Can the process of redesigning the built environment facilitates reconciliation?

Abstract

In post-conflict settings, ‘reconciliation’ is the catch-cry of social pressure groups, aggrieved victims and government institutions attempting to account for the past, acknowledge human suffering and transition from war to peace. At this critical juncture, can efforts to redesign the built environment contribute toward national reconciliation, and more specifically in the post-conflict context of Sri Lanka? This paper presents a case study of urban development as a vehicle for reconciliation: specifically, the development of a new town plan for Mannar City in North-west Sri Lanka. The paper charts a journey of diaspora and in-country partners finding ways to meet the requirements of social and physical infrastructure for rebuilding after war and also for reconciliation outcomes. Commencing with identifying a community’s priorities through an extensive visioning initiative, Mannarin Marumalarchi 2022 (the renaissance of Mannar), diaspora influence has facilitated three key agencies - Mannar Urban Council, Urban Development Authority and the National Physical Planning Department - to collaborate on preparing a people-centred town plan. This design process has presented opportunities for inclusion of marginalized groups, opening spaces for dialogue among perceived ‘adversaries’ and exploring the conditions necessary for a broad-based reconciliation. Through this journey, many insights were gleaned about the key dimensions that undergird both social and physical infrastructure development. These include the benefits of ascribing special status to residents as the local experts, introducing them to fresh perspectives and good practice examples from elsewhere and encouraging a future orientation which in turn nurtures increased personal agency. The findings also highlight the crucial role of process as much as outcome that urban development can play in reconciling conflicted relations – with the diaspora, among diverse ethnic and religious groups, between different strata of government and also with those perceived as enemies of the state. Finally, the paper points to the effect that people-centred planning can have for both unique and positive urban and economic development as well as for the cause of national reconciliation.