benefited from this study in making future decisions on land use and infrastructure.