Power, politics and policy in the appropriation of urban wetlands

The critical case of Sri Lanka

Bibliographic Data

ID2157376
AuthorsMissaka Hettiarachchi (0000-0002-2132-8625), Tiffany H Morrison (0000-0001-5433-037X), Clive Mcalpine (0000-0003-0457-8144)
Year2019
Volume46
Issue4
Pages729-746
Publication date2019-06-07
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of Peasant Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0306-6150 • E-ISSN: 1743-9361
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/03066150.2017.1393801
OpenAlexW2768537396
LanguageEN
Citations received16
References cited41

Little is known about the drivers and governance strategies of appropriation of urban nature in the global south. We compare urban land-grabbing in the city of Colombo, Sri Lanka, with broader understanding of rural land-grabbing in the developing world. We show that the colonial legacy of appropriation and alteration of urban wetlands in Colombo has attained new heights in the neo-liberal period. This cyclical process has caused acute irreversible damage to the wetland ecosystem and a vast majority of the urban poor, with the marginalised continuing to suffer dispossession and environmental hazard. In recognition of the inherent limitations of 'uncontrollable' hybrid ecologies, potent social struggles have emerged to resist the continued appropriation agenda. As this cycle is perpetuated, broader social struggles for democratic urban governance have overtaken the pursuit of narrow political-economic goals and internal policy reform

Appropriation · Corporate governance · Democracy · Development economics · Economics · Environmental governance · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development · Law · Urban and Rural Development Challenges · Water Governance and Infrastructure

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Open DOISci-HubOpen Access