Colombo and the Pattern of South Asian and Port City Models

Conclusion

Post independence growth has begun to obliterate the structural configuration evolved during the British Colonial Period. The Fort area is now a center of commerce and finance with much of the colonial administrative functions moved outward toward the periphery of the city. While what might be called the classic models of the South Asian city can still be applied, their utility becomes less and less with continuing urban growth. The port city models are most useful in discussions of Colombo’s inner sections. Outward expansion has tended to make both types of models less appropriate. Perhaps it is time for new models to be proposed.