Are Anglo-American-Style Normative Planning Theories Applicable in South Asian Cities? An Exploratory Study

Three types of normative planning theories have been popular among planners in the United State and Western Europe in recent years, with a fourth knocking at the door. In contrast, rational planners in South Asian cities, realizing that their resources are limited, have traditionally practised a synoptic approach to planning. Unfortunately, most of their planning initiatives have been futile, owing to the poverty of this region. This has led planners and policy makers to search for appropriate and innovative alternatives for planning in this region. This paper analyzes and explores the applicability of Anglo-American-style normative planning theories in the cities of South Asia. The author concludes that implementing Western-style planning theories in general, and normative planning theories in particular, is premature, because an appropriate milieu does not yet exist in South Asian cities at their present stage of development.