Mapping food vendors is an important method to capture availability, accessibility and diversity of food environments. This report details the methodology used to map food vendors in urban sites and explores the reasons behind the development of this methodology. It provides practical insights into the implementation of field-based vendor mapping, discussing both the challenges encountered and the lessons learned.

In the bid to build a world class city, many of Colombo’s working class poor found themselves being displaced- displaced from both places of residence and places of business, as they did not align with Colombo’s evolving identity. This article presents a methodology, following an ethnographic approach to understanding development and the problems associated with it for those whose views are seldom included in the new city identity.

Developing an operational definition for household poverty requires the consideration of two aspects. Firstly, it needs to identify an indicative property or combination of such properties which are generalisable across all households facing poverty (within the population of interest), and secondly, it needs to explain how they would be empirically measured and the degree of poverty calculated. According to the discourse on the limitations of both Samurdhi and Aswesuma, this article highlights how these aspects need to negotiate the complexities of at least three conflicting cues (a triple bind). 

SEVANATHA and Colombo Urban Lab is pleased to announce the launch of the Colombo Settlements Survey Report for the year 2023, in collaboration with the Colombo Municipal Council. The report provides the latest data on all 1360 urban settlements in the City of Colombo, with key findings and recommendations. The Colombo Settlements Survey is the third iteration of the Survey, which was previously conducted in 2002 and 2012 by SEVANATHA in collaboration with the Colombo Municipal Council. The survey collects data on key indicators including tenure, access to basic services and level of housing development as well as on the socio-economic aspects of the settlements.

How we talk about the urban poor is situated in a broader context of urban development and competing ideas of what Colombo should and will look like, and such words sanction the exclusion of the urban poor from the city.  It is crucial that our terminology reflects the complexity of ground level realities, particularly when Sri Lanka’s difference is erased and subsumed by other South Asian narratives. 

This infographic provides an overview of settlements in the City of Colombo. The map shows the distribution of settlements in Colombo, with the most number of settlements concentrated in Colombo North. The data shows that most settlements have upgraded on-site, and that compared to other cities in the Global South, Colombo’s settlements are smaller and fragmented, with no trend of sprawling slums and shanties to be found.

While data and numbers offer helpful insights, the picture it paints is almost always incomplete without an understanding of how those numbers were arrived at—how data is collected, and the sensitivities that enumerators need to be mindful of when conducting large scale surveys. Understanding the methodology of conducting such surveys add an important realistic dimension to policies that are solely data-driven.

On the 7th of March 2024, Centre for a Smart Future and Colombo Urban Lab hosted an event called, “Communicating Crisis”. The event featured a panel discussion on Sri Lanka’s path to a just recovery, anchored to key questions. How do economic indicators compare with people’s lived experiences? How can civil society and the media amplify voices from the ground?

This infographic provides an overview of the sustainability of neighbourhoods in Colombo. A total of 1,360 settlements in the Colombo Municipality were surveyed in 2023, using 27 indicators for physical infrastructure, tenure and socio-economic conditions, to assess sustainability of neighbourhoods. The findings showed that settlements cannot be characterised as underserved settlements as they have adequate infrastructure provisioning.

Nature-based solutions (NbS) aim to repair, sustain, and protect ecosystems while addressing societal challenges. They include biodiversity conservation, erosion control, wetland reforestation, climate change mitigation, food and water security, among others.

Colombo Urban Lab’s fourth policy brief on the impact of Sri Lanka’s economic crisis on the city's working class poor communities focusses on energy, education and health. These findings are from our ongoing qualitative research with communities in Colombo as well as a household survey conducted in April 2024 with thirty households in a settlement in North Colombo.

In July 2024, the Colombo Urban Lab team embarked on a series of exploratory sessions in Colombo to reflect on public spaces in the city. Starting at Independence Square, we took routes that went through major public spaces that we recognised as being synonymous with many people’s lives in Colombo. From Viharamahadevi Park to Race Course Mall, we looked at the purpose of each of these public spaces, and how they are used today. These are some of our reflections on what we felt, saw, and heard.

Colombo Urban Lab's latest report "Built on Sand: A Review of Colombo’s Urban Regeneration Project" does a deep dive into one of Sri Lanka's key post-war infrastructure projects - the Urban Regeneration Project by the Urban Development Authority. This report covers the dispossession and lived realities of the relocated communities in the high-rises, looks at the financing of the URP - including findings of Auditor General's reports, reports from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and other publicly available material, and the status of the 'liberated' lands in Colombo today.

Development projects, especially those that include housing and public spaces, must mainstream the idea of social infrastructure. Going beyond its physical manifestations like parks or even community centres and look at the social needs of a community, drawing from aspects such as community dynamics that are crucial for creating liveable spaces that contribute to higher levels of social cohesion, and improving the overall well-being of communities.

What fruits and vegetables do working class poor communities consume? What are the drivers behind the choices they make and how do they experience their food environment? Since July 2023, we have been researching these questions in Colombo and Deniyaya. The nutritional landscape of Sri Lanka’s working-class poor is complex, shaped by institutional and systemic challenges that go beyond lack of income or limited access to fresh produce. Real change requires addressing multiple competing costs, conducting inclusive discussions, educating communities on affordable meal preparation, and even reforming land rights policies to enable self-sustained food production.

For over a decade, Sri Lanka's Urban Development Authority's Urban Regeneration Project has reshaped Colombo’s fabric. As the third phase of the project draws to a close next year, there is a new window of opportunity for a new government to review and change course, to create and implement evidence-based housing policy. Apart from the widely cited critiques of autocratic leadership, poor governance and military force leveled against the project, the genesis of its failure lies in a set of assumptions, mostly about the nature of the urban poor. An interrogation of these assumptions shows that they have not been based on evidence or fact, thus placing the whole project on shaky foundations. 

A new publication by Colombo Urban Lab explores the implications of relocation of vendors to modern marketplaces, with justifications for these relocations centering around formalisation, beautification, cleansing (of the streets), sanitation or the provision of modern services for vendors.

Colombo Urban Lab hosted Professor Jonathan Spencer from the University of Edinburgh and Dr. Avanka Fernando from the University of Colombo on the 16th of January 2025 in an online event titled "Debt without Development? Sri Lanka's Urban Regeneration Project's Failed Promises". The guests shared their insight on Sri Lanka’s development projects and debt, and the impact of the Colombo Urban Regeneration Project on the primary stakeholders, the local community. Alongside the discussion, a review of the key insights from the report, “Built on Sand: Colombo’s Urban Regeneration Project” was presented by the Colombo Urban Lab team. 

The article examines the proposed electricity tariff revision from the perspective of the urban poor in Colombo, arguing it fails to account for financial pressures and changes in electricity usage, and offers recommendations for energy justice.

An article on the pricing of fish in Colombo, exploring more into the function and capacity of the markets to coordinate the movement of seafood from the ocean to our plates using price mechanism and relationships.

Solving issues related to people’s capacities to access infrastructure requires a more grounded approach that’s sensitive to understanding the variety of contexts in which people live, and not only counting and accounting revenue generated, costs incurred, and average monthly incomes.

Amidst other economic reforms, the critical state of the education sector has received relatively less attention. Sri Lanka needs a comprehensive action plan that is student-centric, in order to help students and teachers manage the current crisis.

The reconfiguration of Colombo’s built environment and infrastructure has lasting consequences for the city’s food environment and people’s access to affordable fresh produce. This article discusses how public markets are more than the building in which its activities take place.

A recent survey in Sri Lanka shows that relatively less women were engaged in gig economy work despite its relative flexibility, equal pay opportunities, and low barriers to entry. This article explores some of the drivers and issues.

Despite the perception that gig work is largely part-time, our recent survey finds that most workers in location-based gig work actually work full-time on the platforms. Yet, they are typically not recognised as ‘employees’.

The COVID pandemic has highlighted the importance of safe environments and the rights of everyone, including access to trees, gardens, and children's playtime. Advocacy must use data and intersections to make points clear, even in court, and translate intangible aspects into comprehensible language for policymakers.

This article interrogates the proposed CEB electricity tariffs, and unpacks crucial equity considerations that have been missed in the public discourse. It argues that households’ diverse consumption patterns must be considered, alongside existing vulnerabilities like financial debt.

In Sri Lanka, the way telecommunication technologies have embedded themselves into people’s lives cannot be ignored. However, within this sector, the roles played by states and larger enterprises tend to overshadow ancillary roles played by people organised at smaller scales.

Since the lockdown in March 2020, discussions with working-class poor communities in Colombo have primarily focused on budgets and prioritizing expenditure based on needs and income. The challenge is to transform these struggles into experiences where needs can be met with well-funded institutions.

Dispossession can have generational impacts on communities, causing loss of home, land, livelihood, and way of life. Involuntary resettlement is not fair, and it's crucial to ensure communities are not worse off post relocation.

Researchers from the Colombo Urban Lab highlight the food insecurity faced by 72% of low-income households in Colombo, highlighting the worsening situation due to the COVID-19 lockdowns and economic crisis. They recommend universal support for relief, avoiding targeting to exacerbate community divisions.

A two-day Policy-Lab in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on August 22-23, 2023, will focus on Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for South Asian cities, integrating equity and addressing unique challenges, with collaborations from Colombo Urban Lab, People's Alliance for Right to Land, Transitions Research, and International Centre for Climate Change and Development.

The economic crisis in Colombo has significantly impacted the working class poor, who were already struggling due to lockdowns and loss of daily wage work. The April 2023 policy brief updates the situation, discussing electricity tariff hikes, Welfare Benefits Board enumeration, and recommendations for State and policy support.

Home gardening has gained popularity as a solution to food insecurity in Colombo. The Minister of Agriculture encouraged public to grow food in their gardens, but this doesn't completely eradicate the issue. More targeted support is needed for communities without space or resources. Recommendations based on empirical evidence are provided to help increase dietary diversity and reduce food insecurity impact.

Colombo Urban Lab's policy brief on Sri Lanka's economic crisis highlights increased household debt and social security in working-class poor communities, highlighting the unique challenges faced by these families, despite the seemingly normal streets.

Why are fish markets consistently decried as filthy, and what does that say about urban space and our changing ideas of what is acceptable in our cities? While adding fish markets to the list of national failings may be the simplest course of action, a closer examination of how these markets are perceived by urban planners and administrators, offers us insight into dominant ideologies of planning, municipal governance and public health that continue to influence our cities today.