Urban revitalization : waterfront development as an urban revitalization tool for Colombo waterfront redevelopment plan

Abstract

In recent history we have witnessed the "Development" of technology and subsequent degradation of our communities. While technology claims to connect and bring people together through ideas like the World Wide Web, this type of connection and technology in turn discourages local community values. The loss social interaction and recreation within our own homes, towns and cityscapes deteriorates our communities. Most great cities have developed along water front, which either thread through them as river and canals or front on them as bays and oceans; they are the greatest resource for enjoyment and open space available to city dwellers. The Great water front communities and landscapes are of the most obvious examples of the effects technology has had on the integrity of our communities. These towns were once centered both socially and economically on their land, their identity and culture was defined by it. As technology shifted to the highways the communities began to lose their connection to the environment and each other. As designers, more specifically Urban Designers, we have the ability and knowledge to discourage the effects our shifting technology has and provide for or improve the quality of life for a community. This study attempts to identify and utilize a community's needs, both social and economic, and their local history to reconnect and revitalize the physical environment, as well as, the social culture and identity. Urban waterfront redevelopment is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Replenished housing stock might be an improvement in quality; it may increase density and reduce sprawl; it might have economic benefits and improve the global economic competitiveness of a city's centre. It may, in some instances, improve cultural and social amenity, and it may also improve opportunities for safety and surveillance. Developments such as London Docklands increased tax revenues for government. The process has had a major impact on many urban landscapes, and has played an important role in the history and demographics of cities around the world. The City will encourage the location of modem facilities in the waterfront area when appropriate and where sufficient land is available: In planning for the redevelopment of this Core Area, the Master Plan has recognized the relationship between the Waterfront and the City Centre. The expansion of the City Centre to the edge of the water can provide a bold new dimension to the vitality of its commercial core and the livability of its strengthened neighborhoods. The Master Plan will act as a management Page | i tool for the implementation of goals and for the physical development of the surroundings of the Lake. Develop the guidelines and recommendations for the Beira Lake Master Plan is very important. The focus of this work has been to balance the demand for the many uses competing for waterfront land. These uses include boating facilities, utilities, recreation, housing, offices, retailing and transportation. It is believed that this balance can be achieved, but as decisions regarding waterfront land use have long term implications, these decisions must be carefully weighed and fully considered.