The World Town Planning Day (WTPD) is celebrated globally on the 8th of November each year. The objective of the celebrations is to focus on the contribution of town and country planning to community development and the improvement of the quality of life of the people. The WTPD was initially mooted by Professor Carlos Maria della Paolera of the University of Buenos Aires in the 1940s with a view to attract public and professional interest both locally and internationally to the art and science of town and country planning and its positive impact on the development of conducive human settlements. WTPD has since been observed in many countries all over the world for several decades. It has been observed in Sri Lanka for many years as well on the initiative of the writer of this paper.

Despite the efforts undertaken locally to attract attention regarding the work of town planners and their achievements in facilitating habitable human settlements development for well over 25 years, there is still some confusion among some sections as regards the meaning and scope of town planning. A recent news item that appeared in one of the dailies on 13th October 2008 suggests that some are even unaware that town planning is one of the leading professions with a distinct identity. In terms of this news item the Chamber of Commerce has apparently taken a decision to employ architects instead of engineers for town planning work. The Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, in his confused state of mind, has even suggested that planning needs suitable architects and the task of the engineer is to construct buildings. I am sure that the architects, engineers and town planners would have been equally amused by the ignorance of this individual. On the other hand, it is indeed a pity that neither the Institute of Town Planners Sri Lanka nor the Department of Town Planning of the University of Moratuwa took the initiative to clarify the position, for the benefit of the public. It has also been observed that some newspapers display a reluctance to carry articles on the subject of town planning despite its wide socio-economic implications on society and relevance for the upgrading and improving of the quality of life of the community as a whole.

The discipline of town and country planning is primarily geared to the provision of a conducive human settlements environment. It had its origin in the Public Health Acts of the second half of the nineteenth century Britain. The Industrial Revolution in England led to an urbanization process 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 put 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 wasteground at odd corners. These factors not only added to the horrors of town life but also gave rise to disease and death. The relevance of the above 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 the state intervention in the provision of urban services and introduction of legislation to compel private parties to adhere to such legislation and comply with minimum standards.

The Housing and Town Improvement Ordinance was thus one of the first pieces of legislation to be introduced to provide for better housing for the people and the improvement of towns. While the Housing and Town Improvement 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 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. 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 background of these statutes and the objectives outlined therein clearly illustrate the nature of the art and science of town and country planning and its professional practice. While many professions maybe 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 conducive 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 advise the public about the rationale of land uses and the meaning and purpose of planning and building regulations and help them to arrive at rational decisions. 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. The main characteristic of town and country planning is that it is both multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary. It is one profession that cannot be practiced without inter-professional collaboration. Like in other fields, those who aspire to be planning professionals should engage in relevant studies for at least five years, of which at least two years should be on multi-disciplinary studies.

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 wrong assumption of the organizers that planners could be trained with a five day instruction course in planning.

Town Planning has been practiced in this country for well over 50 years. It received an added impetus in the 1970s when development plans were prepared for almost all Municipal and Urban Councils in the country under the purview of the Urban Development Authority. Despite these efforts, most towns in Sri Lanka continue to face major urban problems. Solid waste management is one such problem of crisis proportions. Practically all towns in Sri Lanka are straddled with this problem. While the volume of solid waste generated could be some what reduced through a community participatory approach, it is apparent that the problem cannot be solved at each local authority level. It requires a planned regional approach with an appropriate regional strategy. Some of the other vexed problems haunting local authorities comprise unauthorized structures in the city and town centres; squatter settlements abetting public roads, railways and public open space; traffic congestion and increasing volume of road accidents. Many reasons can be attributed to the chaos in our towns and cities. However, the fundamental cause seems to be the pervasive socio-economic and political environment entailing undue political interferences and weak enforcement of laws and regulations related to the environment, development, planning and building.