NEGLECTED URBAN SOCIAL SPACES FOR CULTURAL REGENERATION.

Urban spaces and the public buildings get disturbed by the current development trends in search of maximum commercial value and floor areas. Sometimes the value of these places is totally neglected. And also, these urban historic spaces are being altered/revised with new components or elements that totally change the appearance as well as the purpose of them. Therefore, people who used to keep memories on remarkable places or/and identical places in earlier times, cannot identify those places now after the developments. For an example, a person who visits Colombo after 6 months may not identify some places. They will get lost in between the new developments. Because now, the cultural continuity of these urban historic spaces has fragmented.

This fragmentation of cultural continuity/social attachment is mainly because of the negligence on urban social spaces which are very valuable components in urban design and city planning. Therefore, a study in “neglected urban social spaces” is important for cultural regeneration.

URBAN COMFORT, SAFETY AND SECURITY OF PUBLIC REALM FOR SUSTAINABLE URBANIZATION IN SRI LANKA.

Centre for Cities Research Team targets to develop a performance evaluation model to assess Urban Comfort and Safety of streets and public realm promoting sustainable urbanization in Sri Lankan cities which is further relevant for tropical countries. This is an assortment of several researches of different research interests where many academic members contribute their own studies to enhance the requirement of this major research. Specially, the team expects to design Artificial Intelligence based monitoring systems to record useful data over the research period using their research funds. 

Following are the main objectives of the research project.

• Identify the vulnerabilities of city users in relation to public realm design measures.
• Identify/establish the variables to assess the user safety and comfort in streets and public places.
• Identify the indicators of a performance evaluation to assess urban comfort and safety in streets and public spaces and validate it.
• Evaluate the present levels of urban comfort and safety in cities by using Colombo City as a case.
• Establish mechanisms to minimize the urban risk and vulnerabilities incorporating street-scape design measures and management strategies.
• Identify Smart City implementation strategies, highlighting the need for designed Green Paths, pedestrian accessibility, slow vehicular roads, Local Paths, traffic calming measures, bicycle accessibility, etc.
• Explore the methods for increasing the efficiency of urban land use for the optimal user comfort of the city.
• Develop strategies to retrofit streets and public places to improve quality of life and happiness.