ABSTRACT
The phenomenon of urbanization as it exists in cities like Tokyo, Berlin, Paris, London and New York in the advanced and industrialized countries of the world does not occur in Ceylon, which until recently was regarded as a land of villages. Even though, in the world at large, the last few de cades have witnessed a rapid increase in the rate of urbanization, Colombo continues to be the only place that can be described as a city in Ceylon, concentrating within it a population of a little over half a million, or just over a twentieth of the total population of twelve millions inhabiting the country.
