Strengthening Small and Medium Sized Towns in Regional Development in Sri Lanka A Case Study of the Sabaragamuwa Province

Abstract

Urban-based development approach has become more popular in recent decades in manycountries as one of the most effective approaches that search solutions to the problem ofregional imbalances. In this regard, many countries have paid attention to promote a regional economy based on the economy of small and medium sized towns which have a potential for development in economically backward regions since they believe that urban growth as one of the key forces which bring innovations and socio-economic changes. In this context, the present study has made an attempt to realize the urban system and the nature of urban-rural relations of the Sabaragamuwa Province of Sri Lanka. Two towns in the Sabaragamuwa Province namely Mawanella and Rambukkana were selected for this purpose. According to the results of the study presently Sabaragamuwa Province has the lowest level of urbanization among all other provinces (except northern and eastern provinces) of Sri Lanka and is experiencing a very slow growth of the urban population as a whole. It has only 12 urban centres out of 99 Service centres. All the urban centres of the province are medium and small towns according to the national urban system and are basically administrative and service oriented towns rather than manufacturing or industrial centres. It is also found that people prefer to interact more with the medium and large towns that offer a wide range of goods and ,services rather than the small towns in terms of rural-urban relationship of the Sabaragamuwa Province. Although there are intensified economic linkages between both towns and the hinterland in obtaining lower order goods and services and selling their agricultural products, a higher percentage of people interact with the other regional capitals which are located around the selected towns in terms of obtaining higher order goods and services than the urban centres in the Sabaragamuwa Province since they offer much greater opportunities. Other linkages such as physical, technical, social and population movement also are higher in the medium sized towns. At the same time, this study revealed that these towns transfer the agricultural resources of the province to the Colombo Metropolitan Area as raw materials without contributing to the regional growth. All these factors have contributed to keep the Sabaragamuwa Province at the lowest level of urbanization among other provinces of Sri Lanka.