Healthy human habitat:

Role of community

World Town Planning Day today:

Prof Ashley L S Perera

World Town Planning Day (WTPD) falls on the November 8 each year. It is observed in 30 countries and four continents to focus attention on the role of planning in creating habitable human settlement environments and improving the quality of life of the people. The theme this year is Healthy people, healthy places, healthy planet

The WTPD was founded by Professor Paolera of Buenos Aires University in 1949 with a view to attract public and professional interest both locally and internationally to the art and science of town and country planning and emphasize its positive impact on the development of habitable human settlements.

The 50th anniversary of WTPD in 1999 had been observed in many countries all over the world. However, it appears that most communities in the developing world have not been sufficiently convinced as regards their role and responsibility towards the development and maintenance of a healthy human habitat.

Town and Country Planning is, by and large one of the oldest professions.

It had its origin in the Public Health Acts of the second half of the 19th Century Britain.

History records that the Industrial Revolution in England led to urbanization and the growth of large factory towns which occurred at a time when planning and building regulations were non-existent. Consequently thousands of dwellings were run up without adequate sanitary provision.

These dwellings had no supply of water, they were ill-ventilated and dirty.

There was no system of drainage with only ill-constructed cesspools.

House refuse was not collected and destroyed but merely deposited in gutters or on waste ground at odd corners.

These factors not only added to the horrors of urban living but also gave rise to various diseases, epidemics and a high death rate.

Planning and building laws

The relevance of the above description of 19th Century, British towns arises from the fact that most of the expressed concerns were later to become the subject matter of town and country planning. It also provided a case for planning and building regulations and State intervention to enforce planning and building laws, regulations and seek public compliance to maintain minimum standards required to ensure a habitable human environment.

There are three principal statutes governing town and country planning in Sri Lanka. The Housing and Town Improvement (H and TI) Ordinance was the first piece of legislation to be introduced to provide for better housing for the people and the improvement of towns. While the H and TI Ordinance introduced in Sri Lanka in 1915 was meant to improve housing and towns primarily through development control measures the Town and Country Planning Ordinance (1946) was introduced for making of schemes with respect to the planning and development of land in Sri Lanka and to provide for the protection of buildings and other objects of interest or beauty.

This was further strengthened by the Town and Country Planning (Amendment) Act No 49 of 2000 which established the National Physical Planning Department with the additional responsibilities of developing a National Physical Planning Policy and Plan for Sri Lanka.

Community participation

A third Statute to be introduced was the Urban Development Authority Law of 1978. Its objectives were to promote integrated planning and implementation of the economic, social and physical development of urban areas.

The lack of adequate provision in the above statutes for the involvement of the community in the planning process has not only made the community less appreciative of community goals but also indifferent and less cooperative in the implementation process. It is not unusual for individuals to prioritize their own individual needs rather than the community needs where everyone can benefit. While many professions may be capable of providing both personalized as well as service to the community as a whole, the town planning profession could cater to the latter more effectively.

The habitable human settlement environment that the town planners aim to achieve is a totality which is inseparable and designed for the common benefit of the community as a whole. Town planners could enlighten the public about the use and misuse of land uses and the repercussions of misuse. They could explain the meaning and purpose of planning and building regulations and help the public to appreciate the need for such regulations.

Town planning as most other professions affects the day-to-day life of the people. Community participation, community involvement, public hearings are well-recognized means of identifying the aspirations of the people. However, the involvement of the community in the entire planning process has been considered to be essential for effective planning.

‘NIMBY’ syndrome

In recent times some efforts were made to introduce the concept of community participation in local planning in some selected Local Authorities. This was done with the active participation of the community which met with some degree of success. A planning process was designed by this writer which helped to increase and intensify the interaction between the local authorities and the different stakeholders.

All members comprising the local community, community organizations, women’s groups, the private sector, dormant and marginalized sections of the community, religious organizations etc, got an opportunity to identify their development priorities and service needs which were included in the development plan. There was however, a snag.

The facilitators of the planning process were not qualified planners. The sustainability of this effort was therefore in grave doubt because of the false assumption of the organizers that planners could be trained with a five-day instruction course in planning.

Besides, the overall impact of these interventions has been marginal. This was due to what is described in planning parlance as the ‘NIMBY’ syndrome.

‘NIMBY’, which simply means, not in my back yard’ depicts the collective Sri Lankan mentality according to which solid waste is permissible anywhere except in one’s own back yard.

So it would be seen that some dump their garbage on public streets and even would walk their dogs to the doorstep of others in the neighbourhood perhaps as a matter of right and pollute the area with impunity.

This happens even in housing schemes where dogs are generally not allowed due to limited space.

Solid waste management

At least one third of the solid waste generated within individual premises can be managed within such premises only if the community is willing to cooperate with the Local Authority. Indifference and neglect in the disposal of solid waste should be met with heavy penalties on the miscreants. It is apparently the only way to bring about a positive attitudinal change in the community and keep the volume of solid waste under control. The Local Authorities on their part should improve the management efficiency which seems wanting in many respects. These are indeed easily said than done.

Noise and air pollution are other hazards that adversely affect the living environment. The Central Environment Authority (CEA) has focused its attention on these forms of pollution. It has introduced vehicle emission tests initially in the Western Province and it is reported that the air quality in the Colombo Metropolitan Region has since been found to be good. It is also reported that the CEA is taking steps to introduce regulations pertaining to noise pollution.

Noise restrictions

There appears to be some protests from entertainers and religious groups as regards the timing of noise restrictions which need to be resolved. The CEA may eventually decide the times within which noise is to be regulated. What seems critical however is to determine the appropriate noise levels that need to be enforced at different places and at different times during the course of the day. For instance the CEA’s upper limit of 63 decibels (dB) seems to be above the tolerable levels as anything above 45 decibels (dB) can cause annoyance, irritation and interfere with normal speech.

It would hence be seen that there are several hurdles to be cleared in the thrust towards a healthy city environment. Solid waste management is an island wide problem. Not many of the towns have sewerage facilities. The 150-year-old sewerage system of the Colombo city is at bursting point. Safe drinking water and sanitary facilities are an urgent need to many urban and rural communities.

Consequently the resurrection of the urban habitat is a gigantic task and will require a massive effort to arrest the socio-economic, physical and environmental deterioration. However provision of these facilities to a concentrated population is cost-effective and concentrated living should therefore be encouraged. A first step in the direction of resolving many urban issues and providing for a healthy living environment is the creation of public participatory mechanisms which could cooperate with local authorities in solving or at least mitigating some of these urban problems.

(The writer is the former Departmental Head of Town and Country Planning, Moratuwa University, Post Graduate Studies and the Senior Professor of Town and Country Planning Director. He has also been a past President of the Institute of Town Planners Sri Lanka)