Living on the edge a study on the socio-physical formation of urban edges as an image-defining element of city form: with special reference to Colombo downtown

Abstract

Cities are one of the most comprehensive representations of a society and its culture. Most urban built environments in the past have spontaneously responded to ever evolving socio-cultural values as well as political and functional needs of its population. A city is a combination of identified elements that play a crucial role in liveability. In a way, the individuals that come into contact with the city as the hometown or the destination of work or passers-by have attachments with those elements that shape the city character emerging the “image of the city”. With numerous examples from all corners of the globe, it is a general acceptance that the city’s liveability is directly related to its own city image. Colombo, the commercial capital of Sri Lanka has seen many changes throughout the last few decades as a common fact in all Asian and South East Asian countries face. With the introduction of the Post-Colonial Administrative structures on the one hand, and the open economy based financial cultures on the other hand, the city of Colombo is increasingly fragmented into socially, culturally and economically diverse sub-cities or functional districts. Under this notion this study looks at the subsequent formation of urban edges and the possible role of these edges could play in defining the city image to make the city liveable having the ultimate target of sustainable urbanization. The study is mainly bases on the Kevin Lynch’s study on the city image and its examines the Downtown of Colombo.