A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TRADITIONAL AND 
CONTEMPORARY SETTLEMENT PATTERNS IN SRI 
LANKA WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO KURUNEGALA 
DISTRICT 
A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO 
THE UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA, SRI LANKA 
AS PART OF THE FINAL EXAMINATION IN 
M.Sc. (ARCHITECTURE ) AND 
TO THE ROYAL INSTITUTE OF 
BRITISH ARCHITECTS FOR 
THE PART T W O EXAMINATION. 
1998. 
72b.I-01 
Thesis 
col). 
K. N. J I N A D A S A 
F A C U L T Y O F A R C H I T E C T U R E 
U N I V E R S I T Y O F M O R A T U W A , 
SRI L A N K A 
JULY 1998 
69315 
'The past is dead and it can't be revived. That which can't change becomes 
inert and dies. That which changes survive. The past survive in us because 
we have been changing. We can perpetuate the past only by changing 
v | ourselves and our heritage." 
Mart in Wickramasinghe 
CONTENTS 
/ 
A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TRADITIONAL AND CONTEMPORARY 
SETTLEMENT PATTERNS IN SRI LANKA WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE 
TO KURUNEGALA DISTRICT. 
CONTENTS Page 
Acknowledgements X 
Abstract Tv 
0.1 Introduction 
0.2 The cause " ©I 
0.3 Need of the study o i 
0.4 Scope of study & limitation 02> 
0.5 Methodology o2> 
CHAPTER ONE OS 
1.0 Traditional settlements and their patterns. 06 
1.1 Transformation of settlements and patterns. 06 
1.2 Influencing factors of settlement of 
1.3 Characteristics of an early settlements. I O 
1.3.1 Public space. io 
1.3.2 Centre of settlement. n 
1.3.3 Enclosure of a settlement. is 
1.3.4 Continuity of settlement. 1 5 
CHAPTER TWO. 1 5 
2.0 The traditional settlement patterns in Sri Lanka. '6 
2.1 History an evaluation. 1 6 
2.2 Influencing factors of Sri lankan traditional settlement. t6 
2.3 Types of Sri lankan traditional settlement. 1? 
(a) Tank fed village settlement. ia 
(b) Rain fed village settlement. 19 
(c) Hill country valley village settlement. # 
(d) Temple and Devala village settlement. 3 0 
2.4 Traditional settlements of kurunegala District. 2.1 
2.5 Impact of modernity on the traditional settlement patterns in Sri Lanka . 2 . 1 
CHAPTER THREE. U 2 
3.0 Contemporary settlements in Sri Lanka. oa. 
3.1 Mass housing. ' ^ 
3.1.1 Private intervention housing. 22 
3.1.2 Government intervention housing. aa 
3.1.2.1 Government policies on housing. 02. 
3.1.2.2 The solutions offered by the government. 2 3 
3.1.3 Housing in the rural sector. 04 
(a) Aided self help housing programme. 24-
(b) model village programme. . 0 5 
(c) Electoral housing programme. 25 
(d) Housing in agricultural settlement programme. 2 5 
(e) Housing in village expansion schemes. 2.6 
( f ) Housing in Mahaveli development programme. 0 5 
3.2 Summary 2.T 
CHAPTER FOUR. 
4.0 Examination of the changing trends of settlement patterns in kurunegala district.. a9 . 
4.1 Case study. 
4.1.1 mahakirinda village. 
4.1.2 Whithikuliya model village. 3 1 
4.1.3 Saragama model village. A-5 
4.1.4 Lakeside watta Aided self help scheme. 
4.2 Identification of the changing trends and their impacts on 6 3 
traditional and contemporary settlements in Kurunegala District. 
4.2.1 Changing concept of layout. 6 3 
4.2.1.a Sociological aspects §>5 
4.2. Lb Economical aspects 
_70 
4.2.l.c Environmental aspects 72 
4.2.2 Changing concept of built form. • 7 3 
4.2.2.a Sociological aspects 7 3 
4.2.2.b Economical aspects 7 5 
4.2.2.C Technological aspects 7 6 
4.2.2.d Environmental aspects 7 9 
4.2.2.e Aesthetic apparition 61 
4.2.3 Changing concept of spatial progression. 8 5 
4.2.3.a Sociological aspects 8 5 
4.2.3.b Economical aspects 
^ 
4.2.3.c Environmental aspects 90 
CONCLUSION. 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 97-
ANNEXTURE 
ACKNOWLEDGMENT 
I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness and gratitude to the following personnel 
whose assistance given to me during this endeavor. My sincere thanks to the 
following members of the staff of the department of architecture- university of 
Moratuwa. 
Dr. Manawadu for the constructive criticism , inspiring discussions, encouraging 
words and above all, for his faith in my effort. Archt. Vidura Sri Nammuni for his 
valuable commence . Archt. Vijitha Basnayake , for his commence and Dr. L. S. R. 
Perera for his valuable commence. 
Similarly my sincere thanks go to Archt. Jayantha Domingo in the NHDA , for his 
valuable commence and guidance. Archt. Sirisena Herath in the NHDA for his 
valuable commence . 
I am very grateful to Lavanya Weerasooriya for the unsolicitate support given to 
me in the preparation of the final draft. 
I wish to take this opportunity to thank Thilangani, Thushari, Himali, Prabath 
,Lalinda, Chandika and Prasad for their valuable help given to me on this study. 
I would like to take this opportunity to mention my friends Priyani, Surangi , 
Roshini, Menaka, Sudesh, Indika , for their voluntary help throughout the study. 
Most of all , my Parents, for their unstilted support and for being a source of 
strength throughout this endeavor. 
Finally , I thank all those who helped me in numerous ways to undertake this task 
and see it to its completion. 
ABSTRACT 
The concept of a settlement is the place for living together as a group. Therefore 
the arrangement of thcsettlement can be identified as the altered environment to 
ensure the spread of development efforts and the quality of life in a more, 
complex manner for a large group of people. In Sri Lanka , traditional settlements 
were able to fulfilled these objectives as a community. They built their house on 
a trial and error basis to satisfy their requirements noted on their own 
imagination and their own calculations. Traditional house is an architectural 
solution without professional architects. Traditional house was an answer to the 
multi faceted social , environmental and technological forces of their own 
societies. Continuity of the form also have made a reasonable contribution 
evolving repetitions. Thus the whole settlement has a certain character according 
to their living pattern since , social , technological and environmental factors are 
localized. The house type varies from society to society, bringing in regional 
variations. The need for housing existed for ages but became a problem when it 
was unable to fulfill user needs and desires satisfactorily for the solution to the 
issue of housing in the resent past. As a result new form of housing have been 
forced into rural setting disregarding the continuity of tradition. 
Because of the magnitude of the problem and its sympathetic nature , eventually 
forced housing projects introduced to solve that problem. In this case the 
government becomes the paying client to the architect and the actual user becomes 
the voiceless user group. They have no chance to sound their actual needs. 
Therefore forced house does not fulfill the social environmental and technological 
needs of the rural society. Therefore it is important to understand problems arisen 
in forced settlements specially in comparison with traditional settlements which 
was extremely compatible.