Transfer of Planning Technology and Local Political Economy: A Retrospective Analysis of Calcutta's Planning

31 March 1994

journal article
research article
Published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of the American Planning Association

Vol. 60 (1) , 71-82
https://doi.org/10.1080/01944369408975553

Abstract

Calcutta's planning experience after independence is noteworthy for two reasons: first, it included an unprecedented effort at transferring western planning technology (mainly through the Ford Foundation) to a Third World city; second, it serves as a graphic example of how the larger picture of a city's future is drawn by the forces of politics and economics. Using Calcutta's story as the background, this paper examines the issues involved in transfer of planning technology (diffusion, permanence, etc.), and the overwhelming importance of the political economy of the receiving region in determining the acceptance or rejection of the transfer, and in shaping subsequent urban development.

Keywords

POLITICAL ECONOMY

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