TOWARD A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR URBAN TRANSPORT PLANNING IN THE THIRD WORLD

This paper describes the most critical aspect of urbanization in the Third World is that the associated urban population growth far outweighs the growth in the economic base of the urban area. As a result, urban areas of the Third World are usually characterized with acute shortages in the resources needed to improve and add to existing infrastructures. The objective of this paper is to outline the elements of a proposed framework for approaching the transport problems of Third World cities. The framework is considered to have general application although in different cities different aspects will attract greater emphasis. A constant frame of reference in the succeeding discussion is the question of development, or rather, the lack of it which gives Third World countries their common characteristics and allows them to be grouped together despite their often contrasting economic, social and political history.