Lalith Lankatilleke’s Book on The Way to Address Poverty & Underdevelopment
Bio-Data on Back Page
Lalith Lankatilleke (75), trained as an architect and planner in Sri Lanka, embarks on an epic journey at the age of twenty-six into the heart of Africa, following his passion to contribute to the advancement of humanity. In his mission to transform the lives of poor, marginalised people, he encounters a stark dichotomy between how people think and how professionals and bureaucrats define ‘development’. Throughout his endeavours, he observes this contrast across various societies and cultures, yet the underlying message remains the same: true development must be realised from within the people themselves. Development imposed from the outside cannot address the diverse needs of communities and invariably fails. His journey of unlearning and relearning from the people is vividly chronicled from 1976 to 2014, covering twelve countries across Africa and Asia.
