Mega “Kandy City Urban Upgrading Project” on track to ease congestion
View(s):The joint venture between Engineering Consultants (Pvt) Ltd (ECL), Sri Lanka’s leading multi-disciplinary consulting company, and Keios Development Consulting of Italy, has been awarded the consultancy contract of the “Kandy City Urban Upgrading Project”implemented by the Strategic Cities Development Project (SCDP).
Keios provides planning, design and technical assistance services in the fields of urban development, cultural heritage and sustainable tourism, according to an ECL media release. The popular city of Kandy has many issues such as traffic congestion, lack of good pedestrian connectivity and vibrant public spaces, unplanned development, degradation of cultural assets, threats of landslides, lake shore erosion, and social challenges due to impending gentrification.
Furthermore, as a tourist destination, the city requires more quality facilities and attractions to ensure tourists spend more than a day exploring it. The “Kandy City Urban Upgrading Project” will transform the city’s built environment to a healthier, sustainable and respectful embodiment of the city’s rich heritage and make it a more vibrant city equipped with modern amenities for both citizens and tourists alike. Several projects are expected to be implemented, including the Kandy Lake Walk Around, retrofitting of D. S. Senanayake Public Library and surrounding areas, Market Zone, upgrading of the Post Office and surroundings, George E. De Silva Park and several other common spaces, ECL said.
The World Bank and the Government of Sri Lanka have embarked on the first phase of development to support this programme through the SCDP, which has selected Kandy and Galle City Regions for its implementation. The Ministry of Urban Development and Sacred Area Development is executing the project with assistance from the International Development Association (IDA), which is part of the World Bank Group. The main objective of the SCDP Urban Upgrading Component is to upgrade key areas in the city of Kandy, transforming this city into a key tourism and economic centre. The “Kandy City Urban Upgrading Project” is planned as the first of several projects to be implemented under the SCDP’s “Urban Vision” of Sri Lanka by 2020. Sri Lanka’s “Urban Vision” is to develop as a system of competitive, environmentally-sustainable and well-linked cities, and provide every family with affordable and adequate urban shelter by 2020, ECL said.
Speaking about this historic project, Prabhath Jayasundara – Managing Director of ECL stated, “We are proud to be associated with such a ground-breaking project that will help restore the wonderful city of Kandy. The company considers it a great honour to be given the opportunity to play a key role in the Government of Sri Lanka’s future urban city development across the island.”
He added that the project would also create a world-class holistic urban design theme, adopting sustainable tourism attributes and community-centric approach to the city.
He further added, “With our company’s vast experience in local architecture, infrastructure engineering, socio-economic awareness, cost estimations and financial feasibility analysis within the context of sustainable development practices, ECL would achieve the deliverables of the project assuring the envisaged quality standards and the delivery timelines”. Engineering Consultants (Pvt) Ltd (ECL) is a multi-disciplinary consulting company established in 1968 and is a fully-owned subsidiary company of MG Consultants (Pvt) Ltd.
The company offers services from project concept to completion in a wide range of fields including architectural and building design services, highways and transportation, water supply, sewerage and sanitation, airports and harbours, irrigation and drainage, environment management and provincial and rural roads. Design of educational facilities, hospital and health care facilities, roads and highways are sectors that ECL has had a major focus in the recent past. ECL is a member of the Association of Consulting Engineers Sri Lanka (ACESL) affiliated to the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC).