• ISBN13: 9788126905782
• Binding: Hardcover
• Subject: Earth-Science/Environment
• Publisher: Atlantic Publishers & Distributors (P) Ltd
• Publisher Imprint: N/A
• Publication Date: May 25, 2006
• Pages: 216
• Original Price: INR 450.0
• Language: English
• Edition: N/A
• Item Weight: 250 grams

The book Spatial Concerns in Development: A Sri Lankan Perspective, based on analyses of experiences gained with various aspects of the development effort in the country, focuses on spatial concerns in national development.
The book provides a brief sketch of the spatial context within which indigenous development efforts began in the early 20th century. It closely examines the Sri Lankan development strategy and policies implemented over a seventy-year period, beginning with the introduction of the Donoughmore Constitution in 1931. It not only traces the evolution of the city of Colombo over its five centuries of existence but also attempts to look into the city’s future. The Chapter dealing with the country’s massive phased effort to develop the resources of the Mahaveli Ganga Basin and related region is analytic and highly informative. The reader-friendly approach to the subject, well illustrated with figures and tables, makes the book all the more accessible.
The book is a valuable addition to the literature on Spatial Development in the Third World. It would be highly useful for planning professionals, social scientists as well as for architects.

K. Locana Gunaratna was trained as an Architect at the AA School of Architecture in London. Later as a Fulbright scholar, he received a Master’s degree in City Planning from Harvard University. He was also a Research Fellow for a year in a special programme of urban studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The University of Colombo conferred on him a doctorate for his thesis on urban related research. His wide and varied career based in his country of birth, Sri Lanka, involved him in some major national development projects and programmes. His planning work extends over the regional, rural and urban sectors.
His writings display not only a keen sensitivity to the history on the built environment, but also its planned development. They have significantly influenced the discourse on Planning in his country. Some of these have brought into focus key issues regarding regional development, the role of small towns in rural development, and the need for an explicit national urban policy. These are issues that clearly transcend the parochial and are relevant to planning work in other Third World contexts.
Dr Gunaratna is an accomplished Architect. He was elected by the Architects’ Regional Council for Asia (ARCASIA) as the very first Chairman of their Education Committee, a position he held for three consecutive years. He has been President of the institutes governing Architecture and also Urban Planning in his country. Additionally, he is a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences of Sri Lanka and the current President-Elect of the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science.