Attributes of urban form fostering sustainability : an analysis of residential neighbourhoods in Colombo, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Despite increasing number of studies on evaluation of sustainable neighbourhoods and urban forms, only a few have paid attention to the identification of the components that influence the degree of inhabitants' gratification. A neighbourhood is a built entity that lays the experiences of daily lives of a group of inhabitants in an identifiable geographical space. The neighbourhood sustainability is the process of nurturing its environment to support and meet both economic and social needs of its inhabitants. A sustainable neighbourhood should ensure the desired quality of life and satisfaction of the inhabitants by intertwining the local; social, cultural, environmental, and economic facets enabling its sustenance as an appealing place to live. However, observations show that most neighbourhoods in the context of Southeast Asia poorly addressing this need.

‘Urban Form’ of such neighbourhoods is the physical manifestation, expressing respective sustainability appeal sensed by the inhabitants. This is the intangible, significant finding, demonstrated in the physical design. This study attempts to explore the determinants of Urban Form that contribute to the Neighbourhood Sustainability for the inhabitants’ appeal.

Specific intent of the research is to conduct a detailed investigation on the urban form of three urban residential neighbourhoods of Colombo, selected from the city core, intermediate city, and outer city. While it examines the degree of inhabitants’ appeal based on their evaluations, it assesses the neighbourhood sustainability under the three main sustainability parameters: environmental, social, and economic facets. Physical and non-physical attributes of the neighbourhood form, such as density, layout, land-use, connectivity, transport infrastructure, building typology and architectural character, were investigated by using secondary data. Structured interviews were carried out with thirty-five inhabitants; household representations, in each neighbourhood to ascertain inhabitants’ perception while physical observations were made to identify the deterministic attributes.

This research develops an integrated approach recognizing the fact that environmental, social, and economic goals in appealing neighbourhoods are often mutually reinforced with the urban form of a neighbourhood. It recognizes the physical and non-physical attributes of the urban form of a neighbourhood and each of their contribution in fostering sustainability to create an appealing environment for its inhabitants. Consequently, it establishes an overall sustainability rating on the inhabitants’ perception and validates through case studies with reference to the attributes of urban form. This leads to formulate the requisites of an exemplary urban form; verbalizing its attributes that are determining the sustainability of neighbourhoods.