Dr. K. Locana Gunaratna is a Fellow of The National Academy of Sciences of Sri Lanka. He is an architect trained at the AA School in London who received his Master’s in City Planning from Harvard University and his PhD from the University of Colombo. He has led many professional associations in his country including the National Academy of Sciences of Sri Lanka, the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science, the Institute of Town Planners Sri Lanka, and the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects. He is a Vice President of the Sri Lanka Economic Association. He is the Principal Partner of the firm Gunaratna Associates, Chartered Architects, Engineers and Planning Consultants, Colombo.  He has also gained extensive experience in the public sector having worked at a managerial level with government institutions such as the State Engineering Corporation, the Mahaweli Development Board and the Ministry of Urban Development.

His research focuses on issues related to urbanization in Sri Lanka and extending to South Asia, topics on which he has written extensively. His publications include the books Shelter in Sri Lanka (1978–1991); Spatial Concerns in Development: A Sri Lankan Perspective; and the upcoming Springer publication Towards Equitable Progress: Essays from a South Asian Perspective.