Abstract:
The City of Colombo, Sri Lanka has a multi-ethnic composition with Sinhalese, Tamils, Moors, Burghers
and Malays comprising the key ethnic groups. During the late 20th century, the concentration of two
minority ethnic groups i.e. the Tamils and the Moors has steadily increased in a few wards. Spatial and
temporal changes in the pattern of ethnic segregation within the city are traced using a segregation index.
Reasons for the rise in ethnic segregation within the city include in-migration of people displaced following
ethnic conflicts in other parts of the country, high natural growth rates particularly within the Moor
community and low socio-economic conditions leading to congestion. The wards exhibiting a high
segregation index value have a large proportion of under-served settlements and are located close to the
Central Business District. Urban land use zoning regulations need to be redefined to discourage segregation
and to upgrade under-served settlements.
