Urban Studies Foundation- Knowledge Mobilization Award

Posted on 23 July 2024

Asha Abeyasekera was awarded a Knowledge Mobilization Award (KMA) from the Urban Studies Foundation (USF) to build a community manifesto on housing and urban planning with poor working-class communities in Central Colombo.

Using utopian thinking and imaginary play, the first round of community workshops was held in July 2024 with four groups including young people and the elderly. Titled ‘Dreaming: Imagining Colombo as Utopia’, the workshops were designed for residents facing eviction and relocation under the Urban Regeneration Programme to imagine Colombo as an equitable city.

Building a Community Manifesto through Utopian thinking is a bold experiment and a first step in reimagining Colombo by privileging the imagination and voices of the poor. It is an experiment because it intends to reignite community participation in housing policy and urban planning.