"Colombo's current centre, Fort, got its name from the presence of the Portuguese and the Dutch fortifications located there. At the turn of the 21st century, the British, who took over from the Dutch after bitter fighting, razed the last structures of the Dutch stronghold. It was the British, however, who left a truly lasting impression on almost every aspect of life in Colombo. They developed a unique urban plan to modernise Colombo, under which specific areas were demarcated for economic, political, judicial and cultural developments. They encouraged the rapid and uninterrupted development of the plantation sector, which in turn presented demand for a banking and commercial shopping complex at Fort."