Forum 2025
Held at the Banquet hall, Havolock City, Colombo on the 11th December 2025
The 3rd National Urban Design Forum 2025, titled “Shaping Urban Futures: Navigating Identity, Power, and Agency in the Age of Transformation,” brought together leading voices in urban design, policy, and academia.
The forum featured distinguished keynote speakers, including the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Prof. Ruwan Ranasinghe; Prof. Frank Schwartze (Germany); Prof. Manish Chalana (USA); and the Guest of Honour, His Excellency Ambassador Dr. Purna Bahadur Nepali, Ambassador of Nepal.
The event also highlighted several key Institute activities for the year, including the awarding of certificates to new members, recognition of outstanding contributors, presentations on Institute initiatives, exhibitions of Master of Urban Design students’ project work, and the inauguration of the 11th ICCPP Conference.
Interwoven between these segments were several fusion dance performances by students of the Drama Club of the University of Moratuwa, which added vibrancy to the programme and greatly enthralled the audience.
The forum strongly reaffirmed the critical role of the urban design profession in shaping Sri Lanka’s urban futures, particularly at a time when prevailing approaches to urban development increasingly threaten the quality and sustainability of our ways of life.
