Law & Society Trust

In this article, the author's name Dedimuni Charmaine Nadeesha Chandrasena was incorrectly written as Dedimuni Nadeesha Charmaine Chandrasena. The original article has been corrected.

People are vulnerable to increasing environmental pollution and unprecedented economic changes in countries like Sri Lanka. Development projects such as coal power plants have exaggerated the vulnerability of the communities to the threats of environmental pollution coupled with economic crises. This study is to present the concurrent socio-environmental issues related to the largest power plant in Sri Lanka—the Norochcholai coal power plant (NCPP). The vulnerability of the communities to environmental pollution due to the coal power plant and the prevailing economic crisis was studied. Results revealed that communities are extremely exposed to threats and are highly sensitive to poverty and yet they have no adequate sets of strategies to cope and/or adapt to threats or increase their resilience. This study suggests a human-centric approach focused on sustainable and autonomous adaptation strategies for the communities in the vicinity of the NCPP and to address their rising vulnerability to the impacts for both the NCPP and the prevailing economic crisis.

This paper outlines continuity and change in official spatial practices in Colombo, Sri Lanka, by weaving together two narratives. The first is the story of the transformation of Sri Lanka’s first textile mill, also a crucible of working-class struggles and the Left movement, into the country’s largest luxury residential and commercial enclave. The second is an account of the struggle for housing and land rights of a community of former mill workers and their descendants. The paper highlights the importance of histories of particular places and communities in illuminating processes and politics of planned urban transformation. It underlines the importance of grasping the dynamics of official spatial practices through the lived experiences of those most exposed to these practices as opposed to understanding them through mainframes such as planning or aggregated citywide impacts. The paper concludes by critically positioning the current spatial practices of the Urban Development Authority in a post-war context and considering their political implications and the possibilities of framing resistance and alternatives.