Life in the Cracks

Seeking to promote better understanding of poverty-related development issues, the Centre for Poverty Analysis (CEPA), Sri Lanka, started a self-funded research project, ‘Mapping Colombo,’ in 2017 to influence poverty alleviation through inclusive policies and programmes. The project’s overall goal was to develop knowledge about how ordinary people, socially and spatially, create their neighbourhoods to ensure the smooth functioning of everyday life and achieve their life goals. It aims to build knowledge on ‘why development policy should take into consideration the role of ordinary citizens in urban development and how all outsiders who engage with communities should engage with the spaces inside the neighbourhoods’ and the processes through which they are produced and re-produced (Perera, 2015).
The HealthBridge Foundation, Canada, became a partner for a phase of this research through their Livable Cities programme in late 2017. The collaboration brought together the goals and focus areas of the two institutions to generate transferable knowledge and evidence by focusing on specific aspects of the Wekanda neighbourhood of Kompannaweediya (a locality also known as Slave Island), Colombo.

The results of this study provide a basis for HealthBridge’s future work in the neighbourhood and Colombo at large. They will also be shared with the Wekanda community.