Investigation on factors affecting the performance of low-income high-rise housing in Colombo

Abstract

Currently, Colombo is being developed very fast as the Commercial Capital, to make the most vibrant commercial and logistic hub of Asia under the vision of “The miracle of South Asia”. As a part of the process, the government allocates prime lands encroached by underserved settlers for city developments accommodating underserved settlers in modern high-rises in Colombo. However, the degree of sustainability of high-rise housing for underserved settlement people is arguable. There were approximately 68,000 substandard households in underserved settlements in Colombo which are unfit for human habitation. The percentage of underserved settlement population to the city population is 44 %. The intention of this thesis is to find out factors affect to residential satisfaction, one of the main criteria affects the success of resettlement projects and hence, the most appropriate housing model for urban poor in Colombo. Because, if houses are not in accord with the norms, it tends to give rise to residential dissatisfaction which leads to residential mobility. Colombo Municipal Council area is selected as a study area and the case study method was selected as a strategy for the research since it provides an opportunity for an in-depth understanding of high-rise’s real-life context. Informal and structured interviews with residents, key informants, focus group discussions, non-participants observations were used for primary data collection whereas literature review, documentary researches, case study analysis were used to secondary data collection. SSPS software package was used for quantitative analysis. Results developed by the research states that land-sharing is the best strategy for upgrading underserved settlement people. Research further shows that overpopulation has serious implications for the overall management of resettlement schemes. Finally, results show that how government commitment and positive attitudes of the community are significant for the successful implementation of resettlement programs as well as building sustainable urban communities.