I guess one problem which urban planning is facing in developing countries is that the issues followed by planners are not their main planning problems. Urban planning should exactly concentrate on the problems of its context in theory and practice. What we see today in developing countries (at least in Iran where I live and study) is many theories and methods of planning coming from other countries especially from the USA and the UK. They all may be useful to extend our point of view in planning but they cannot be implemented directly in other countries. planning in every country (and even every city or region) should be specified based on its social, political, institutional and economic environment. Many plans are made every year without having a clear and defined view of these characteristics. Therefore, what happens in the real world is quite different from planners' expectations.

Ihsan Jasim ,

This is a debatable question that needs to be considered and carefully addressed. Regardless the big forces - society, economy, and environment - that have been involved in forming our cities, whether in the first world states or developing states.

The role of urban planning can be achieved if the process of planning conducted in a right manner. Three main components including (1) elected officials (executives), (2) practitioners (planners & urban designers), and (3) stakeholders have to be involved in that process. Otherwise, the role will not have the impact, and thus the goals have simply faded.

The way the question is presented implies that the situation of cities in the developing world is caused by planning. Actually that is not correct and exagerates the effects of urban planning. The situation of cities might be getting worse because the cities are developing/growing no matter if there is any planning.

thank you Saleh Roshani

I agree with you ,Because the theories and methodology of urban planning are the product of Western societies, have not adapted enough in the societies of developing countries .

Thank you dear Dhirgham Alobaydi

I agreed with you on your precise proposal, But urban planning as a science is still trying to reach more rigorous theories and methodologies, we have not reached the end of history in urban planning.

thank you Feng Frederic Deng

Growth is the quantitative increase. While development is the quantitative and qualitative increase, the goal of urban planning, my question of why growth without planning occurs

Ihsan Jasim , this is a good question.

I totally agree with Dhirgham Alobaydi . If the urban planning process well put and inclusive, managing the city growth and extension will be well-structured and controlled. Theories and practices of urban planning are useful if they consider the needs of stakeholder, economy, and environment.

Ahmed Alshammaa Agreed with you, but in science there are no final answers, but the methodolgy and theories trying to deal with the phenomena more accurately .

Ihsan Jasim ,

I also agree with you; however, urban planning is about achieving progression. Since the stakeholders involve in the process, we cannot meet the integrality.

Regards,

thank you Ahmed Alshammaa

I agree with you , the stakeholders ( Citizens) important part of urban planning .

I really thank you Ihsan Bei for the wording ".. in science there are no final answers,..".

This is the way we can easily find solutions for urban planning not only in developing countries but also developed (!) ones.

But the solutions always depend governments' decisions in a good way or another.

thank you Said Dağdaş

I agree with you , But in industrialized countries looking for a better methodology, While in developing countries they violate the most basic principles of urban planning

I think this is the best time for emerging and developing countries to learn the sustainable concept of land use from developed countries and adopt, lunch such a smart urban planning model which shift the city or region towards sustainability. if we take the example of famous cities such as Paris, Zurich, Munich, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, etc, all the cities are evidence of smart urban land Use planning. These cities fulfill the demand of people on one hand, while on another also reduce the demand of personal vehicle, where the human trip is mainly facilitated with city public transportation. without urban planning and smart use system will lead towards Urban Sprawl, which is another topic.

thank you Asim Farooq

Is modern methodology and human resources sufficient?

, I think it is not enough if the decision-maker does not adopt such ideas.

Urban planning is the final result of development, how can we consider the result as a cause?

Ihsan Jasim the science is always about improvement and adopting new techniques, there is always place for improvement in decisions, i think the modern research and researcher will fill this gape.

thank Salam Jassim Hmood

On the contrary, the beginning of any successful development must be well planned

thank you @Asim Farooq

It is true, that the urban planning has evolved significantly,

But the problem of the developing countries not to adopt modern methodology or consult with specialists

In my country, urban planning has been used in a undesirable manner. There are many plans prepared, collecting dust with no effort to implement them. There is a disconnect between plan preparation and implementation both at the national and county level.

On the flip side, when things go wrong, everyone is in a hurry to blame planners for not being proactive or utterly doing nothing! Perhaps, the work of an urban planner is less known, less appreciated or not necessary, at least in the developing countries.

Thank you Onguso Maina , the conditions of developing countries are similar, so the situation of their cities is similar. The weakness of the legal framework and the weakness of state institutions led to exploitation by the implementing agencies. Politicians often play a bad role in this process.

(Urban planning is a means to make a difference)

is a technical and political process concerned with the development . is the process of shaping the physical setting for life in cities, towns and villages. ... , spaces and landscapes, and establishing the processes that make successful development possible.I think it helps leaders to work on developing and realizing the vision to apply, using space as the primary resource for development

It is a very interesting question. Leonardo Benevolo, maybe one of the best theorists of urban planning assured that urban planners are always behind the problems of the city, they are arriving when the chaos has already appeared. The problem is, not so much that, there are worse cities at the same time that there are more urban planners or urban planning teams. I believe that the capacity of action of these planning staff is decisive. I have worked in several developing countries in Latin America, and the problem that I have detected is that the management of urban planning is very complex due to external factors such as corruption and the lack of urban discipline with very weak legal structures.

I think that even so, it is very important that cities incorporate urban planners to solve the problems of the city that as always, these problems are ahead of us.

Best.

Planning can achieve much, but it must be done in close cooperation with people and it must consider that many people have very restricted resources. Here often the challenges start: Planning becomes top-down and is not considering the needs of poorer sections of societies.

Advice and tolerance

may be.

Ihsan Jasim

Unfortunately, there is no real role for planners in decision-making

Because the decision is in the hands of the authority owner (the president)

The problem is of the governance the authorities actually have lake of capable person having no idea or approve such policies having their own interest in developing countries.