Geographies of Conflict – Towards Liberation, Self-determination and Spatial justice in Sri Lanka’s North-East

This research project aims to understand the spatial and procedural implications of planning and spatial justice in conditions of oppressive power and conflict. Ambitions towards spatial justice amongst marginalized ethnic minority populations are at further risk if liberal notions of government and planning continue to operate under the ethnocratic state regime. This demands an alternative approach and perspectives that are context-specific and can engage with the realities of marginalized populations towards the quest for justice. The research framework is steered by an exploratory research approach that suggests an iterative and organic procedure to contextualize the preconditions of spatial justice as the research begins to unveil the marginalized areas of North-Eastern, Sri Lanka. The thesis aims to understand how spatial planning (planning and design) can unlock conditions to support the quest for spatial justice, self-determination, and liberation of Eelam Tamils in Sri Lanka’s North-East. In doing so, this research defines an alternative and conceptual framework on spatial justice, applies a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to recognize spatial injustice(s), proposes spatial-political futures on the self-determination of Eelam Tamils in the North-East, and operationalizes pathways of change toward
those desired futures through the manifestation of projects across spatially provocative scenarios. This research thesis urges practitioners and researchers to re-engage and reflect on our roles as spatial thinkers within conditions of conflict.

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