Rehabilitation of dumpsite landscapes of urban areas in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The rate of urbanization in Sri Lanka is estimated to be of the order of 2-2.5 percent per annum and it is expected that by year 2015, 45 percent of the population will be urban dwellers (CFE, 2003). Massive scale waste dumpsites are by-products of urbanization and disposal of wastes is a major and growing urban environmental issue. The attitude on waste and how to handle it will depend on the level of social and economic development of a country. The efficiency of solid waste collection and the final disposal will greatly determine the basic appearance or the beauty of the particular urban environment. Many of the natural or the man made landscapes in urban and suburban environments such as wetlands and road side reservations have been totally changed and degraded due to waste disposal. Some of these changes are irreversible or otherwise with very high environmental cost in bringing it back to its original condition. Many Urban Local Authorities are unable to re-correct the damage due to environmental, financial and technical factors. Finding suitable disposal sites is also very critical as the land values in many of the urban areas are very high. Many urban local authorities are now looking for alternative sites for waste disposal such as wetlands, low-lying areas, and forest reserves, though they are environmentally sensitive, or otherwise trying to rehabilitate the existing and abandoned dump sites. However once a disposal site has come to its full capacity level, the site is required to be rehabilitated and put to another usage. This study will look into the role of a landscape designer in planning and designing a dump site at the early stages to achieve a good result of a final landscape and will study the ultimate use of a solid waste disposal site whether it had been used as a landfill or sanitary land fills or as an open dump site, as a forest plantation, industrial park, vehicle park, or as a recreational space or sport fields. The study will also look in to the different aspects and options in rehabilitation of dumpsite landscape.