Acceptance and transformation of the housing “ladder” in slum resettlement projects in Colombo, Sri Lanka

Abstract

This study focuses on the Sustainable Township Development Programme, a slum resettlement project that represents a recent housing policy shift in Sri Lanka. Through the actual housing improvement activities of the residents of Sahaspura, a resettlement housing complex, and the slum residents in the surrounding area, the response of the beneficiaries to the housing “ladder” was clarified. Policy makers and planners intended to merge slum dwellers into the formal housing market through the provision of “ladders, ” a set of regular ownership and dwelling units in Sahaspura. However, residents have responded in a variety of ways, including house extensions and renovations and informal housing transactions according to their daily needs. As a result, the original intention of the planners was distorted and the “ladder” was incorporated into the indigenous housing market in the slum, revealing a “transformation” from legal tenure to de facto tenure. Factors contributing to this transformation include the location of resettlement sites near urban areas, the looseness of housing environment management, the possibility of choosing the multiple form of tenure, and the existence of actors and social relations that guarantee access to land.