The Making of a World Class City: Displacement and Land Acquisition in Colombo

1 February 2017, Colombo, Sri Lanka: CPA’s latest report ‘The Making of a World Class City: Displacement and Land Acquisition in Colombo’ explores the process of making Colombo a world class city, begun post-war under the Rajapaksa regime and its continuity under the yahapalanaya government. The previous government’s Urban Regeneration Programme (URP), which is being […]

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Living it down: Life after relocation in Colombo’s high rises

1 December 2016, Colombo, Sri Lanka: ‘Living it down: Life after relocation in Colombo’s high rises’ is a new report by CPA based on findings of a survey conducted with 1222 households in Colombo forcibly relocated by the Rajapaksa regime. The findings of this survey question many narratives created around the working class poor of […]

Categories: All DocumentsPoll and SurveyReportsSocial Indicator

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World Class Spaces: Coming Soon

September 21, 2016, Colombo, Sri Lanka – In this second feature by Abdul Halik Azeez for CPA’s ‘Right To The City Sri Lanka’ initiative, we see the lived experiences and daily struggles of the various people that live in Slave Island (Kompannyaveediya). One of the most culturally rich neighbourhoods in Colombo, it is also one […]

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Changes in Government’s approach to resettlement of communities in Colombo

13th June 2015, Colombo, Sri Lanka: The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) welcomes the statement by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe suspending reclamation of land in the Colombo and the forceful eviction of residents under the guise of development. CPA has for some time raised the issue of forced evictions in Colombo under the Rajapaksa regime, […]

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Evicted under the World Bank’s Watch

Forcible demolition of 34 Watta homes when court case was ongoing, September 2014. Photograph by Selvaraj Rajasegar. “We were removed from our homes by force. The Army officers told us that they will bulldoze our houses whether we move out or not. They told us that we can either take these apartments or live on […]

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