In a milestone for Sri Lanka’s urban development sector, Port City Colombo and the University of Moratuwa’s Department of Town and Country Planning have concluded the “Smart City Ideathon: Innovate, Plan, and Transform Urban Futures of Port City Colombo,” a first-of-its-kind programme aimed at nurturing next-generation urban innovators.
The three-phase initiative brought together young planners, academia, industry specialists and policymakers to develop bold, future-ready solutions for Sri Lanka’s rapidly transforming urban landscape. The final phase, held at the Port City Colombo Sales Gallery in line with World Town Planning Day 2025, marked the culmination of months of collaborative learning under the theme “With Planning, We Can: Shaping Smarter and More Prosperous Cities.”
“The Smart City Ideathon underscored the strength of Sri Lanka’s emerging planning talent and highlighted the practical value of their contributions to real development opportunities and challenges,” said Xiong Hongfeng, Managing Director of CHEC Port City Colombo (Pvt) Ltd. He noted that the clarity and intent demonstrated by student teams reflect the country’s capacity to shape its next era of city-making. “For Port City Colombo, this kind of engagement sharpens the long-term vision we are building… lasting developments are anchored in strong ideas, and this programme showed how effectively those ideas emerge when young talent is given the space to lead,” he added.
During the final presentations, students unveiled refined proposals addressing key dimensions such as mobility, liveability and urban functionality. The session featured a keynote by Heminda Jayaweera, Executive Director of Trace City, on the role of innovation and entrepreneurship in building smarter cities. CHEC Port City Colombo’s General Manager – Investment Promotion and Marketing, Tian Zheng, also engaged with participants, offering insights drawn from the project’s development trajectory.
A high-level panel discussion, titled “Planning Smart Cities Towards a Prosperous Nation – Insights from the Smart City Ideathon,” brought together leading academics and practitioners including Prof. Jagath Munasinghe, Plnr. Lalith Wijerathne, Plnr. Anuja Mendis, Plnr. Jeyatharani Senthooran, and Plnr. N.A.S.N. Nissanka. The panel examined broader national challenges, noting that Sri Lanka’s accelerating demand for urbanisation will require sweeping updates to development regulations, predictive planning systems, and long-term infrastructure capacity management.
Speakers emphasised the need for inclusive planning, sustainable infrastructure, technology-enabled governance and policies that support resilient, world-class urban environments.
Reflecting on the Ideathon’s six-month journey, Dr. Rizvi Noordeen, Head of the Department of Town and Country Planning, said the programme showcased how student-led ideas can evolve through collaboration and new pedagogical approaches such as urban informatics. Senior Lecturer Dr. Chathura Kovida De Silva added that the initiative fostered a genuine exchange of perspectives on the nation’s urban future: “The students challenged conventional thinking and offered perspectives that connected technology, environment, and social well-being.”
Launched in May 2025 for undergraduates of the BSc (Hons) in Urban Informatics and Planning, the Ideathon provided a platform for students to explore human-centric, sustainable and technology-driven urban solutions. The second phase, held at the University of Moratuwa, featured initial concept proposals that focused on greener, resilient and better-connected future cities.
With the success of the programme, Port City Colombo and the University of Moratuwa are now exploring opportunities for sustained collaboration, signaling the potential for long-term joint initiatives in innovation and development.
As the Smart City Ideathon 2025 concludes, it leaves behind a strong blueprint for continued academia–industry partnerships—one poised to influence how Sri Lanka conceptualises and builds its next generation of smart, inclusive and future-ready cities.
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