A city is a large human settlement. People are the main driving force in a city. The dynamism of a city is dependent on people and their behaviour. A preliminary understanding of the composition and diverse capabilities of the populations in a city should be the key to a successful urban study.
This section provides a description of the demographic status and trends in the city, primarily based on 2012 census data, presenting an overall view of the population. Trends and patterns of urban population are discussed including aspects of demography such as age, sex, ethnicity, education levels; and overall observations with regard to migration patterns, suburban population and gender.
Understanding the demographic and composition patterns of the population within the existing physical boundary will help in planning a livable city.
Source - Department of Census and Statistics
According to the Census 2012, the female population is higher than the male population in the country. Out of the total population, 48.4 percent are males and 51.6 percent are females. Out of the total population within the Point Pedro Urban Council limits, 46.8 percent are male and 53.2 percent are female. Here is how the gender population in 2018 has changed according to the statistics of the Northern Provincial District Secretariat. By 2018, the percentage of males in the population has gradually increased to 48.22% compared to 2012, and the percentage of females to 51.78%. However, the female population is still highly represented. By the year 2018, the total number of families living in the Velvattithurei Urban Council area is reported as 6110.
Source - Department of Census and Statistics
Gender differences in the demography of Valvattithurai UC is seen with a higher number of women than men, a trend was seen in all the major cities in Sri Lanka, but pronounced in Valvattithurai (95.44 men per 100 females, i.e. 52.28% are female). In Point Pedro, in all the age groups, except the below 15, there are more females than men. While a national trend, this can also be a reflection of the impact of the years of civil conflict. As with other cities, the female elderly population is significantly higher than their male counterparts, and of the total male and female populations in 2012, the male and female elderly proportions were reported to be 14 percent for each catagory.
Source - Department of Census and Statistics
The total population of the Northern Province as per the statistics is 1.246 million, the lowest populous province in the country, with 606,678 males (47.3%) and 639,775 females (52.7%). The population density is 136 persons per Sq. Km as against to 346 for the whole Island. The majority in the province live in areas classified as rural (84.5%), and only 15.5% of the population live in areas classified as urban. The majority of the population i.e. 89% in the province are Sri Lankan Tamils and others are Sri Lankan Moors, Sinhalese and Indian Tamils living in the province. Most of the Sri Lankan Tamils are Hindus, and the other religious persuasions in the province are Christians, Muslims, and a small number of Buddhists. The graph here shows the difference in ethnic composition from province to district to city. While usually, the city shows a more cosmopolitan nature than the province. The Valvattithurai city reflects the composition of the district quite closely, even more so than the provincial percentages.
Education has always been a significant element in societal development. The development of education facilities contributes substantially to the development in an urban area.
As a developing country it is crucial to address poverty in order to attain the development goals. Education plays a major role in poverty reduction. Presently, several global cities have been implementing the concept of smart city to improve the quality of life of the society, including in the field of education.
Good educational institutions and coverage enables a population to have decent livelihoods be they self employed or part of the workforce. Understanding how a city provides primary, secondary and tertiary eductional as well as skill development through vocational centres could provide some pointers to how well a city is doing or where it needs to develop further.
Source - Department of Local Government,Nothern Province
Libraries provide materials and resources that entertain and inspire as well as services offering space for people and information to come together, and programs that would create library awareness and consciousness. In addition to providing materials, libraries also provide the services of librarians who are experts at finding and organizing information and at interpreting information needs. Libraries often provide quiet areas for studying, and they also often offer common areas to facilitate group study and collaboration. For the valvatithurei UC there is one library.
Urban governance can be simplified as “how government (local, regional and national) and stakeholders decide on planning, financing and managing urban areas”. It involves a continuous process of negotiation and contestation over allocation of social and material resources and political power.
This section provide a snapshot of the emergent contours of urban governance in Sri Lanka, focusing on financial resilience, service provision and economic dynamism.
Information available here are collected and calculated considering secondary data sets, ground level surveys as well as stakeholder discussions. The city governance index has taken many a factor into consideration and provides a valuable way of assessing our cities and how they rank from a governance perspective.
Source - Department of Local Government,Nothern Province
The above data can provide a better understanding of the human resources that perform the day to day duties of the local authority. approved cadre and existing cadre for the Local authority is given here. The number of vacancies can be found by subtracting the approved cadre from the existing cadre.
Municipal services is one of the key tasks an urban centre carries out fto ensure a functional living condition for its citizens.
The access to municipal services and the quality of their provision strongly influence the social, economic and environmental performance of a city as well as urban development.
Urban centres provide key services that underpin Sri Lanka’s socioeconomic development. Cities provide key government administration functions, such as vehicle registration services, access to social protection schemes, and a range of additional services (explored in detail in Chapter 9, urban governance in the SoSLC Report). Urban centres provide residents with health and education services: providing equitable access to quality healthcare and education. They also include services to facilitate social recreational activities and promote community cohesion, such as libraries, community centres and sports facilities. Ensuring quality services is a crucial component in securing an urban future for all Sri Lankans.
| Availability of Road Inventory | Yes |
| Availability of Asset register | Yes |
| An online system is available for citizen to request services | No |
| A "reference no" is issued to the citizen requesting services | No |
| A "Front Office" is available | No |
| All the services can be accessed at a single location (Front Office) by a visiting citizen | No |
| Separate Male/Female toilets are available for the visiting citizen | No |
Source - Valvettithurai Urban Council
This data represent the 2018 records. Services delivered to the citizens by the local authority is very important to measure the functionalities and capacities of the local authority.
Source - Valvettithurai Urban Council
Fund alocation for social servises in the area indicate the facilities provided to develop the quality of the socity. The data elaborate on main sectiones in social servises, and how the budget alocations and expenditure took place in 2018.
Source - Valvettithurai Urban Council
Providing trainings to the staff will increase the capacities of the officers in managing and decision making. This data explained on provided trainings and the number of officers trained.
Source - Department of Local Government,Nothern Province
The above data describe the services provided by the local authority. It further states how many centers there are for services such as markets, clinics, dispensaries, ayurvedic hospitals, fairs, commercial stalls, waste water treatment plants, cemeteries, etc. Here are the figures for the number of such centers in the year 2016, 2017 and 2018 within the limits of Valvettithurai Municipal Council. There has been no significant change in those three years.
Valvettithurai Urban Council area:
Valvettithurai Urban Council covers an area of 579.84 hectares. (Data Source _ Survey Department)
Download Map Here Download Data Layer Here
Distribution of Grama Niladhari Divisions in Valvettithurai UC:
Further details related to its 12 Grama Niladhari Divisions can be seen by downloading the map. (Data Source: Survey Department)
Download Map Here Download Data Layer Here
Road Map of Valvettithurai Urban Council:
The road map for Valvettithurai Urban Council shows information on the road classifications. Road names are visible in the detailed layer which can be downloaded. This has been updated in 2020.(Data Source _ Openstreetmap)
Proper management of land, a scarce resource, can bring about many benefits. This is of great importance especially in urban areas.
It is timely to figure out how land is allocated and being used for what purpose in our cities today. In order to create well planned cities with a futuristic vision, having a better understanding of current land use is imperative.
Land use maps are categorized into 36 sub-categories under two types – built-up and non built-up. The extent of land in each of these sub categories are indicated below.
In all of the cities it can be identified that the higher densities are concentrated in the city centres and the expansion is taken place along the roads. The expansion pattern is shaped by the geography of the surrounding area.
The selection of the area for the urban expansion analysis was followed by several preliminary studies. Initially, the urban index values which was identified using the remote sensing information were studied in the respective municipal areas including a fringe area.
Before selecting interested area for the expansion analysis it should consider following facts
- Municipal boundary
- At least 2-3 km buffer around Municipal boundary
- Rough boundary where the physical urban character disappearing
In the remote sensing discipline, the values higher than 0 represent the built-up areas.The boundary for the fringe area was identified by getting the extent of urban expansion as well as a fine boundary where the high-density expansion become insignificant. The identified boundaries were projected on to the latest satellite images to assure the identified urban index values are in line with the existing building densities.
