During the eighth day of the trip we heard from a planner named Mr. Kasthuri Rangan. His presentation provided us with an overview of planning in India, Kerala, and Trivandrum. Mr. Rangan shared many insights and useful perspectives on planning. I learned that planning in India is a growing field and will provide many exciting opportunities. People seem energized about planning here and a sense of responsibility and eagerness to bring about social, economic, and environmental progress is evident.
Some basics about planning in India: the Central Planning Commission sets the national agenda, which is then reflected in state plans. States then develop a five-year plan that combines both national and state priorities. Local governments are responsible for spatial planning and receive one third of the state’s financial resources. Local governments also develop their own plans. Master plans for cities or townships reflect both state and national priorities in addition to local needs.
What Mr. Rangan stresses is the fact that plans should be dynamic because is impossible to literally translate plans on the ground. Instead, plans should include a framework for land use and social planning in the form of policies, expectations, needs, and goals. Every city has to evolve its own land use strategies and proposes a “systems approach to planning.” According to Mr. Rangan, it is the planner’s task to bring various sectors together and systematically integrate knowledge applicable to planning. I believe that many of the points Mr. Rangan discussed in regards to planning in India also are applicable to planning in the U.S.
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