Urban-Rural Interactions and Role of Planned Small Townships in North Central Province, Sri Lanka: An Empirical Investigation of Urban Functions for Rural Development Approach

Abstract

Whether a settlement may urban or rural it performs different roles as commercial, administrative centre for surrounding regions. Settlements act as central places representing a particular tier of the settlement hierarchy. The roles of planned small townships on regional development and the interactions between those settlements and the periphery have been studied by many geographers in Asia, Africa and Latin America. These centers are at the lower order of urban hierarchy, and they have been planned purposefully in many countries based on Urban Functions for Rural Development Approach (UFRD) to accelerate the development of backward areas. Since these centers trickle down innovation & modernization to rural neighborhoods the roles of these centers are diverse. In order to achieve fruitful results of settlement planning most effective and rational spatial and location planning strategy is essential to promote these small centers within well-articulated, integrated and balanced urban hierarchy. Based on this perspective main objective of the study was evaluating the multiple roles of planned small townships in North Central Province (NCP) for the development of their neighborhoods. Thus, Thambuttegama was selected as the study area. Demarcating the sphere of influence of selected functions and assess the existing functional structure of the township were among other specific objectives. The primary data on commercial and non-governmental functions of the township was collected through a structured questionnaire, field survey and through informal interviews. Secondary data and other related information were gathered from official statistics, other published materials, unpublished reports and internal records. Variations of the linkages and urban functions in spatial and temporal dimensions have been shown as maps, spider graphs using GIS based tools such as overlay, buffering through the study.