A city is a large human settlement. People are the main driving force in a city. The dynamism of a city is dependent on people and their behaviour. A preliminary understanding of the composition and diverse capabilities of the populations in a city should be the key to a successful urban study.
Predictions made by identifying demographic and composition patterns of the population within the existing physical boundary will create a well-planned livable city.
Source - Department of Census and Statistics /SoSLC
When attention is paid for the population of the city, according to the reports of the census and statistic department, total population of Anuradhapura district in 2011 is 856, 004 and 6% of it belongs to the urban population of Anuradhapura. When both years of 2001 and 2012 are compared according to its population density, it can be observed that there is a gradual declination of the population of the urban area. Urban population in 2001 is 56,632. This has gradually declined as 50595 in 2012 and 66000 in 2017. According to the statistic calculations, it is clear that the population growth rate has taken a low value.highest population density reports in stage iii (part 1) GN division and stage iii (part 2) GN division and lowest population density reports in Thisawewa GN division.
Source - Department of Census and Statistics
Out of the total population within the Anuradhapura Municipal Council limits, 49.44% are male and 50.56% are female.
The proportion of the total population divided by age is 22.39% for children under 15, 25.03%, for those aged 15 - 29, 41.91% for those aged 30-59 and 10.67% for the elderly population over 60 year.
Source - Department of Census and Statistics
Anuradhapura’s ethnic city makeup comprises a majority of 91 per cent Sinhalese, followed by 7.0 per cent Sri Lanka Moor, 1.2 per cent Tamil, and 0.3 per cent Other groups. The graph shows around 91 per cent of Sinhalese in all three region.
Source - Department of Census and Statistics
The total male resident population in the Anuradhapura Municipal Council area is 25015, the total female resident population is 25580 out of which the total male migrant population is 8134 and the total female migrant population is 8181. According to that the amount of female immigrants are comparatively higher than the male immigrants according to the data.
Source - Department of Census and Statistics
Employment is considered as the main reason for male population migration in to the city, and the females are migrated in the city is due to marriages and also considering employments as well as accompanying with a family member.
Source - Department of Census and Statistics
Sex ratio is calculated using the percentage of proportion of males relative to females in a population. The graph indicates that more females than males in all age groups except 30-59.
Source - Department of Census and Statistics
This describes how domestic leadership is divided into genders. Number of Male headed households are higher than the number of Female headed households in the municipal limit.
Source - Department of Census and Statistics
Graph shows language abilities of the people in Anuradhapura municipal council in 2012.
Education has always been a significant element in societal development. The development of education facilities contributes substantially to the development in an urban area.
As a developing country it is crucial to address poverty in order to attain the development goals. Education plays a major role in poverty reduction. Presently, several global cities have been implementing the concept of smart city to improve the quality of life of the society, including in the field of education.
Good educational institutions and coverage enables a population to have decent livelihoods be they self employed or part of the workforce. Understanding how a city provides primary, secondary and tertiary eductional as well as skill development through vocational centres could provide some pointers to how well a city is doing or where it needs to develop further.
Source - Anuradhapura Development Plan by UDA
The considerable amount of government schools are located in this area and in 2017, total students and teachers are about 28008 and 1225 respectively while the teachers student ratio is higher value such as 1:23. National schools such as Anuradhapura central college, Surnapali Balika Maha Vidyalaya and Zahira Muslim Maha Vidyalaya are located in this area and in addition to these national schools, private schools such as Riyansiperera, school of especial education, Lyceum international school, Ceylinco college, Cambridge college , Rahula College also are situated. In addition to the school education, higher education institutions such as Bhikshu University, open university are situated in this area to uplift the higher education. With the purpose of uplifting the vocational education, Hotel school, Vocational Training Authority, Industrial College, National Apprentice and Industrial Training Authority, Technical University, Youth Services Council, Educational Centers are located in the area.
Source - Department of Census and Statistics
Almost 25% of people in the aged group 3-24 not attending to any type of education in Anuradhapura MC
Source - Department of Census and Statistics
Level of education in the city is in a satisfactory level, where, majority of the female students are achieving GCE AL. Considering the level of achieving degree or above education qualification, more number of males are recorded.
Source - Department of Census and Statistics
It shows the computer literacy of persons between the ages of 10 and 40 in terms of gender and it explains that 63% of men and 43% of women in the Anuradhapura Municipal Council are computer literate.
Connectivity is central to key GoSL strategic aims: to promote economic growth, and to rebalance growth across the country’s 9 provinces. Higher the connectivity to any city, better is the urban growth in that city.
Detailed information on key transport aspects including bus and rail transport, freight route maps, airports and logistic systems are aspects that should be considered for a city to be properly interconnected within the bigger system. One of the SDG targets 11.2 is about access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems, road safety, public transport, and if we are to move towards being sustainble, these need to be considered in tranpsort planning. Further, the needs of people in vulnerable situations, women and children, persons with disabilities and older persons should also be considered.
ICT coverage is another way of being connected and recent technological advances enable a city to be better connected through its access to ICTs as well.
Source - Anuradhapura Development Plan by UDA
When considering about the existing road network of the area, it shows that there is a wellconnected road network. Total length of the roads which are being maintained by the Road Development Authority is 45 kilometers and Total length of the road which is being maintained by the Municipal Council is about 231 kilometers and some roads area maintaining by Provincial Road Development Authority. The road density of the Colombo Municipal Council is 27.2 km per square kilometre. The road density of the Galle Municipal Council is 19.3km per square kilometre. The road density of the Kurunagela Municipal Council is 09.3 km per square kilometer , The road density of the Anuradhapura Municipal Council is 16.9 km per square kilometers. according to these figures, since there is a very effective road density in the Anuradhapura Municipal Council area as the road density of the other municipal council areas, the people are able to travel within and across the city without any congestion. This is also a development potential of the Anuradhapura city for achieving the goal of “the become the Anuradhapura city which was more convenient and well secured”.
Source - SOSLC Project
Between 7 am to 8 am is the busiest traffic period in the Anuradhapura MC area with peak reached at 8 am due to school and work commuting traffic. According to the traffic survey conducted by Urban Development Authority in 2016, it is reported that the population who arrives to the city from external areas for various requirements is 160,000. According to the survey reports of traffic branch of police of Anuradhapura, it is further revealed that this amount of population in every year increases up to 11 lacks during the period of Wesak, Poson and Esala festivals and especial massiveness such as Pichchamal Pujawa and Kapruk Pujawa.
Source - SOSLC Project
This highest percentage of vehicles entering into the Anuradhapura MC area between 6 am to 6pm were private vehicles such as motorcycles and car/van/jeeps totaling around 85 per cent of the modal share. Route buss only represent 2% out of the total share of vehicles
Source - SOSLC Project
The route buses are the dominant type of vehicle in the area which tolerate the majority of the passengers. Motor cycles are also used in a considerable level.
Source - Sri Lanka Police Department
Accident is an undesired or unintended happening. Inevitable accident falls within the concept of fatal or an unfortunate harmful event, event without apparent cause unexpected occurring. A Motor Traffic Accident occurs on highway collision with vehicles, persons or with property.
An Accidents may occur, between a vehicle and other vehicle, vehicle colliding with a person, vehicle colliding with movable or unmovable property, when a vehicle goes off the road, A person being knocked down with another person or due to natural or man made disaster.
Here are the details of the fatal road accidents that have taken place within the Anuradhapura Police Division within the last few years. In addition, the following data file contains further details covering the entire country with an accident classification in varios sub sections.
Source - Sri Lanka Railways
The date records a increase in annual railway passengers from 2014 to 2016
Source - Sri Lanka Railways
Number of passengers from Colombo area and Northern line are the majority.
Cities are the primary drivers of economic development, therefore, Sri Lanka’s cities have a decisive role to play in driving the economy forward by catalysing high value-added economic activities, as the country strives to achieve upper middle-income country status.
According the latest Word Cities report, 80 per cent of global GDP is created by cities, despite their accounting for less than 60 per cent of the world’s population (UN-Habitat, 2016).
The Government of Sri Lanka recognizes the role of urban economy in shaping the future of the country. In this respect, Vision 2025 and Public Investment Programme (PIP) 2017-2020 lays out the urban policy priority actions: to promote western region as economic hub of the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, and to promote strategic city development to secondary urban spaces as provincial economic hubs.
It is also interesting to see how competitive a city is, taking into account current and potential roles of governments, businesses and the private sector in the economic development of the city and urban settlements, best use of human capital, and labour force participation, and existing skills and the job market etc. within demarcated territory.
Source - Tourist Development Authority Sri Lanka
When it is compared with the 2008, it is clear that direct income which was earned from the tourist industry has grown by the 100 percent.A large number of local tourists come for different massiveness which are held based on the sacred shrines and therefore based on this arrival, there is a possibility to obtain the contribution to the economy.The crowd which comes for the religious festival approximately can be mention as follows. 0.8 million persons for Wesak and 0.3, 0.15, 0.5 and 0.3 million persons for Poson ,Easala, pichchamal puujawa and dahaspethiyamal puujawa respectively.
Source - Tourism Development Authority Sri Lanka
Annual growth of the arrival of the foreign tourist during the period of 2008 to 2016 is increased by 9 percent and 77,703 of foreign tourists have arrived to the Anuradhapura city by the 2016. It is recorded that direct income of this is about Rs 350 million. In the year 2016, 77,703 foreigners have arrived to the Anuradhapura city and by consideration this trend of arrival of the foreigners, it is forecasted that about 105,000 of foreigners would arrive to Anuradhapura by 2030. Arrival of about 150,000 of foreigners are expected to Anuradhapura by the Tourist Development Authority and achievement of this target is an objective of UDA development plan. Above factors further prove the ability to become the city which improved with the Buddhist heritages and cultures and have a more attention not only locally but also internationally. This potential is a foundation to develop the urban areas in physical, economic, social and environmental sectors. Further, the ability to obtain the contribution for the development of the city through the interstate relationships is a huge strengthen.
Source - SOSLC Project
Anuradhapura is ranked as the 5th best city according to the City Competitiveness Index (CCI). Anuradhapura is slightly lower by each categories compared to the average values across the nine provincial capital cities.
Source - Central Bank Annual report_Exacted and analysed by SOSLC project
The graph provide the evidence to a gradual rise in Estimated GDP per capita in Anuradhapura MC.In the analysis of economy of the Anuradhapura city, it is revealed that before 1950, Anuradhapura has a primary sector based strong economy, but now, the contribution of the tertiary sector has been higher than the primary sector. According to the reports of the Anuradhapura DS division, in 2017, contribution of Primary, secondary and tertiary sectors are9 percent, 19 percent and 72 percent respectively. The main administrative center of the province is situated in the Anuradhapura city, therefore more people come into the city in order to work in the administrative affairs, health service, educational affairs and trade affairs. Based on these reasons, there is high growth in the tertiary sector. According to the records of the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, revenue which receives by the arrival of the foreign tourists has been a help to uplift the economy of Anuradhapura and this situation also has affected to make a growth in the service sector.
Urban governance can be simplified as “how government (local, regional and national) and stakeholders decide on planning, financing and managing urban areas”. It involves a continuous process of negotiation and contestation over allocation of social and material resources and political power.
This section provide a snapshot of the emergent contours of urban governance in Sri Lanka, focusing on financial resilience, service provision and economic dynamism.
Information available here are collected and calculated considering secondary data sets, ground level surveys as well as stakeholder discussions. The city governance index has taken many a factor into consideration and provides a valuable way of assessing our cities and how they rank from a governance perspective.
Source - Divisional secretary's office
All the information at the level of Divisional Secretariats belonging to Anuradhapura District can be downloaded from the following data files and only the data belonging to Nuwaragam Province Central Area is represented in above graph.
Source - SOSLC Project
Anuradhapura is ranked as the 5th best city in City Governance Index (CGI).The CGI index of the city is 40.96 out of 100
Source - Department of Census and Statistics
In Sri Lanka the LAs are divided into three types according to its population and size: Municipal Councils (MC, 23) which corresponds to the city, Urban Councils (UC, 41) which corresponds to the town, and Pradeshiya Sabha (PS, 271) which corresponds to the village. They are responsible for providing a variety of local public services including roads, sanitation, drains, waste collection, housing, libraries, public parks and recreational facilities. This pie chart shows the distribution of LAs by province in particular local authority belongs. North Central province include 2 MC’s and 25 PS’s. Anuradhapura is the provincial capital city of North Central province.
An important function of Sri Lanka’s cities is to provide housing for the diversity of residents that support urban life. Sri Lankan early urban settlement legacy – histories, patterns, trends including land use and housing and the development challenges that come along with it have shaped the nature of our cities.
The share of housing as a proportion of built-up area across the different cities was considered, and numerous factors affect the figure. e.g. Anuradhapura, has restrictions on residential developments because of its cultural, historical and touristic importance, other MCs include significant social and economic land use, operating as a hub to surrounding suburbs and rural areas with large residential populations.
Housing policy challenges that are encountered by the city administrators relate to tenure systems, the supply of affordable, high quality housing, and difficulties accessing housing finance.
Source - Department of Census and Statistics
The graph indicates the typology of housing in the Anuradhapura MC Area. The majority of housing (around 96 per cent) comprises single story and two story houses.
Source - Department of Census and Statistics
The graph indicate that in Anuradhapura municipal council almost 90.5 per cent of the houses were permanent in 2012.
Municipal services is one of the key tasks an urban centre carries out fto ensure a functional living condition for its citizens.
The access to municipal services and the quality of their provision strongly influence the social, economic and environmental performance of a city as well as urban development.
Urban centres provide key services that underpin Sri Lanka’s socioeconomic development. Cities provide key government administration functions, such as vehicle registration services, access to social protection schemes, and a range of additional services (explored in detail in Chapter 9, urban governance in the SoSLC Report). Urban centres provide residents with health and education services: providing equitable access to quality healthcare and education. They also include services to facilitate social recreational activities and promote community cohesion, such as libraries, community centres and sports facilities. Ensuring quality services is a crucial component in securing an urban future for all Sri Lankans.
Source - IWMI Publication - Solid and Liquid Waste Management and Resource Recovery in Sri Lanka: A 20 city analysis
Typically, MC collects about 31 MT of solid waste in a day (UDA, 2018). It has been reported that 54% of the collected waste is short-term biodegradable waste. In principal, MSW collection service is provided by the MC at city center (covering commercial entities) daily and in residential areas with varying frequency, but at least twice a week. During festival seasons, thousands of people visit or reside in the city creating an enormous pressure on public services and MC to increase the waste collection turns of those areas as and when necessary. Consequently, MSW collection during peak season increases by 50%. Some peri-urban areas however are not provided with the waste collection service. Nevertheless, most of the residents in these areas have own sizable land plots enabling them to manage the waste within their own premises. In 2017 the solid waste which is collected per day is about 20 metric tons in the Anuradhapura town and solid waste is collected and disposed by the Anuradhapura Municipal Council daily according to the schedule. Even though there is no a sewage system to cover the entire town of Anuradhapura, small scale swage system has been established to cover the Anuradhapura new Bus stand and its commercial area.
Source - IWMI Publication - Solid and Liquid Waste Management and Resource Recovery in Sri Lanka: A 20 city analysis
MC has imposed a tax system on commercial and industrial units in the MC area for solid waste collection About 70 institutions in the city have been registered under this system. Consequently, it is expected that the revenue from waste collection to be increased from 1.4 million LKR (in the year of 2013) to 5 million LKR per year.
Anuradhapura MC maintains a compost plant through which about 26% of the waste (8 MT/day) is treated. The waste collected is in mixed nature, therefore only 2% (0.7 MT/day) is recovered as recyclables and the balance 72% (22 MT/day) is openly dumped. The dumping site is located adjacent to the compost plant located at Keerikkulama in Nuwaragampalatha. Suitability of this disposal site is questionable as it is located within the catchment area of Nuwarawewa reservoir and also the site is not an engineered landfill. Previously, the dump site has been used for the disposal of septage as well. With the aim of minimizing the amount of indiscriminate dumping of waste, the MC is aiming at improving composting and recycling practices within the city. In view of that, MC is planning to improve infrastructure of the compost plant, adopt compost marketing strategies and promote home composting. MC has identified the potential in increasing recycling of the inorganic fraction from the waste and planning to increase recycling capacities of the existing facility in near future.
Source - JICA
Almost 53 per cent households were not covered for garbage collection, consequences of this, households burning, burying or open dumping their garbage.
Source - Department of Census and Statistics
Anuradhapura MC Area has extremely high coverage of electricity and water services with 97 per cent and 99 per cent having access to safe drinking water and electricity respectively.
A city needs to have an environment that is habitable and conducive with appropriate spaces for people who use the city, while also being resilient in the face of increasing climate risk.
Aspects such as a cities’ air and water quality, quality of the built environment as well as the aesthetic and historic aspects in the city are things we need to look at. However, in the light of increasing disaster risk, managing climate change impact in the light of current urbanisation patterns becomes a key concern, and thus land use planning in a city needs to take this into account.
SDG targets 11.4 (safeguarding cultural and natural heritage) and 11.5 (reducing impacts of disasters, especially floods), 11.6 (air quality and waste) and 11.7 (safe, open and green spaces for all groups) all emphasize that for a city to be sustainable, these aspects need to be considered.
Source - Disaster Management Center
As a city located in dry zone of the country, flood is not a frequent experience in the city limits. Only 2012 records a flood event which effect on 34 people. Considering the Anuradhapura district, there are flood records in year 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016. 2014 flood record indicate effect on 22818 people, as a significant event and there are 2 death records due to flood in 2016.
Source - Department of Meteorology
Here is the change in the annual values of rainfall from 2008 to 2013. According to the Anuradhapura Observatory station, rainfall in the area is calculated separately for each month and more information can be downloaded from the following detailed statistics.
Annual average rainfall is about 1000 ml to 1500 ml and maximum annual average rainfall occurs during the period of September to December, North East monsoon. Southwest monsoon rains take place during the period of May to June. As a whole, although the dry climate situation can be seen in the period about 9 months, Nuwara Wewa, Basawakkulama Wewa, Thisa wewa, Kumbichchankulama tank and additionally several small tanks such as Ponnaramkulama, Aththikulama, Wanniyankulama are
situated in this area to store the water which receives with the activation of the Monsoon period.
Source - Department of Meteorology
Here is the change in the annual values of air temprature from 2006 to 2013. According to the Anuradhapura Observatory station, air temprature in the area is calculated separately for each month and more information can be downloaded from the following detailed statistics.This area consists of the characteristics of dry zone and torrid zone. When this annual average temperature level is compared with previous years, it can be observed that it is gradually increasing.although the average temperature of area is such value, the Analyses conducted by international institutions have proved that the feeling temperature is high from 5 degrees Celsius.
Source - Disaster Management Center
The graph shows that the area get affected dominantly due to drought situations from 1974 to 2017 in Anuradhapura MC
Source - National Building Research Organisation
The data elaborates the level of pollutants in the air due to transportation in the city. Recommended sulfur dioxide (SO2 ) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2 ) levels are according to the WHO recommendations.
Anuradhapura Municipal area:
Anuradhapura Municipal Council covers an area of 5,140 hectares. (Data Source _ Survey Department)
Download Map Here Download Data Layer Here
Distribution of Grama Niladhari Divisions in Anuradhapura Municipal Council:
Further details related to its 28 Grama Niladhari Divisions can be seen by downloading the map and spatial layer. (Data Source: Survey Department)
Download Map Here Download Data Layer Here
Road Map of Anuradhapura Municipal Council:
The road map for Anuradhapura Municipal Council shows information on the road classifications. Road names are visible in the detailed layer which can be downloaded. This has been updated in 2020.(Data Source _ Openstreetmap)
Download Map Here Download Data Layer Here
Hydrological Network of Anuradhapura Municipal area:
(Data Source: SOSLC Project)
Download Map Here Download Data Layer Here
Anuradhapura Soil Structure:
Anuradhapura MC Area distribute a soil Type according to source shape File from Natural Resources Management Centre.
Proper management of land, a scarce resource, can bring about many benefits. This is of great importance especially in urban areas.
It is timely to figure out how land is allocated and being used for what purpose in our cities today. In order to create well planned cities with a futuristic vision, having a better understanding of current land use is imperative.
Land use maps are categorized into 36 sub-categories under two types – built-up and non built-up. The extent of land in each of these sub categories are indicated below.
In all of the cities it can be identified that the higher densities are concentrated in the city centres and the expansion is taken place along the roads. The expansion pattern is shaped by the geography of the surrounding area.
The selection of the area for the urban expansion analysis was followed by several preliminary studies. Initially, the urban index values which was identified using the remote sensing information were studied in the respective municipal areas including a fringe area.
Before selecting interested area for the expansion analysis it should consider following facts
- Municipal boundary
- At least 2-3 km buffer around Municipal boundary
- Rough boundary where the physical urban character disappearing
In the remote sensing discipline, the values higher than 0 represent the built-up areas.The boundary for the fringe area was identified by getting the extent of urban expansion as well as a fine boundary where the high-density expansion become insignificant. The identified boundaries were projected on to the latest satellite images to assure the identified urban index values are in line with the existing building densities.
