Browsing by Author "Ekanayake, M"

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Appraising the influence of landscape design on traffic generated air pollution of urban parks
(2018) Rajapaksha, I; Ekanayake, M; Samarawickrama, S
Urban parks are predominant constituents of an urban design which contributes to enhance the quality of life of city dwellers. Location of an urban park is an important design decision and the Public Outdoor Recreational Space (PORS) standard of Sri Lanka prioritizes the criterion of easy accessibility of park users. As the air pollution levels exaggerates in localities closer to major traffic routes it’s vital to appraise the concentration of airborne pollutant levels in roadside parks. This study experimentally investigated roadside park of Independence Square (ISP) and the Water’s edge (WEP). Onsite field investigation was performed on a typical weekday and weekend of each park. Traffic induced air pollution levels are interpreted with the ultrafine particle number (PNC) concentration levels amalgamated with the outdoor microclimatic thermal parameters. Results explicitly confirm air pollution levels inside the parks are lower than the roadside. Mean PNC of the core of ISP is 93.4% lesser than the corresponding road. Mean PNC of the core of WEP is 83% lesser than the roadside. Reduction of pollution inside the park is inversely related to Crown volume coverage of trees. Impact of pollution levels on distance from the road closely follows the roadside pollution levels and the distance of high pollution zone is different in both parks. Thus the findings of this study informs far reaching landscape design implications in composition and layouts to promote less polluted roadside urban parks in developing cities of tropics. Roadside Parks.
item: Conference-Full-text
Appraising the influence of paving materials on pedestrian thermal stress in tropics: evaluating the effects of tree shading on surface thermal performance
(2019) Rajapaksha, I; Ekanayake, M; Samarawickrama, S
Escalating trend in the formation of urban heat island (UHI) in the cities of tropical Asia contributes to warming microclimates and imposes a greater challenge on human health and well-being. Rapid urbanization and declining green plot ratio has contributed to the formation of an UHI in the city of Colombo. Consequences of UHI on urban green spaces exaggerate with the increasing use of paved surfaces. As surface heat inflation causes thermal discomfort for dwellers, it is vital to understand the thermal performance of different artificial and natural paving materials with a particular focus on tree shade variation. This study experimentally investigated parks of Independence Square and the Water’s edge in Colombo. Onsite field investigation was performed on a typical hot season identifying most users perceive settings inside the park. The Mean Paving Surface Temperature (MPST) and predicted Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) values were obtained in relation to Crown Volume Coverage (CVC) of trees. Results explicitly confirm PET values inside the parks correspond to high discomfort range. Exposed concrete paving is evident for high PET levels and the shaded surfaces are apparent for a reduction of 10°C of mean MPST. The Lowest PET of 30 °C was evident over the shaded grass paving with 31°C mean MPST. Reduction of the MPST significantly correlated (p=0.00) with increasing tree CVC. Thus, the findings of the study inform natural paving design implications with improved shading composition can promote less heated urban green spaces in developing cities of tropics.
item: Conference-Full-text
Evaluating community participation effectiveness in landscape architectural design and planning: with special reference to passaiyoor and rasavinthottam parks, Jaffna
(Centre for Cities & Department of Architecture, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, 2023-04) Mallikarachchi, CD; Ekanayake, M; Dayaratne, R; Wijesundara, J
The majority of Sri Lankan context projects were planned and developed less prioritizing the community's actual needs. As a result of this top-down approach, when it comes to execution, there are certain disagreements between the government and the community. Many contemporary planning theorists acknowledge that public participation in the planning process can produce or create credibility, trust, and commitment. Even though a fairly modest number of landscape architectural projects have been carried out in Sri Lanka incorporating community participation, the effective integration of such data into public landscape design and development is yet to be explored. Therefore, this paper investigates the effectiveness of community participation in the design and planning process of Passaiyoor Park and Rasavinthottam Park in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. The methods of data collection include interviews, questionnaires, documents, and project reports. The effectiveness of public participation was evaluated by a toolkit of indicators derived from the literature. (indicators such as Administration, Information, Objectives, Stage, Targeting, Technique, Legitimacy, Common values, Fairness and equality, Equal power, and responsible leadership). The research outcomes were able to portray that the overall satisfaction level of the community participation process is 75% in Rasavinthottam Park and 77% in Passaiyoor Park, while the overall satisfaction level about the project outcome is 45% in Rasavinthottam Park and 22% in Passaiyoor Park. In fact, evidence that the execution of the community’s vision in the real ground seems to be lacking. Therefore, without putting pre-initiated projects (by the government) into action, identify the problems that are most relevant to the public and pay attention to engage the community early and throughout the process, not only for one stage, and make sure the process is transparent to all the community and the outcome of the project is their real need.