Urban Planning and the Community: An Example from the Third World

In this paper the need for, and problems associated with, urban planning in the Third World is examined through the consideration of the implementation of a major large-scale planning exercise: the Delhi Master Plan. The main features of the planning exercise are outlined with emphasis placed on the comprehensive nature of the proposals in the plan. The implementation of these strategies is then considered and the failure to realise declared aims of the Master Plan is emphasised. This is attributed in part to the planning agencies failure to implement strategies efficiently and effectively, in part to the erroneous assumptions upon which these strategies are based, and in part to the comprehensive, blue-print approach adopted. In the final section the need for an alternative approach to urban planning is argued, with emphasis placed on the identification of realisable goals, the assessment of priorities, and the need for the involvement of the communities one is attempting to benefit.