The Enabler Illusion: One Million Housing Scam

The complex history and ongoing challenges of urban development and social housing in Sri Lanka. From the colonial vision of Colombo as the “Garden City of the East” to the modern-day proliferation of “vertical slums.”

• Radical Land Reforms: We analyze the 1970s United Front government policies, such as the Ceiling of House Property Law, which transferred deeds from landlords to renters and prioritized equitable distribution.

• The "Self-Help" Era: We examine the legacy of Ranasinghe Premadasa’s housing schemes. While often lauded for community participation, we also address critiques labeling projects like the One Million Housing Programme a “marketing plot” or scam, arguing that the government often rebranded existing homes with minor improvements rather than building new stock. Unlike massive projects in countries like Sweden, this focused on an "enabler approach".

• Market-Led Shifts: We trace the transition in the 1990s toward speculative capital, where the state became an arm of private interests, leading to the relocation of robust neighbourhoods into high-rise apartments.

• The Urban Regeneration Project (URP): We provide a critical look at the Rajapaksa-era vision of a “World Class City”. We document how this model used military force for evictions and created high-rise blocks where residents now face “weaponization of the grid,” with water being disconnected to force utility and housing payments.

The human cost of these transitions, sharing stories of residents who feel “locked permanently in poverty” despite being given keys to new apartments. We examine how the loss of the "watte" social fabric - the communal sharing of labour and childcare - has impacted women and marginalized communities.

References
Housing Crisis in the “Garden City of the East” – The New Inquiry