Browsing by Author "Ranasinghe, TKGP"

Now showing 1 - 17 of 17

item: Article-Abstract
An Approach to assess the urban management performance of Municipalities in Sri Lanka
Ranasinghe, TKGP; Amarawickrama, S; Warusavitharane, E
Urbanization tends bring out a number of problems, such as inadequate housing and urban services, increase land prices and construction costs, propagation of slums, pollution and; deterioration of the urban environment. Currently, spatial development activities focusing on: major cities of Sri Lanka are demanding urban infrastructure and services where municipalities! re facing challenges on provision of the infrastructure and proper urban management too. This | study seeks to identify the relevant criteria, indicators and a method for assessing the urban jmanagement performance of municipalities in Sri Lanka since specific measurement criteria and related indicators are not yet identified to evaluate urban management by the central government or local government levels. Based on Literature review, five criteria and 25 indicators were selected considering their applicability for the context of Sri Lanka. The Full Permutation Polygon Synthetic Indicator Method (FPPSI) was applied to synthesize indicators! and the Synthetic indicator has been used to show the performance of each criterion in terms of; urban service deliver}'. Colombo Municipal Council (CMC), Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte; Municipal Council (SJKMQ and Moratuwa Municipal Council (MMC) have been selected as; the case studies for this research. Although selected cases are within Colombo Metropolitan; Region, none of the municipalities were achieved the “High" or “Very High" level of synthetic: indicator (SR>= 0.50) that shows the standard of municipal service delivery of Sri Lanka as a whole. This research lays the platform to evaluate the functional performance of Municipal Councils to guide the future scenario and to make decisions at the grass root level for managing the urbanization related issues in the country. Also this research helps the government to know jthe current trends of development impact and to take necessary policy level decisions to guide ! the economic growth in a correct direction with the political manifestoes..
item: Thesis-Abstract
Evaluating the outcomes of development plan with special reference to Moratuwa development plan
(2015-01-06) Ranasinghe, TKGP; De Silva L
Plan outcome evaluation (POE) is very significant rather than focusing on planning process, usefulness of plan, content and quality of plan .POE has been ignored in the field of planning due to lack of proper POE method. Therefore planners cannot identify whether or why plans achieve their objectives, or learn from the results of past interventions to improve planning practice. This study focuses on the ex post facto evaluation considering the outcomes of action projects of development plan and aim to develop a POE method to evaluate outcomes of development plan towards the achievement of its objectives quantitatively since no one has made such an attempt. A comprehensive literature survey revealed that adaptation of the components of objective driven, theory-driven and theorybased, utilization-driven and theoretical data-driven evaluation methods will lead to overcome related issues on plan outcome evaluation. Basic four steps suitable to incorporate in any POE method were identified by referring POE methodologies developed by Mayne (2001) and Laurian et al,(2004,2010). This developed POE method includes four steps comprising objective achievement matrix and relevant mathematical models. Field surveys and questionnaire surveys were carried out to identify public perception on achievement of outcomes of action projects. Developed POE method can be used as a progress monitoring tool and also as an outcome evaluation tool since it is sensitive to evaluate the outcomes of ongoing projects as well. Results of the evaluation of outcome of six action projects under Moratuwa development plan indicated that, outcomes of all three implemented action projects have been contributed to achieve relevant criteria of objectives in moderate level by indicating CAVj values between 41% to 65% .Other partly implemented three action projects have been contributed to achieve related criteria of objectives in low level by indicating CAVj values in between 18% to 40%. This POE method will be a useful tool to planners, project managers, and policy makers to improve planning practices and to provide the necessary knowledge to revise plans, improve performance of the projects. This study can be extended to evaluate the outcomes of development plan when objectives are clear and measurable further considering theory, process and objectives driven methods in depth.
item: Conference-Full-text
Evaluation of the impact of multiple factors, elements and neighborhood patterns on the spread of dengue and covid-19: special reference to Colombo 15.
(Faculty of Architecture Research Unit, 2022-12-02) Ranasinghe, RADM; Ranasinghe, TKGP
During past decades, the mass movement of people from rural areas towards urban areas made cities vulnerable to environmental hazards, inequality, poverty, and communicable diseases identified as a huge threat. The spread of the Covid-19 pandemic causing more than five million deaths highlighted urban planning to rethink and rebuild cities to mitigate the pandemic and to create livable neighborhoods during future pandemics. The emergence of Dengue seasonally and the high number of victims and death rate is also critical health issue identified in Sri Lanka. After the emergence of covid-19, the urban areas have been highly affected and the urban households, lifestyles of people, and the corruption of countries’ economies caused an energy crisis, food crisis, unemployment, and increasing death rates that created a whole new chapter in urban planning to create comprehensive planning approaches to get back to normal while considering the risk factors. As Dengue fever is also more critical in the Sri Lankan context, the need for studies to identify the factors, and elements in urban areas including neighborhood patterns for the spread of Covid-19 and Dengue Fever is quite significant as a planner. The study focuses on the impact of urban elements, factors, and the different neighborhood patterns within the selected areas in Colombo-15 for the spread of covid-19 and dengue. The outputs indicate the vulnerability of different neighborhood patterns highlighting the measures that should be taken to mitigate the spread in the future. According to the study, the spread of dengue and covid-19 among people depends on the quality of housing and the characteristics of the neighbourhood and the comparatively high spread of diseases identified in horizontal neighborhoods with single-story housing and poor living condition.
item: Conference-Full-text
An evaluation of the outcomes of the urban development plans with special reference to moratuwa urban development plan
(Ceylon Institute of Builders, 2013-06) Ranasinghe, TKGP; De Silva, ML; Sandanayake, YG; Fernando, NG
Plan outcome evaluation (POE) is very significant rather than focusing on planning process, usefulness of plan, content and quality of plan. POE has been ignored in the field of planning due to lack of proper POE method.This study focuses on the ex post facto evaluation considering the outcomes of action projects of development plans and aim to develop a POE method to evaluate outcomes of development plan towards the achievement of its objectives quantitatively since no one has made such an attempt. Achieving outcomes of development plan directly affect for sustainable urbanisation. A comprehensive literature survey revealed that adaptation of the components of objective driven, theory-driven and theory-based, utilization-driven and theoretical data-driven evaluation methods will lead to overcome related issues on plan outcome evaluation and identified basic four steps suitable to incorporate in any POE method.This developed POE method comprises four steps including mathematical models. Field surveys and questionnaire surveys were carried out to identify public perception on achievement of outcomes of action projects. Developed POE method can be used as a progress monitoring tool and as an outcome evaluation tool. This POE method will be a useful tool for planners, project managers and policy makers to improve planning practices and provide necessary knowledge for revising plansin order to ensure the sustainable urbanisation. This study can be extended to evaluate the outcomes of development plan when objectives are clear and measurable further considering theory, process and objectives driven methods.
item: Conference-Abstract
Factors of the built environment that affects the walkability in a Sri Lankan Urban
Rathnasiri, GKS; Ranasinghe, TKGP; Susantha, AL
The quality of the neighboring environment plays a major role in encouraging people to walk when attending to their daily needs. Although many previous studies identified a relationship between different factors of the built environment and the level of walkability, this interdependence is poorly understood in urban planning in Sri Lanka. This Study analyses the relevance of thirty factors of the built environment, identified by previous studies as affecting the walkability, to Sri Lankan urban context, using thirty five residents within a selected neighborhood in the town of Panadura. The identfiedfactors were examined within a 100m radius of each participant's residence through a questionnaire survey andfield observations. Chi-squared analysis and bivariate correlation analysis were carried out to identify the most decisive factors for walkability. The results show that block length, the number of street lights, vehicle ownership, having relatives in the neighborhood and unpleasant land uses are the most significant factors
item: Article-Full-text
Factors of the Built Environment that Affects the Walkability in a Sri Lankan Urban Neighborhood
(Faculty of Architecture University of Moratuwa, 2014-12) Rathnasiri, GKS; Ranasinghe, TKGP; Susantha, AL
The quality of the neighboring environment plays a major role in encouraging people to walk when attending to their daily needs. Although many previous studies identified a relationship between different factors of the built environment and the level of walkability, this interdependence is poorly understood in urban planning in Sri Lanka. This Study analyses the relevance of thirty factors of the built environment, identified by previous studies as affecting the walkability, to Sri Lankan urban context, using thirty five residents within a selected neighborhood in the town of Panadura. The identified factors were examined within a 100m radius of each participant’s residence through a questionnaire survey and field observations. Chi-squared analysis and bivariate correlation analysis were carried out to identify the most decisive factors for walkability. The results show that block length, the number of street lights, vehicle ownership, having relatives in the neighborhood and unpleasant land uses are the most significant factors.
item: Article-Full-text
Identification of Evaluating Criteria for Sustainable Visitor Management of National Parks in Sri Lanka
(Faculty of Architecture University of Moratuwa, 2013-12) Nillegoda, L; Mahanama, PKS; Ranasinghe, TKGP
With the booming of Tourism industry,eco-tourism has been popularized and improved in the world. The places which are practicing eco-tourism attract increasing number of visitors day by day by exceeding their carrying capacity. Therefore, the environment of most of national parks in Sri Lanka adversely affected due to over visitation by local and foreign visitors. Adaptation of mechanism on sustainable visitor management for the national parks in other countries has been addressed this problem. Yet, there is no proper way to manage visitors for National parks in Sri Lanka and most are highly over visited. Sustainable visitor management is dependent on related set of criteria which are varying from country to country. In the Sri Lankan context, suitable criteria for sustainable visitor management are not yet identified. This study is supposed to fill this gap by identifying suitable criteria for sustainable visitor management in national parks in Sri Lanka. Sixty nine criteria were identified through literature review under category of fifteen factors and four attributes such as physical\ environment, tourism demand management and operational capacity management. Sixty two criteria were prioritized based on how frequently thy are used in various literatures and thy were ranked. Multivariate technique was applied to prioritize the above sixty two criteria based on compatibility and usability between each criterion and relevant indicator. The sixty two criteria were short listed up to twenty four criteria considering criteria value more than 1516. These twenty four were applied to evaluate the current visitor management of Yala National Park as it Is the highest over visited national park in Sri Lanka. Evaluation was done considering the perception of the expertise in tourism industry of Sri Lanka. Results indicate that Yala national park has moderate level of sustainable visitor management. And also there an mon criteria have to be taken in to account in order to reduce over visitation of Yala national park while managing its environment in a sustainable manner.
item: Article-Full-text
Identification of evaluating criteria for sustainable visitor management of national parks in Sri Lanka
(2014-04-09) Nillegoda, L; Mahanama, PKS; Ranasinghe, TKGP
With the booming 0/ Tourism industry.eco-tourism has beenpopularized and improved in the world. The places which are practicing ceo-tourism attract increasing number 0/ visitors d'!)' by d'!)' by exceeding their carrying capacity. Therefore, the environment 0/ most 0/ national parks in Sri Lanka adverselY affected due to over visitation by local and foreign visitors. Adaptation 0/ mechanism on sustainable visitor management for the national parks in other countries has been addressed this problem. Yet, there is noproper w'!)' to manage visitors for 1 ational parks in Sri Lanka and most are highlY over visited. Sustainable visitor management is dependent on related set 0/ criteria lvhich are varyingfrom country to country. In the Sri Lankan context, suitable criteriafor sustainable visitor management are notyet identified. This sturIJ is supposed tofifl this gap by identifjing suitable criteriafor sustainable visitor management in national parks in Sri Lanka. Sixty nine criteria were identified through literature reviewunder category0/fifteen factors andfour attributes such aspbysica4 environment, tourism demand management and operational capacity management. Sixty two criteria were prioritized based on how frequentlY tbey are used in various literatures and thry were ranked. Multivariate technique was applied to prioritize the above sixty two criteria based on compatibility and usability between each criterion and relevant indicator. The sixty two criteria were short listed up to twenty four criteria consideringcriteria value more than 1516. These twentyfour were applied to evaluate the current visitor management of Yala National Park as it is the highest over visited national park in Sri Lanka. Evaluation was done considering the perception 0/ the expertise in tourism industry 0/ Sri Lanka. Results indicate that Yala national park has moderate level 0/ sustainable visitor management. And also there are more criteria have to be taken in to account in order to reduce over visitation of Yala nationalpark while managing its environment in a sustainable manner.
item: Article-Abstract
A Model for assessing the level of walkability in urban neighborhoods in Sri Lanka
Ranasinghe, TKGP; Amarawickrama, S; Ratnayake, R; Randeniya, T; Rathnasiri, S
The quality of the neighboring environment plays a major role in encouraging people to walk when attending their daily needs. Although past studies have identified a relationship between neighborhood design factors and the level of walkability, this interdependence is poorly understood in urban planning in Sri Lanka. The purpose of this study is to etermine factors and conditions that influence walkability in a selected neighborhood in the town of Panadura and develop a model to predict what design factors enhance walkability in the neighborhood area. Ninety three (93) factors that affect the walkability in urban neighborhood were identified as the findings of the literature review of this study. Seventy six (76) walkability factors identified through perception surveys were examined within a 100m radius of 70 buffered circles representing 140 participants’ residences through a questionnaire survey and field observations. Chi-square and Bivariate correlation analysis were carried out to identify the most decisive factors for walkability. Multiple Linear Regression analysis was applied to develop a model to assess the level of walkability of residents in the selected area based on the most significant factors. The study has identified main nine variables that determine the level of walkability. Based on the significant values the model can be used to assess the level of walkability of the people in Sri Lankan context.
item: Article-Full-text
People's perception of revitalised public spaces: the case study of Independence Square, Colombo, Sri Lanka
(2014-04-09) Gangabada, LP; Mahanama, PKS; Ranasinghe, TKGP
The increasing tendency of enhancing the qualiry of public spaces in developing countries, for example rypromoting strong visual identity, is a crucial government polif) instrument in economic and urban revitalization, while generating threats against the 'inclusive' qualities of these public spaces. Concerning that matter this stucfy tuas designed to fulfill two main ol?jectives:Identify the different communiry perceptions regarding current public space revitalization actions that are going on in Colombo and tofind out how it vary Ivzfh different social levels in order to discover the social inclusive/ exclusive nature of those particular projects selecting Independence Square as the case stu1:l
item: Article-Full-text
Stakeholder perception based approach to vulnerability assessment - case of Ratnapura municipal council area
(2014-04-09) Mahanama, PKS; Ranasinghe, TKGP; Warusavitharana, EJ
The intention of this paper is toprooide an alternative approach to thevulnerability assessment. Most of the present approaches that are involved in the vulnerability assessment process have been identified with various weaknesses. Most of the weaknesses are related to the elements that are considered in the approaches. Identifying the most suitable elements, when peiforming the vulnerability assessment, is crucial to the creation of disaster resilient cities. Stakeholder perceptions are vital to identify the site specific and disaster specific elements. This research develops an approach that is stakeholder perception based and mostlY relevant to the site specificities. Through the literature revielJ!, thirty three elements were identified lvith riference to flood and landslide. Factor anaiysis method was applied to identify the most influential elements among them through the stakeholder perception. The Vulnerability Assessment n/asperformed by applYing the identified elements, taking Rathnapura as the case study area.
item: Article-Full-text
Stakeholder Perception Based Approach To Vulnerability Assessment: Case Of Ratnapura Municipal Council Area
(Faculty of Architecture University of Moratuwa, 2013-12) Mahanama, PKS; Ranasinghe, TKGP; Warusavitharana, EJ
The intention of this paper is to provide an alternative approach to thevulnerability assessment. Most of the present approaches that are involved in the vulnerability assessment process have been identified with various weaknesses, l lost 0 the weaknesses are related to the elements that are considered in the approaches. Identifying the most suitable elements, when performing the vulnerability assessment is crucial to the creation of disaster resilient cities. Stakeholder Perceptions are vital to identify the site specific and disaster specific elements. This research develops an approach that is stakeholder perception based and mostly relevant to the site specificities. Through the literature review, thirty three elements were identified with reference to flood and landslide. Factor analysis method applied to identify the most influential elements among them through the stakeholder perception. The V ulnerability Assessment was performed by applying the identified elements, taking Rathnapura as the case study area.
item: Conference-Abstract
A Study on the potenil of rainwater harvesting practices to mitigate urban floods
Lanka, WMJ; Ranasinghe, TKGP; Herath, M
Floods are a prominent issue and the challenge of urban flooding can be turned into an opportunity by adopting rainwater harvesting practices. Rainwater harvesting (RWH) works asa more reliable, cost effective and sustainable way. It is a mean of public contribution to mitigate urban floods rather than provide a supplementary source of water. The catchment area, maximum rainfall intensity, extent of building roofs, potential runoff, and outflowof water and estimated capacity of rainwater system are the highlighted six important factors through the literature. Arc GIS hydrology tools, IDF curves, rational method, the Manning formula and water balance equation were adopted to calculate the above factors. The relationship between capacity of a rainwater harvesting system (y) and the extent of roof area (x) has been derived by an equation of y=0.024x. This proposed rainwater harvesting system is potentially applied either in the form of individual building units or as a common water detention pond. This study has focused on identifying an appropriate mechanism to practice rainwater harvesting to mitigate urban floods in Colombo.
item: Article-Full-text
A Study on the Potenil of Rainwater Harvesting Practices to Mitigate Urban Floods
(Faculty of Architecture University of Moratuwa, 2014-12) Lanka, WMJ; Ranasinghe, TKGP; Herath, M
Floods are a prominent issue and the challenge of urban flooding can be turned into an opportunity by adopting rainwater harvesting practices. Rainwater harvesting (RWH) works asa more reliable, cost effective and sustainable way. It is a mean of public contribution to mitigate urban floods rather than provide a supplementary source of water. The catchment area, maximum rainfall intensity, extent of building roofs, potential runoff, and outflowof water and estimated capacity of rainwater system are the highlighted six important factors through the literature. Arc GIS hydrology tools, IDF curves, rational method, the Manning formula and water balance equation were adopted to calculate the above factors. The relationship between capacity of a rainwater harvesting system (y) and the extent of roof area (x) has been derived by an equation of y=0.024x. This proposed rainwater harvesting system is potentially applied either in the form of individual building units or as a common water detention pond. This study has focused on identifying an appropriate mechanism to practice rainwater harvesting to mitigate urban floods in Colombo.
item: Conference-Abstract
A Study on the potenil of rainwater harvesting Practices to mitigate urban floods
Lanka, WMJ; Ranasinghe, TKGP; Herath, M
Floods are a prominent issue and the challenge of urban flooding can be turned in to and opportunity by adopting rainwater harvesting
item: Conference-Full-text
Use of mathematical modelling for planning municipal solid waste collection
(2014-01-10) Warusavitharana, EJ; Ranasinghe, TKGP
When people hear the term "Solid waste management" thry immediatelY think oj rerycling. But it is not the aspect that requires the greatest expenditure, or has the greatest impact on the urban environment and public health. It is the "collection" oj municipal solid waste that has a significant impact on both municipal expenditure and public health
item: Article-Full-text
Use of Mathematical Modelling for Planning Municipal Solid Waste Collection
(Faculty of Architecture University of Moratuwa, 2013-03) Warusavitharana, EJ; Ranasinghe, TKGP
When people hear the term “Solid waste management” they immediately think of recycling. But it is not the aspect that requires the greatest expenditure, or has the greatest impact on the urban environment and public health. It is the “collection” of municipal solid waste that has a significant impact on both municipal expenditure and public health. The decisions pertaining to solid waste collection and transportation are basically based on the perception and experience of drivers and other minor staff working at the municipalities. The optimum utilization of available resources within the municipalities for day to day collection of waste is essential as it makes the biggest demand on the Municipal budget. Therefore the main objective of this research is to develop a mathematical model as a tool for decision making in municipal solid waste collection. This research has utilized two mathematical models known as “Network Analysis” and “Transportation problem method” to achieve the aforementioned objective. The case study of this research is based on the proposed project of implementing three Integrated Resource Recovery Centres (IRRC) in the Matale Municipal Council (MC) to manage the solid waste by means of producing compost and recycling. By applying the two mathematical models, the research has shown the possibility of reducing the daily solid waste collection cost within the Matale MC Area.