9. Action planning in Calcutta: The problem of community participation

Abstract

Summary The spontaneous contribution of voluntary citizens’ effort to the development of Calcutta, a city growing in size by a million additional inhabitants every five years, is already of great importance, though largely unrecognized by government and planners and almost entirely unrelated to the design and execution of a comprehensive development plan for the metropolis. If the vital development potential of vigorous community participation in metropolitan planning and implementation is to be realized, two requirements are essential: first, a radical change in the approach and methods of urban planning now conventionally employed; and second, the creation of an institutional structure for community action (with adequate commitment of supporting governmental resources) which is directly related to objectives of the social and civic development of the urban community as a whole. These two questions are here discussed as an aspect of the Calcutta experience in developing planning for a complex metropolita...