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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. |
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