Original Article Tall buildings and lessons for Colombo, Sri Lanka Sandeep Kumar Agrawal a, * , Janaka Wijesundara b and Michael O’Neill c a Planning Program, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada T6J 2C7. E-mail: sagrawal@ualberta.ca b Director – Program of Urban Design, Department of Architecture, University of Moratuwa, Katubedda, Moratuwa, 10400, Sri Lanka. E-mail: jwijesundara@uom.lk c University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada T6J 2C7. E-mail: mdoneill@ualberta.ca *Corresponding author. Abstract Tall buildings have always been a subject of controversy. Under post-war construction programs, the Government of Sri Lanka, through its development arm, the Urban Development Authority, has designed and launched large-scale development projects that include the construction of highways, hotels, shipping ports and international airports. Development initiatives in urban areas include a series of high-rise hotels and residences within the city of Colombo, many on public lands overlooking the Indian Ocean, Beira Lake, and other envir- onmentally sensitive areas. This article explores whether the planning and development regime in the City of Colombo is prepared for this unprecedented growth in tall buildings. Using best practices from Toronto, Vancouver, London, Hong Kong and Abu Dhabi, which have experienced similar developments, coupled with the analysis of five high-rise projects in Colombo, this article analyzes and compares the state of urban design in Colombo. Along with a few suggestions about overall urban development process, it proposes appropriate urban design and planning measures in the Colombo context to identify where tall buildings should be located, how high they should be, and how they should fit with each other and the public streets and spaces around them. It argues that the new tall developments should be transit oriented and environmentally friendly. URBAN DESIGN International advance online publication, 3 June 2015; doi:10.1057/udi.2015.9 Keywords: tall buildings; urban design; Colombo; Sri Lanka Introduction Tall buildings have long been a subject of contro- versy. From debates over the esthetics of the Eiffel Tower in the late 1800s to more recent concerns about the impact of The Shard on London’s sky- line, tall buildings have been lightning rods for criticism. Indeed, poorly planned tall buildings can severely damage local character, overtax infra- structure, and create adverse environmental con- ditions. A notable example is the modernist Tour Montparnasse in the heart of historic Paris. Built in 1972, the backlash following its construction led to a long-term ban (only recently lifted) on tall build- ings in Paris’s core (Laurenson, 2013). On the other hand, tall buildings can be iconic, signifying pro- gress and socio-economic strength. Nevertheless, owing to increased population pressures, global competition, rising land prices, climate change, and not least, human ego, tall buildings are being constructed at a rapid pace around the world, including in places not until recently known for high rises. One such place is Colombo, Sri Lanka. Located on the west coast of Sri Lanka, Colombo is the country’s largest city and its cultural, politi- cal, and economic hub, with a population of about a million. The Colombo Core Area (Figure 1), the whole of which will be considered for this study, consists of several individual cities including Colombo, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte (the parlia- mentary capital of Sri Lanka) and Dehiwala Mt. Lavinia (a resort town). Colombo has boomed since the end of Sri Lanka’s decades-long civil conflict in May 2009. © 2015 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1357-5317 URBAN DESIGN International 1–22 www.palgrave-journals.com/udi/