Asian cities are constantly evolving following the rapid urbanization that comes along with development. Advocata Institute hosted a panel discussion by Pritika Hingorani, Hon. Dr. Harsha de Silva and Iromi Perera; moderated by Anushka Wijesinha at the Asia Liberty Forum, 2019. This discussion centered on ‘How can Asia embrace its urban future?’. This video highlights the main issue of the lack of proper definition for what constitutes as ‘urban’ along with its implications.

Pritika Hingurani from IDFC Institute addresses the issue of the lack of a proper definition of ‘urban’ in India and its implications. However, when we look at Sri Lanka there is evidence that shows that official urban population data masks the extent of urbanization. Thus, the lack of a proper definition of ‘urban’ is global and one that drastically affects urban planning all around the world. Sri Lanka’s problem is very apparent when we look into Colombo. Colombo’s official population following the last Census stands at 561,314. However within the boundaries of the ‘Western Region Megapolis’ there resides a population of around 5.8 million in 2012, larger than the countries official urban population. (State of Sri Lankan Cities 2018. Colombo: UN-Habitat)

The panel discussion also addresses other issues ranging from high rise living, forced evictions along with cities an engines of economic growth. To find out more here is the link to the entire panel discussion held at the Asia Liberty Forum 2019 –