Creating sense of community in gated apartments in the city of Colombo

Abstract

With increase in population and limitations in urban land, there is a growing demand for vertical housing resulting in a dramatic increase in the construction and the occupation of vertical housing. Such fast growing vertical housing for middle-income urban dwellers, are prevalent in many parts of Colombo and marketed as places for optimal "Sense of Community" and "Ideal Places for Living". But such identities created by developers are questionable. This paper tests the "Sense of Community" indicators in selected urban gated housing in Colombo and identifies several built environment factors that can enhance "Sense of Community". Questionnaire surveys are done within three selected cases in Colombo to measure "Sense of Community Indicators". The built environment factors relevant to sense of community such as building layout, spatial relationships between dwelling units, visibility levels, circulation spaces , common spaces were observed via, questionnaires, checklists, inventories and systematic observations. As a preliminary attempt to explore the sense of community in gated housing in Colombo, the study shows that visual and physical spatial integration can enhance vertical interactions among neighbors across floors. Building layouts with open corridors and central courts is more appropriate than the now commonly seen housing layouts with single linear internal corridors and types with housing clustered around lift cores. The strategic locations of common spaces and its qualities in terms of habitability facilitates interactions and better sense of community than the extent and quantity of common spaces allocated in housing. Although findings supports studies discussed in literature review the limited qualitative data and number of cases may lay setbacks to the research findings.