Metro Colombo Urban Development Project

1. General information

Location and description of the intervention

City or FUA

Colombo (FUA)

Region

Asia

Native title of the NBS intervention

Metro Colombo Urban Development Project

Short description of the intervention

Sri Lanka faces multiple natural hazards, including tropical storms, flash floods, and landslides. As the country's urban population has grown, development projects have encroached on wetlands, compromising their natural flood protection, air and water purification, and carbon storage capabilities. Additionally, hilly regions are at risk of landslides, particularly during the monsoon season, posing significant threats to vulnerable communities (4).
To address these challenges, the World Bank and the Sri Lankan government collaborated on the Metro Colombo Urban Development Project. This initiative focused on nature-based solutions (NBS) as cost-effective and sustainable approaches to risk management (4). By strengthening natural processes and ecosystem services, the project aimed to mitigate hazards such as floods, erosion, and landslides (4). Technical assessments by the World Bank highlighted the importance of wetlands in flood protection, leading to efforts to protect and restore 20 square kilometres of freshwater lakes, wetlands, and swamps (1, 4).
The project supported the Sri Lankan government in reducing flooding in the Colombo Water Basin and enhanced local authorities' capacity to manage infrastructure and services. It prioritised metropolitan investments to mitigate the physical and socioeconomic impacts of flooding and aimed to build long-term capacity for urban management and local service delivery (6).

Website of the intervention

https://mcudp.lk/

Principal problems

Climate-Related Hazards

Urban flooding (stormwater)

Extreme weather events (e.g. storms, hurricanes)

Landslides & mudslides

Degradation of carbon sinks

Environmental Degradation

Air pollution

Physical water retention and availability

Land use and Socio-economic change

Rapid urbanization

Health, Well-being and Social cohesion

Physical health harm (from pollution, wildfire, extreme temperature)

Implementation area characterization

Climate

Tropical (Tropican rainforest, tropical monsoon, tropical savanna)

Ecosystem

Tropical rainforest

Address

V29C+P52 Habarakada, Sri Lanka
Colombo
Sri Lanka

Location

The NBS is a city-wide initiative, the GIS point marks the centre of the city

Area boundary (map-based)

Total area

20000000.00m²

Area description

Urban (main city)

Type of area before implementation of the NBS

Freshwater setting (e.g. river, channel, lake, pond)

Timeline of intervention

Start date of the intervention (planning process)

2012

Start date of intervention (implementation process)

2012

End date of the intervention

2021

Present stage of the intervention

Completed

2. Objectives of the intervention

Objectives of the intervention

Goals of the intervention

To support the Government of Sri Lanka in reducing the flooding in the catchment of the Colombo Water Basin (1)
To strengthen the capacity of local authorities in the Colombo Metropolitan Area to rehabilitate, improve and maintain local infrastructure and services through selected demonstration investments (1)
To restore the city wetlands as a nature-based solution, allowing them to serve as flood retention and recreational areas (1)
To complement ongoing urban regeneration programs of the Government of Sri Lanka by reducing the physical and socioeconomic impacts of flooding in the Metro Colombo Region and improving priority local infrastructure and services (5)
To create recreational space, such as parks, walkways, and other public open spaces and improvements to existing places (6)

Key Priorities

Climate action (adaptation and/or mitigation)

Biodiversity (conservation and/or restoration)

Sustainability challenge(s) addressed

Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)

Climate change adaptation

Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)

Green space creation and/or management

Habitat and biodiversity restoration

Regeneration, land-use and urban development

Regulation of built environment

Landslides reduction

Water management (SDG 6)

Flood protection

Health and well-being (SDG 3)

Creation of opportunities for recreation

Enabling opportunities for physical activity

Inclusive and effective governance (SDG 16)

Disaster-risk reduction

Climate change adaptation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?

Implement measures that prevent/manage desertification, soil erosion and landslides

Restore mangroves, marshes, reefs and wetlands to dissipate the effects of storms and floodwaters

Implement sustainable urban drainage schemes to manage stormwater

What types of restoration goals are / were defined for the NBS intervention?

Ecosystem-focused

What activities are implemented to realize the restoration goals and targets?

Rehabilitate and restore damaged or destroyed ecosystems

Implementation activities and NBS focus

Implementation activities

- Improvements of main/primary canals and lakes: Protection of canal banks and clearing of reservations, repairs locks and gates in the canal systems, widening of bridges in the canal systems, tunnel constructions, restoration of lakes associated with the canals and wetlands through dredging and environmental enhancement of the immediate surroundings (6)
- Rehabilitation of secondary/tertiary canals (6)
- Improvement of stormwater drainage: Improvements to localised micro drainage and interception of unauthorised effluent discharges (6)
- Urban landscaping for recreation and city beautification: Creation of recreational space such as parks, walkways other public open spaces and improvement to existing places (6)
- Conservation of heritage around Beira Lake and other important sites including natural habitats for the promotion of urban tourism (6)
- Public Health & Sanitation support: Solid waste management and interception of unauthorized discharges to the canal system, improving the public sanitary facilities (6)
- Rehabilitation/development of small/medium scale municipal infrastructure: rehabilitation and renovation of libraries, markets, public toilets, playgrounds and common amenities (6)
- Urban/municipal Road resurfacing and roadside drainage improvement (6)

Type of NBS project

Creation of new green areas

Creation of any other green urban spaces

Maintenance and management of urban nature

Maintenance or upgrade of exisiting green spaces (e.g. parks)

Ecological restoration of ecosystems

Ecological restoration of existing green spaces

Restoration of wetlands (other types than peatlands and mangroves, e.g. seagrass)

Restoration and protection of ecosystems (including water ecosystems)

Protection of natural ecosystems

Protecton and enhancement of wetlands (other types than peatlands and mangroves, e.g. seagrass)

Habitat restoration

Strategy, plan or policy development

Creation of city-wide or neighborhood climate adaptation or mitigation strategies/programs

Development of disaster-risk prevention strategies (e.g.fire management, flood alleviation scheme)

3. NBS domains, ES and scale

NBS domain and interventions

Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented

Blue infrastructure

In-land wetlands, peatlands, swamps, and moors

Green areas for water management

Sustainable urban drainage systems

Parks and urban forests

Pocket parks/neighbourhood green spaces

Amenities offered by the NBS

Playgrounds

Educational and research amenities (nature protection centre, monitoring stations)

Complementing infrastructure (bathrooms, café)

Other

Please specify other amenities offered by the NBS

Toilets, Libraries, markets (5)

Design elements for well-being

Visual elements (e.g., expansive views, scenic views, natural light, diverse vegetation)

Services

Expected ecosystem services delivered

Regulating services

Flood regulation

Water purification / filtration

Cultural services

Tourism

Aesthetic appreciation

Recreation

Mental and physical health and wellbeing

Intellectual interactions (scientific and / or educational)

Scale

Spatial scale

Meso-scale: Regional, metropolitan and urban level

Beneficiaries

Demographics in implementation area

The city has a population of 752,993 people. The larger urban area has a population of over 2.3 million, while the metropolitan area has a population of more than 5.6 million residents (8). Colombo is a very ethnically diverse city and has many different ethnic communities residing within the city property (8). More than 50% of the residential units in the Colombo city limits are unauthorized settlements that comprise vulnerable groups. Household Income and Expenditure Survey - HIES data reveals that there are 15,144 (3%) people under poverty headcount living within Colombo city limits (9)

Socio-economic profile of the area

Mixed income

Communities vulnerable to environmental hazards or climate change impacts

Yes

Specification of climate or environmentally vulnerable communities

Low-income neighborhoods

Communities located in floodplains

Primary Beneficiaries

Local government/Municipality

Citizens or community groups

Marginalized groups

Specify primary beneficiaries

The project has benefited the community, as 322,4005 people in the Metro Colombo area are now protected from floods (3).
This project was integrated into the city’s land use and led to Colombo receiving international recognition as the first capital to be recognized as a Ramsar wetland city (3)

Marginalized groups

Socio-economically disadvantaged populations (e.g. low-income households, unemployed)

Vulnerable populations in disaster-prone areas

Measures for inclusion of marginalised groups

The urban poor, who mostly live in low-lying areas prone to flooding, are severely affected by the problems caused by flooding. The Metro Colombo Urban Development Project (MCUDP) aims to tackle this issue, by improving the flood control and drainage infrastructure and management system of the Colombo water basin and enhance the competence of central and local governmental authorities to deliver and manage infrastructure and services in the Metropolitan area (7)

Specify measures taken for vulnerable or marginalized communities

Implementation of specific programs to address the needs of these communities

Provision of resources tailored to the unique challenges faced by vulnerable or marginalized groups

Other beneficiaries

Natural habitats (e.g. wetland, forests, coastal areas)

Ecosystem services (e.g. improved air quality, water purification)

City infrastructure (e.g., reduced flooding, improved water quality)

4. Governance and financing

Governance

Governance arrangements

Government-led

Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative

- Sri Lanka's government: initiating and co-financing agent (2)
- Ministry of Urban Development and Housing: Implementing and executing agency (2)
- World Bank and Sri Lanka's Government: co-financer (1)
- Implementing agencies (3, 6, 7):
Sri Lanka Land Reclamation and Development Corporation (SLLDC)
Urban Development Authority (UDA)
Colombo Municipal Council (CMC)
- Urban Local Authorities involved (6, 7):
Colombo Municipal Council (CMC)
Dehiwela-Mount Lavinia Municipal Council (DMLMC)
Sri Jayawardenapura-Kotte Municipal Council (SJ-KMC)
Kolonnawa Urban Council (KUC)

Key actors - initiating organization

National government

Local government/municipality

Public sector institution

Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)

Public sector institution

Multilateral organisation

Participatory methods/forms of stakeholder involvement (all stakeholders)

Co-planning (e.g. stakeholder workshops, focus groups, participatory mapping)

Dissemination of information and education

Consultation (e.g. workshop, surveys, community meetings, town halls)

Uncommon actors ("Missing actors")

Unknown

Land owners

Public space owned by the city

Policy drivers

NBS intervention implemented in response to a Regional Directive/Strategy

Unknown

NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan

Yes

Please specify the national regulations/strategy/plan

The project’s high-level objective was aligned with two of the main strategic objectives of the World Bank’s Sri Lanka Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) FY 09–12: improving infrastructure provision to strengthen competitiveness and enhancing the quality of services (3)
The goals and outcomes of improving local infrastructure in Metro Colombo and protecting the Colombo Metropolitan Region from flooding are aligned with the National Physical Planning Policy as well as Plan Sri Lanka 2011-2030 (3)

If there is a relevant strategy or plan, please specify the theme/type of the plan

Other

Please specify other national policy instrument

World Bank's Country Assistance Strategy (3)
National Planning Policy (3)

NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan

Yes

Please specify the "local regulation/strategy/plan"

Urban wetland parks and the improvement of public spaces complement the plans envisaged in the Colombo City Development Plan 2022-2030 prepared by the Urban Development Authority (UDA) (3)

Relevant strategy or plan

Urban redevelopment plan

Mandatory or voluntary intervention

Mandatory (based on policy)

Intervention is mandatory

Spatial planning guidance

Enablers & Barriers

Type of enablers

Capacity-building projects

Please provide details (e.g, name of the plan or strategy) for the selected policies or initiatives.

Key local stakeholders have been sensitized to the value and advantages of NBS solutions, raising awareness on strategies to mitigate landslide risks—such as bioengineering unstable slopes by planting new vegetation (4)

Governace and decison-making instruments

Strategic instruments (e.g. GI strategies, green space strategy or plans)

Joint regional planning between municipalities (e.g. inter-municipal exchange platforms, regional plans for environmental management)

Educational and knowledge sharing instruments (e.g. science/ living labs, awareness raising campaigns, specific educational programs, green hubs)

Arrangements for governance cooperation

Formal coordination mechanisms to oversee project implementation and decision-making (e.g., multi-stakeholder steering committees, working groups)

Conflict resolution mechanisms (e.g. mediation panel or team focused on addressing disputes or disagreements among stakeholders)

Performance monitoring and evaluation frameworks (e.g. adoption of KPIs, or establishment or monitoring and evaluation processes)

Barriers

The time needed to build the entire system was underestimated. It was challenging to select the best combination of interventions which would be feasible within the project period and the funds allocated. Implementation risk and the complexity of the institutional arrangements were inadequately assessed. The project design was ambitious and some activities were designed on a framework basis, with the specific interventions and their locations not yet determined. Implementation risks, including the length of time to adjust for unexpected results from the hydraulic models or unidentified technical challenges, could have either been better assessed or contingency allowances could have been built in. The project had two implementation agencies for each component, and the resources needed for coordination and communication between these agencies to resolve implementation issues were underestimated (3).
The Easter bombing in 2019 affected the implementation of ongoing sub-projects for two months due to security concerns and constraints, including curfews, movement restrictions, and temporary demobilization of some contractors. Because of this, the project experienced difficulties in hiring and retaining construction personnel. Additionally, abnormally heavy rainfall resulted in the inundation of sub-projects. The COVID19 pandemic impacted the ongoing operations of some contractors, who faced labor shortages and significant delays related to the manufacturing and shipment of critical equipment produced in China and Korea. All contractors submitted force majeure claims due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a total delay of around 210 days. In 2021, less than one year before project closure, the country was faced with a major economic crisis, which led to the government starting to restrict the import of goods resulting in a major shortage of construction materials including cement, bitumen, and timber, which were crucial for the final stages of construction. The prices of materials increased more than 20 per cent, and most contractors faced liquidity and cash flow issues (3)

Financing

Total cost

More than €4,000,000

Please specify total cost (EUR)

292,535,597.46

What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?

n/a

Source(s) of funding

Public national budget

Multilateral funds/international funding

Type of fund(s) used

Earmarked public budget

Loan

Non-financial contribution

Unknown

Co-finance for NBS

Yes

Co-governance arrangement

Other

Please specify other co-financing type

Loan Agreement (3)

Entrepreneurship opportunities

Unknown

Business models

Risk reduction model

Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?

Public actor (e.g. municipality)

5. Evaluation and learning

Impacts, benefits

Environmental impacts

Climate change

Lowered local temperature

Achieved lowered local temperature

Environmental quality

Improved air quality

Achieved improved air quality

Water management and blue areas

Increased protection against flooding

Achieved increased protection against flooding

Enhanced protection and restoration of freshwater ecosystems

Achieved enhanced protection and restoration of freshwater ecosystems

Green space and habitat

Increased green space area

Achieved increased green space area

Increased presence and recovery of wild species

Achieved increased presence and recovery of wild species

Please specify other economic impact

- Recognition of the city as the wetland capital of the world

Description of environmental benefits

-Lowered local temperature: "Improvement of wetlands benefitted 50 percent of the metro-Colombo area through “natural air conditioning”, as well as preserving 260 species and biodiversity in the Colombo wetlands (3).
-Improved air quality: "Improvement of wetlands benefitted 50 per cent of the metro-Colombo area through “natural air conditioning”, as well as preserving 260 species and biodiversity in the Colombo wetlands (3)"
-Increased protection against flooding: "The project contributed to flood reduction even during high intensity rainfall. The project successfully achieved its objective to reduce the area at risk of flooding around CMR for 3 km2 surrounding the intervention areas from high intensity of rainfall of up to 50-year return period." (3)
-Enhanced protection and restoration of freshwater ecosystems: "Following technical assessments carried out by the World Bank that showed that protection from flooding depended on the city’s natural wetlands, the Metro Colombo Urban Development Project protected and restored 20 square kilometers of freshwater lakes, wet woodlands, wet grasslands and swamps, offering a natural defense to flooding" (4)
-Increased green space area: "Number of public spaces / parks upgraded and revitalized by the project: 3 by Dec 2021" (3)
-Increased presence and recovery of wild species: "Improvement of wetlands benefitted 50 percent of the metro-Colombo area through “natural air conditioning”, as well as preserving 260 species and biodiversity in the Colombo wetlands" (3).

Environmental impact indicators

Total area of habitat restored (in ha)

2000

Water retention capacity (m³ or %)

3 km2

Economic impacts

Increase of green jobs (e.g. paid employment positions)

Achieved increase of green jobs (e.g. paid employment positions)

More sustainable tourism

Achieved more sustainable tourism

Increased property prices

Expected increased property prices

Other

Description of economic benefits

-Increase of green jobs (e.g. paid employment positions): "The project ensured equal rights for men and women by capturing gender specific considerations in the Social Management Framework (SMF), which included: (i) allowing women as joint home owners with their spouses; (ii) livelihood restoration support for female-headed households; (iii) equal employment training opportunities for women; (iv) gender-sensitive provision of facilities at resettlement sites, including a center for women and daycare facilities; and (v) ensuring women’s participation in the condominium management process" (3)
-More sustainable tourism: "Following the success of Beddagana Park as a biodiversity park, the Urban Development Authority launched the Diyasaru Wetland Kotte Rampart in October 2022 for educational tourism. Both wetland parks are open to the public and are managed by the Wetland Management Strategy Unit established under the project." (3)
-Increased property prices: "a land value increase – assuming that the improved drainage and reduced flooding will enhance the value of the land, particularly in areas that would otherwise have been inundated. We capture this increase as a one-time benefit in our CBA. This is because, given the large area under consideration and dynamic environment, land value increases are not fully attributable to the project itself necessarily, so we cannot isolate and use this as a continuous benefit in our analysis" (3)
- Recognition of the city as the wetland capital of the world: "The project generated unintended positive impacts with respect to the improvement of wetlands. With the completion of the Beddagana wetland park, Colombo was accredited in 2018 as the first wetland capital city in the world by Ramsar International." (3)

Social and cultural impact indicators

Percentage of women involved in key decision-making processes (%)

Evidence for use of assessment

Presence of an assessment, evaluation and/or monitoring process

Yes

Actors involved in the assessment, monitoring or evaluation of NBS impacts

Local government/municipality

Public sector institution

Multilateral organisation

Presence of indicators used in reporting

Yes

Type of indicators

Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports

Yes

Link to monitoring/evaluation reports

https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099445012152224197/pdf/BOSIB07d79fd…

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

No evidence in public records

Name of any specific impact assessment tools

Unknown

Use of GIS in mapping impacts

No evidence in public records

Cost-benefit analysis

Yes

Transparency

Inclusion of diverse stakeholders in project governance processes (e.g. planning, implementation, monitoring, etc.)

Community forums for information sharing and encouraging the participation of marginalized groups

Clear communication channels for stakeholders to provide feedback, raise concerns, and ask questions about the project

Public disclosure of project funding sources and/or budgets

Online disclosure of technical reports (e.g. project documents, reports, or data)

Sharing of environmental grievance mechanisms

Justice

Community satisfaction

Positive: The majority of feedback and reports indicate high levels of satisfaction and appreciation for the NBS project within the community.

Description of locals satisfaction with the project

A considerable majority (81.49%) of beneficiaries were found to be confident and in a good impression that flood risk has declined as a result of interventions under MCUDP, in the MCUDP Beneficiary Survey conducted by the World Bank (3)
A beneficiary satisfaction survey was conducted for Beddagana Wetland Park, Viharamadevi Park, and Kotte Rampart. 83 percent of the direct beneficiaries were satisfied with the completed interventions under the project (3)

Trade-offs & Negative impacts

Unknown

Measures to prevent gentrification or displacement

No initiatives or policies were implemented

High-quality & Transformative NBS

Multiple impacts delivery (climate, biodiversity, just community)

Yes

Goal setting and impacts delivery

Yes, from the planning phase the project aimed to address issues in these three key priority areas and it also delivered benefits across these three areas.

Reaching original project goals

Most of the project goals were achieved

Long-term perspective

Yes

Cost-effective solutions

Yes

Equitable impacts

A. All stakeholders benefit fairly from the project

Transformative capacity

Systemic change (the NBS caused changes across the social, ecological and technological dimensions)

Magnitude of change

Reformist: by focusing on addressing underlying drivers of change but failing to address the problem structurally or systemically

Application of lessons learned

The NBS has been shared or used as a good practice to trigger transformative change

The NBS has informed policy and regulatory processes

Perception of Environmental Change

Unknown

6. Sources

References

The Global Program for Nature-Based Solutions for Climate Resilience (2024). Metro Colombo Urban Development Project. Accessed on October 8, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

World Bank Group (2023). Metro Colombo Urban Development Project. Accessed on October 8, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

The World Bank (2022). IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION AND RESULTS REPORT . Accessed on October 8, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (2023). Mitigating Disaster Risk in Sri Lanka through Nature-Based Solutions. Accessed on October 8, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

Metro Colombo Urban Development Project (n.d.). Metro Colombo Urban Development Project. Accessed on October 8, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

Ministry of Defence and Urban Development (2011). Environmental Management Framework. Accessed on October 8, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

Ministry of Defence and Urban Development Project (2024). RESETTLEMENT ACTION PLAN (RAP) Rehabilitation of St. Sebastian South Canal. Accessed on October 8, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

World Population Review (2024). Colombo, Sri Lanka Population 2024. Accessed on October 8, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2018). Assessing and Planning City Region Food System. Accessed on October 8, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

Comments and notes

Public Images

Wetland in Colombo

Ministry of Urban Development and Housing

Site visit in one of the Colombo's Wetlands

Ministry of Urban Development and Housing