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Evolution of a City: a Space Syntax approach to explain the spatial dynamics of Colombo.

Aruna Bandara & Jagath Munasinghe

Department of Town & Country Planning,

University of Moratuwa

Sri Lanka

toaruna@uom.lk

jagathnm@sltnet.lk

Abstract

Planning and urban design literature generally portrays cities and other urban areas as static end states

with less regard towards their evolutionary nature. In order to overcome this limitation, a research has

been undertaken to investigate the evolution of urban areas focusing upon the changing configurations in

their spatial forms employing an emerging method: Space Syntax. This paper presents the developments

at the initial stages of the research. Space Syntax is a method of spatial analysis premised on the percept

that the level of connectivity among public spaces such as streets, access ways, squares, etc in a locality,

which then decides the level of their integration into overall spatial structure of the urban area, is

indicative of the thrive of those spaces in their broader urban context. Based on this premise, this study

examines the changing spatial configuration of the city of Colombo at different stages of its growth, and

put forward the argument that the city’s growth is a complex process of continuous transformation of the

prominent expressive characteristics in multiple spatial sectors, whose periodic changes follow somewhat

identical sequence of transformations. The stages of the growth are identified according to the

chronological order of administrative periods, and different adjoining areas integrated into the

administrative zone of Colombo at each of these periods are considered as the spatial extent of the

expansion of the city. Each area that was newly included is considered as a distinguishable district and

the expressive character of that in each consecutive period is attributed to the prominent, rather than the

dominant, land use observed in it. The districts are included into the city at different times, and new

streets and access ways are developed, changing the overall spatial configuration and thereby, the level of

connectivity between different street segments. In order to investigate the effect of the spatial

configuration on the transformation of different parts of the city, the connectivity of the streets at each of

the stages of the growth is analyzed in Space Syntax method, and then the connectivity levels of major

street segments of each sector is correlated with its prominent land use types.

Key words: Spatial Configuration, Prominent Land use, Evolution

Introduction

One of the main limitations often noted in contemporary urban planning and urban design

literature, and therefore in the practice, is the understanding that the urban areas, be them

large cities or small towns, are static organizations which can be planned towards specific

end states. Although this rather conventional understanding of cities as ‘products’ was

competed from time to time by scholarly attempts, only limited attempts have been made so

far to study and conceptualize the evolutionary process of cities by employing

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comprehensive methods of analysis. In this background, this paper brings in some of the key

outcomes at the initial stages of an on-going research, which intended to model an urban area

as an evolving phenomenon with an emerging space analysis method: Space Syntax. A key

premise of the method is that the unequal configuration of public spaces (mainly the streets

and access ways) decides their level of connectivity and thus, their level of integration into

the overall spatial structure of the urban area (Hillier, 1996). Further, the levels of integration

invest varying capacities into those spaces to attract by passers and competitive urban

activities that are mutually reinforcing the establishment of each other. Based on this

premise, this study examines the spatial configuration and the changing activity patterns in

the city of Colombo at different stages of its growth, and put forward the argument that the

city’s growth is a complex process of continuous changes in prominent land use

characteristics in multiple spatial sectors, whose periodic changes follow somewhat identical

sequence of transformations.

The stages of the growth are identified according to the chronological order of administrative

periods. Different adjoining areas, integrated into the administrative zone of the city of

Colombo at each of these periods, are considered as the spatial extent of the expansion of the

city. Each newly integrated area is considered as a distinguishable district and the expressive

character of each district in each consecutive period is attributed to the prominent, rather than

the dominant, land use observed in it. When a new district is added to the city from the

periphery, it is gradually integrated into the overall spatial composition of the city along the

passage of time by means of new streets and access ways developed in and around it. These

developments changed the degree of connectivity between different street segments of all the

districts, thereby changing the overall spatial configuration of the city. In this study, the

connectivity of all streets and access ways of the city of Colombo at each consecutive stage

of growth is analyzed using Space Syntax method, and then the integration levels of major

street segments are correlated with the prominent land use characteristics observed in that

period in district, where the street is located. The changing overall configuration of the city’s

streets is suggested as a key for the transformation of different parts of the city in the process

of its evolution.

Explaining the Evolution of Urban Forms

Literature on the evolution of urban forms can be divided into several categories. The first

category of literature viewed the evolution and growth of cities through a historical

perspective, mainly as progressive decisions of space by both the rulers and the ruled.

Accordingly, the evolution is primarily a process of shaping the physical environment to fit

into the polity and the culture of inhabitants. Well known work of Morris (1979), Mumford

(1964), Kostof (1990), and Rossi(1990) can be included into this category. The evolution is

well reasoned with political and socio-cultural moves, but the logics of space and its

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transformation, thrive and decline of different quarters, and the impact of overall space

compositions on specific spatial units are not the concerns of these studies.

The second category takes a socio-spatial approach, in which the evolution of urban areas is

explained primarily as a continuous transformation of space based either on the growing

demand for space by competing urban activities akin to preferential residential locations of

different social groups, or contesting perceptions of different inhabitant groups and their

reflections on space. The early work of this category include Burgess’s (1923) mapping of

Concentric Zones of Chicago, Homer and Hoyt’s (1939) observations on sector growth

phenomenon of US cities and Harris and Ulmann’s (1945) model of Multiple Nuclei cities.

The main limitation of these work is that their presupposition of a sector’s transformation as

an inevitable expansion of activities akin to urban growth. In the recent past the evolutionary

process of urban areas, mainly cities, was studied as a responsive dialect between the

economic forces and the social organizations. Some of the widely read literature of this

category spread the understanding that the growth of contemporary cities is a process of

inevitable invasion by modern urban functions of traditional quarters and agricultural suburbs

(eg: Freedman, 1966). Another school of scholars, inspired mainly by Lefebvre (1984)

explained the evolution as a result of contested and negotiated, propositional and

oppositional interests on space between the colonial and the colonized, rulers and the ruled,

and the foreigners and natives (eg: Yeoh, 2003, Perera, 2002, Hosagrahar,1999). Although

these works is commendable for their insightful contribution to understand the multiple

authorship and parallel processes of making and remaking urban spaces, they did not intend

to demonstrate and prescribe approaches towards progressive urban planning and design

methods.

The third category explains the growth and the evolution of cities as an increasing

agglomeration of economic activities; that is frequent transactions among human actors and

firms, engaged in producing various products and services, by locating themselves within

relatively close proximities (eg: refer Glasser,1998). These agglomerations however, are not

arbitrary. Their locations are decisions on the market ranges approximated for each of the

urban commodities. The market range, assures the thresholds or the minimum numbers

required for the sustenance of the urban activities, which is implied by the economies of

scale. Krugman (1993) cited, there could be either the ‘first nature’; that is the offspring of a

natural phenomenon such as a port or a mine, or the ‘second nature’, that is a secondary

accumulation and a growth around an activity initiated for some other purpose.

In recent years, some interests seem to emerge to deal with the urban form’s evolution

focusing mainly upon the dynamics of the spatial composition integrated with transforming

socio-economic characteristics. Among substantial number of work that can be quoted here,

the work emerging in the Space Syntax research stream, initiated by Hanson & Hillier’s

(1986) work on social logic and movement economy of space, and furthered with the

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subsequent work of Hillier (1996, 1999), Read (1999), Pen (1998) and many others, is

gaining popularity in the area of planning and urban design. Hillier (1999) addresses the

question of the formulation of ‘live centres’ in cities, where all employment and higher order

economic activities are concentrated, and their displacement from the historic quarters

towards once an ‘edge’, as the city expands or contracts. He explained the apparent gradual

location change of the centre as a function of changing ‘spatial configuration’: the order in

which the streets and other public access ways are organized, enabling the movements

between different spatial units within the city. This approach indicates more advantages over

other approaches, more than to explain the historical evolution of an urban setting, to engage

in an exercise of envisioning future spatial scenarios for a city or any other urban area. This

is because the concept of ‘spatial configuration’ has a potential to make a conceptual

platform for the development of pro-active spatial planning and design methods.

Spatial configuration

The fundamental unit of consideration of Space Syntax method is the axial connectivity that

makes the shortest possible path from one end to another end of the public space (street,

square, alley, etc). Thus, the first step in Space Syntax analysis is to reduce the composition

of streets, alleys and all other public spaces in an urban area into a composition of axial lines

that incident either on one another or many others. The number of minimum axial line

connections (shortest possible path) that a person has to pass through to get into a space from

another space decides the level of connectivity of the first in relation to the second. In this

manner, the connectivity of a space into all other spaces in the urban area can be evaluated by

accounting for overall spatial configuration of the area. The level of connectivity is an

indication of the degree to which each space is integrated into the urban area.

The method emphasizes two levels of integration of an urban space: local and global (Hillier,

1996). Local integration is indicative of the structural composition of the public spaces at the

locality level and its analysis enables to identify the locations that are most and least

attractive within the immediate context. Hence, when an urban area is analyzed at the local

level, the local centres emerge as the most integrated spaces and more competitive land uses

are usually concentrated into them. Global integration is the indicator of the attractiveness of

different public spaces at the overall spatial configuration of the city. The competition then is

between different segments of the city, and their unequal levels of integration lead some

centres to overthrow the others. As the city grows, the pattern of spatial configuration change

and the level of integration of individual elements too change. Thus, the attractive capacities

fluctuate leading to a transformation of activity locations in the city.

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Colombo’s Evolution:

Both the legendary and the recorded history indicate human habitation in Colombo, but the

genesis of modern city of Colombo remains at the times of Portuguese invasion of the coastal

areas of Sri Lanka after 1505 ( Refer Colombo Centanary Volume). The Portuguese

occupation in Colombo had throughout been loomed with uncertainly. Therefore, the

planning activities were minimal and the city was limited to the boundaries of the

fortification. All urban activities were administered within the Fort in a specified manner and

all streets had their ends at the fortress wall. Therefore, the natural integration of streets into

areas outside of it was not possible. The Portuguese base was later extended by Dutch into a

few more Square Kilometers, including the areas today known as Pettah, Slave Island and

Modera (Figure 01).

Dutch fortification was smaller than that of the Portuguese and yet, all administrative

activities, official residences, etc were still located inside the Fort. But the other activities

could extend outside the Fort and therefore, the gradual growth of the urban activities and

natural configuration of city space was possible. Pettah was the area of trade and commerce

and the vibrant urban centre of Dutch Colombo. Slave Island was providing residences for

working communities brought in for indecent labour. The areas around these enclaves were

mostly rural, seldom marked with residences and occupied largely by agricultural uses

(Figure 02).

Figure 01: The Portuguese Fort

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British undertook coastal areas from Dutch and subsequently acquired the ruling of the entire

island after the historic agreement between Sri Lankan Elite and the British Governor for

Ceylon in 1815. British had an entirely different approach towards colonization and their

legacy had initiated with a set of gravel roads connecting Colombo to other strategic centres

of the island. They were laid along the coast towards south (Present Galle road), on Kelani

River valley towards east (Avissawella Road), across Kelani River Ferry to the north

(Modera Road), and two lines through the marshes of south east towards Kotte (Figure 03).

Hence, from the early stages of British administration, the city activities had already started

to grow into its suburbs along main arteries that linked Colombo to other regions of the

island. All administrative activities were still inside the Fort and the trade and commerce

were largely confined to streets of Pettah. But, the colonial administrators preferred to live in

more greenly and spacious outer urban areas around Beira Lake, after the colony was well

established. The rich native business owners and the local elite found new residential quarters

towards the north of Pettah in Kotahena and Modara area, towards the south of Fort in

Kollupitiya and Bambalapitiya, and in the eastern segments such as Maradana and

Dematagoda (Marga,1978). The areas between these arteries were occupied by cinnamon

plantations ( for which the area is still known as Cinnamon Gardens), coconut lands and

marshes.

Figure 02: The Dutch Fort and the expansion of the city

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When the sea port started to grow with associated back yard facilities, the environs within the

northern part of the Fort and Pettah were growing as the high order business district and

Colombo attracted more populations from the other parts of the country. In an attempt to

expand the urban area of Colombo, British rulers wanted to lay a network of thoroughfares

that would facilitate the growth by opening land for development, and increasing the

accessibility within different parts across the region. Hence, a new road structure within the

earmarked territory of the future City of Colombo was established with the ‘Base-line’ road

as the ‘datum’. The Baseline road was constructed from North to South, partially imposing

on the existed gravel roads, defining the eastern boundary to the city (Munasinghe, 2007). In

this newly planned city of Colombo, administrative activities were partly shifted to

Aluthkade area, towards the east of Pettah, and the colonial residences were taking the lands

towards the south east clearing cinnamon plantations. The commercial activities were

growing along the main arteries with improved paved conditions and introduction of motor

vehicles along Galle Road, Maradana Road, towards Grandpass and Modara. The elite

residences in these areas were either setting backwards along these segments or shifting to

further south, towards Wellawatta, Havelock town and Cinnamon Gardens. The areas

towards north-east of Pettah and parts of Slave Island were gathering more working class

populations (Marga,1978). By the dawn of the 20th

century, the prominent land uses of

Colombo could be seen as shown in fugure 04.

Figure 03: The British Fort and the expansion of the city

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At the aftermath of independence, in 1950s, the increased mobility, introduction of public

transportation, and the transfer of power and business operations to local authorities have

further changed the form of the city. While the lands in Fort were clearing military and

administrative activities from them making it the high order trade and commercial district, its

activities were spilling into the adjacent sectors such as Kollupitiya, Slave Island, Maradana

and Grandpass. The high order business activities were withdrawing from the areas in

northern parts of Pettah and Fort and finding new quarters in these new areas. Elite

residences were consolidating in the areas such as Cinnamon Gardens, Bambalapitiya,

Wellawatta, and predominantly agricultural sectors such as Kirillapone and Narahenpita were

opening up for residential purposes. The lands surrounding Colombo were mainly paddy

fields, rubber estates and rural home gardens as shown in figure 05.

Towards 1980s Fort is thriving as the main trade and business sector while Kollupitiya and

Bambalapitiya were consolidating as commercial areas and its influence was extending up to

Wellawatta. Along Maradana road commercial activities were extending up to Borella, which

once was a residential area. The whole of the northern part was invaded by warehousing and

industrial activities along with residences for working populations. As shown in figure 05,

the areas out of main city limits were gaining low-order residential developments with small

commercial centres in them. Yet, the declared administrative boundaries of the city were

Figure 04: The British Fort and the expansion of the city with Baseline road

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limited largely to British declared Colombo (figure 06). With many other events such as the

liberalizing of the economy and shifting of the administrative functions to Kotte, which has

now become the new ‘National Capital’ of Sri Lanka, Colombo has experienced a

tremendous growth and thus, a change from 1980s. Galle Road was developing as the high

order business district up to Bambalapitiya and Cinnamon Garden was giving up for

emerging commercial and administrative activities shifting elite residences into former rural

areas outside the British enclave boundaries of Colombo. Areas such as Maradana and

Grandpass were attracting more working class populations and industrial uses. The low-order

commercial centres outside Colombo has been thriving into higher order Shopping and trade

centres. The redeveloped Baseline road was attracting more commercial activities along that

and Borella, Dematagoda, Narahenpita are emerging as commercial districts of the city

(figure 07).

An important thing to note is that at each of these stages, the city has been integrating new

spatial sectors into its urban enclave, making new districts, and the districts integrated at the

previous stages have been changing their character in terms of predominant activity types

and land uses. The transformation in the districts have been following a somewhat identical

sequence, starting from agricultural uses, then convert to low order residential uses, and then

to high order residential areas, followed by general commercial uses, then into higher order

1950s 1980s

Figure 05: The growth of the city after construction of the Baseline road

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commercial and trade activities, finally ending up with industrial and warehousing facilities.

In the transformation process, one district is transferring its prevalent prominent land use to

another, and this second district is shifting its land use into yet another. Thus, it is a series of

downward transfers to shift into one layer up. In a way, this is somewhat obvious and

commonly seen phenomenon in the urbanization process, in which lands once used for

agricultural purposes are gradually changing into a series of different uses over time,

responding to the demands caused by upcoming competitive uses. But, what is more

important is to find some logic to explain the causative factors behind this change and its

inter-sector relationship.

The patterns of land use transformation

The growth of the city has been gradual and not necessarily consecutive. Yet, for a study

purpose the developments can be observed at somewhat regular intervals throughout the

history. In order to analyze the patterns of changes at these intervals, the above section of this

paper identified the prominent expressive land use characteristics of each of the districts at

different periods. It is obvious that the expressive character is not necessarily the dominating

land use, but the general perception of a city quarter is generally associated with the

prominent character than the dominant land use. Mapping of these prominent expressive uses

Figure 06: British declared Colombo Figure 07: City expansion after 1980s

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in a time series maps indicated a clear sequence in every district, but some districts lagging

behind the others. In other words there is an inequality of prominent uses among the

districts, where the newly added distracts as the city grows, contained more of front-end land

uses and the districts added immediately before them contained more of the uses next in

order. In this manner the oldest quarters of the city have more of back-end uses. These land

uses have a high impact on the overall property values and the perceived character of the

respective district of the city. Generally, the highest property values and the perceived

prestigious characteristics are found in the areas with higher order trade and institutional

activities, and the lowest values and character are found in low profile residential areas.

Areas with industrial and warehousing activities reflect relatively lower values than the

higher order trade and institutional uses, but their values are rather higher than that of

ordinary residential areas. In this manner, the apparent quality positions of different

expressive characters against the sequence of their change can be graphed as shown in figure

08. Accordingly, the districts seem to be gradually elevated towards a higher order uses,

starting from the lowest residential uses, come to their peak with the transformation into

trade and institutions, and then decline with their conversion to industrial and warehousing

uses.

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

1800 1850 1880 1920 1950 1980 2010

Pro

min

en

t ch

arac

ter

Cycle

Fort

Pettah

Slave Island

Kollupitiya

Bambalapitiya

Wellawatta

Kotahena

Grandpass

2 Low income

3 Industries

6 Commercial

7 Trade & Shopping

6 Inst/Commerce

5 Administrative

4 Elite Residential

2 Low Residential

1 Agriculture

Figure 08: The changing pattern of the expressive character

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What is intended to investigate here is the relationship between this upward and downward

behaviour of the different districts of the city and the overall configuration of its physical

environment. Through the identification of the relationship, the transformation can be

captured into a planning and design tool so that the overall growth of the city can be

managed towards a better order.

The Changing Spatial Configuration of the City

In order to identify the effects of the overall configuration of urban public spaces in each

district at each consecutive stage of the city’s growth, the streets and other public movement

paths of Colombo were studied in Space Syntax method. Accordingly, the street maps of

Colombo were reduced to ‘axial-line’ diagrams, and these diagrams intern, were analyzed

using ‘depth map’. Depth map is the common software used for Space Syntax studies. It

analyses the integration levels of each axial line (which represent a street segment) at a given

radius of consideration. In this study, the analysis was done at two levels. The first is the

local level, which considered the connectivity of a given axial line to all other axial lines

within a radius of 3, and the second is at global level, which considered the connectivity

between all possible axial lines of the diagram. Figure 09 show the resultant spatial

integration patterns both at local and global levels. The result could be interpreted in the

following manner.

The integration of spaces was first confined to Colombo Fort, during Portuguese period.

During the Dutch occupation, the most integrated quarter within the limited street network

was the northern part of Pettah. In the next stage of British acquisition, the city’s street

network was expanding outward and Main Street of Pettah was increasing its integrity in its

overall context, but as the expansion goes on Kotahena & Aluthkade areas were gaining the

prominence of Main Street. In British Planned Colombo, in the early 20th

century, Maradana

Road and Union Place of Slave Island were dominating the northern quarter of Pettah, while

Kotahena and Galle road was increasing its integrity. By 1950s, the road network was well

spread into suburbs and the Galle Road, in the areas of Kollupitiya and Bambalapitiya, was

increasingly integrated into the spatial configuration. Borella is also integrated at a higher

level. Maradana Road, Union Place and the Nothern streets declined the level of integrity.

From the times that Colombo was extending beyond its colonial bounds into its suburbs,

Baseline road has been showing more integration. The derived pattern of changes can be

interpreted with the basic premises of Space Syntax. The most locally integrated spaces are

the ones with highest attraction at local level and therefore, occupied by competitive land

uses. They are the local urban centres with low order urban activities. The most globally

integrated spaces are the most competitive locations in the city as a whole. They are mostly

in demand due to their relatively higher level of accessibility from all parts of the city. Thus,

higher integration is also an indication of higher land values, which in turn, result in high

order activities.

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Important to note is the apparent correlation between the levels of integration of the main

streets of the districts into the other parts of the city at each stage of growth, and the

corresponding prominent land uses of these districts. In other words, across all stages of

growth, examined here, the changing levels of integration of main streets showed a parallel

sequence of transformation in their prominent land uses. This virtual correlation can be used

to explain the logic behind the changing land use characteristics of different segments as the

city expands its boundaries. When the level of integration increases the land use

characteristics vary from lower order towards the higher order. When the integration of a

space is at its peak the most competitive uses that is the higher order trade and institutional

activities, uses that space. As the city expands its spatial extent and develop more and more

public streets and access ways, the patterns of integration change in the overall context. Thus,

the less integrated spaces become highly integrated ones and the ones with highest

integration are shifted from the peak. The overall land use pattern changes accordingly and

the competitive uses occupy more integrated locations. The declined level of integration

Figure 09: The changing pattern of the spatial integration with the evolution of the city

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leads more competitive uses to evacuate their occupied locations and find more integrated

spaces, leaving their previous locations for less demanding uses.

The evolution of the city of Colombo then, is not a neutral extension of activities in space.

Rather it is a complex process of transforming the prominent land use characteristics of

different districts, as a function of changes occur in spatial configuration. In other words, the

changing scenario of integration and disintegration of public movement spaces in and around

the city transform the expressive character of all spatial segments, which we experience as

the evolution of the city. In a way, at its very outlook, this seems to be an already known

phenomenon and an obvious condition. Yet, the value of this understanding is not for

knowing the history of the city’s evolution, but for knowing its possible future scenarios of

evolution. For instance, a large number of road infrastructure development projects as well as

land sub divisions taking place need to be reviewed in the context of their effects on overall

spatial configuration of the city. This can be demonstrated with the proposed Baseline Road

extension and the other on going road development projects. When they are super imposed

on the existing road structure the spatial configuration changes both at local level and global

level in a subtle manner. (Figure 10) The change of configuration results in a change in the

existing levels of integration and thereby, a change in the hierarchy of attractive spaces. In

that situation ‘what will be the most thriving area of Colombo, and what will happen to the

existing land use structure of the city and its suburbs’ is the question that could be somewhat

reasonably foreseeable with this exercise.

Figure 10: The predicted changes of the spatial integration with the proposed Baseline road extension

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Conclusion

As stated at the beginning, what is presented in this paper is only some of the preliminary

findings and a rather incomplete investigation of the evolution of Colombo’s urban space,

analyzing the effect of the configuration of its public spaces. The interesting finding here is

the gradual transformation of prominent activities of each part of the city in a sequence from

one composition into another and its relationship with the upward and downward movements

of the levels of the spatial integration of the main streets of that part. The sequential change

leads to what planners and urban designers usually termed as ‘high quality’ and declining

areas in the city at different times of the city’s expansion. The paper does not contest

preceding theories and prevalent ideologies in urban form studies; yet, this finding urge us to

rethink some of the basic premises, on which the conventional understandings of the

evolution of urban areas are based upon. The dominant understanding is based on the

premise that the growth of an urban area is a function of over spilling and extending urban

activities from existing quarters into new areas, thus leading to build more road infrastructure

and access ways enabling those activities. At the same time the prevalent understanding says

that the change of prominent land uses in different quarter of the city is due to the competing

capacities of the locations built up in a spontaneous manner. But, the finding here, suggest

somewhat opposite scenario. The activities in a given location of the city changes not only

because of its own thrive and capacity, but also as a result of the expanding road and other

public space structure of the whole city. Thus, the change of land uses, at least the prominent

ones, is not spontaneous. It is a process geared by the changes in overall spatial configuration

both at local and global levels. Even a planned road development in one part of the city could

have an effect on the overall pattern of land uses in the city, even in the parts that have no

direct links with the part where the development is taking place.

However, the argument brought forward here is incomplete and need to be strengthened with

further investigations. The study at this stage can be sited for many limitations also in its

methodology. One of the main limitations is the manner of presupposing of ‘prominent’ land

use characters. At this level they were derived upon the observable expressive qualities of the

given locations at different times, as revealed in different sources. In the forthcoming stages

of the study the detail land uses of each sector need be empirically investigated and the

internal compositions of the categories may be adjusted accordingly.

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