An Investigation of Public Art and its Role in Increasing Urban Quality: The Case of Arayampathy Batticaloa, Sri Lanka

In this modern world, urban sculpture is considered as a cultural necessity in contemporary urban planning. Urban sculpture can reaffirm or reveal a sense of place in a symbolic and visually stimulating way of evoking some aspect of social, natural, cultural, physical, political, economic or historical context of the site and its locale. Typically, public artists produce site-specific sculptures and prominent installations that add character and distinction to a development and the surrounding neighborhood. After studying the city planning critiques viewpoints about public art’s definition, nature and impact on city, this study evaluates the role of urban sculptures as a type of public art in enhancing public place quality in the case study of Arayampathy town, Batticaloa, Sri Lanka.