The Good, Bad and the Ugly: The Right to the City?
A congested, yet vibrant Dalada Veediya, Kandy - a celebration of communal life! (Source - The Sunday Times, 2025, April 13 ) Who has the right to the city? Who gets to decide what a city should look like—and who decides who gets to stay? In the name of creating ‘clean’ and ‘beautiful’ cities, Sri Lanka is quietly erasing the livelihoods of those who have the least. First the removal of decorations from three-wheelers and buses,…and then the removal of street vendors in Kandy. These may or may not be part of the same project. But, certainly a continuation of the same thinking. A grand narrative and a mainstream obsession for “Clean” aesthetics! What is striking is the politics of this clean aesthetics_the entertainment of those who have something , at the expense of those who have almost nothing . Judging by the one sided online conversation, the majority appears to be in agreement and even applaud such decisions. It is unfortunate and shocking to see how c...