The
present official urban share of the total population is 22%, which is
comprised of Municipal Council areas, Urban Council Areas and former Town
Council areas. However actual percentage is considered to be approximately
30%, which is also characterized by uneven distribution where, about 70% of
the urban population is concentrated in Western Region including Colombo, Gampaha & Kalutara Districts.
This has created specific housing and settlement issues in these urban areas
and about 1505 underserved settlements have been identified in Colombo City
itself. The following are the priority housing issues identified in urban
underserved settlements Considerable
number of underserved settlements that have not been assisted by any housing
development initiatives specially in environmentally sensitive areas and
reservations have suffered from basic infrastructure services and need
some assistance until these communities come to the main stream of the
development.
The underserved settlements that have
already been regularized and allocated the plots for construction of houses
by the poor communities in urban areas are badly affected due to the lack of
individual infrastructure services and other shelter related
assistance.There are low density dilapidated underserved settlements (urban
slums and public servant / labour quarters) in prime urban locations with
potential for urban development.
There are substantial
number of low cost housing schemes constructed by the government on rental
basis in urban areas have been suffered from maintenance and other related
issues.
Taking into consideration of the above priority issues identified in
underserved settlements in urban areas the following housing programmes have
been implemented by the National Housing Development Authority in
collaboration with urban Local Authorities, other stakeholder agencies and
the participation of target communities.
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