Page 9 - CPM Sri Lanka-Chartered Manager-Sept. 2021

In this interview with ‘Chartered Manager’ Journal, By developing this as a master-planned township,
Ms. Yamuna Jayaratne focuses on an in-depth Port City is able to complement Colombo and have an
overview of Port City Colombo. She is the Director- edge over other cities in the South Asian region as its
Sales and Marketing of CHEC Port City Colombo premiere residential, leisure, and business destination.
(Pvt) Ltd. The following is for your reading pleasure;
For the first time in Sri Lanka, a comprehensive
What is Port City Colombo? Master Plan and Development Control Regulations
(DCR) has been set out for the entire reclaimed
Port City Colombo is an extension to the commercial area to provide development regulations on urban
heart of Colombo – the Central Business District, design, utilities, landscaping, and sustainability.
spanning 269 hectares (ha) of land reclaimed from These guidelines span over 1,500 pages are expected
the sea. By building a world-class city; augmenting to be gazetted shortly to ensure compliance and
Colombo’s proposition as one of the best places to enforceability.
live, Port City Colombo aims to attract talent and
investment to ensure a sustainable economic future The prevalence of a master plan and DCR ensures
by accelerating internationalisation. that ad hoc developments do not happen over
time thus, offering a significant level of comfort to
The multi-service Special Economic Zone status developers and residents within the city. This also
conferred by the recently enacted Port City Colombo ensures that development activities within the city are
Economic Commission Act positions Colombo as the carried out in a manner that avoids traffic/ congestion
ideal platform to leverage Sri Lanka’s geographical and is supported by adequate utility infrastructure
location connecting the East and West. such as electricity, water and gas.

The reclaimed land of 269 ha is divided into 74 parcels The master plan is also designed in such a way
of developable/ marketable land, totalling 179 ha that dense high-rise developments in the Financial
and 91 ha (equivalent to a third of the reclaimed land District are adjacent to the existing CBD whilst low-
area) that is allocated towards public spaces such as rise developments are envisaged closer to the shore
a 2 km beach, 27 ha of parks, roads and streets. Once which allows for natural lighting/ ventilation and also
fully developed, the city would boast 6.3 million sqm optimises views of the Indian Ocean from across the
of gross floor area that is predominantly allocated city. Four thousand trees will also be planted within
towards residential, office, retail and hospitality uses. the new city, creating a green lung for the CBD.
What are the unique concepts that are The volume of the DCR devoted to sustainability
embodied in the Port City Colombo master provides detailed guidelines on how real estate
plan? developments within the Port City must take into
consideration their impact on the environment
by optimizing the use of building materials,
Our vision is to “Build a world-class city for South
Asia” by adopting future-ready smart city concepts minimizing usage of electricity and water by
and providing amenities paralleled to those in initiatives such as smart metering and renewable
modern cities such as Singapore or Dubai; integrated energy are stipulated. Compliance with the
seamlessly with stunning views of the Indian Ocean highest of green building standards also
and lush greenery. incentivised to ensure that Colombo is propelled
towards environmentally conscious development.
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