international Journal of information Management (1986), 6 (203-205)

‘BARDON, K., ELLIOT, C.J. and STOTHEKS, N. (1984). Computer applications in local authority planning departments 1984: a review. Computer Applications Research Project, Department of Planning and Landscape, Birmingham Polytechnic. Birmingham. ‘MASER, I. (1986). Information manage- ment in British planning agencies. Paper presented at workshop on Informatics and regional development, Delphi, Greece. 7 UN CENTKE FOR HUMAN SETTLEMENTS

(1985). A micro computer physical plan- ning system from Habitat. Tech Note 5, UN Centre for Human Settlements, Nairo- bi, Kenya.

Information Management for Urban and Regional Planning in Developing Countries:

Introduction

I. MASSER

Department of Town and Regional Planning, University of Sheffield, Sheffield SlO 2TN, UK

In the last few years there have been dramatic changes in the use of information technology by urban and regional planning agencies all over the world. In Great Britain, for example, the number of computers available to staff in local planning authorities more than doubled between 1982 and 1984 as a result of the widespread introduction of microcomputers and word processors. As a result more than two-thirds of all local planning authorities had their own in-house facilities by the latter year.’ British experience also suggests that the main use that is made of this extra computer power is in connection with the execution of routine administrative duties which are repetitious in nature and undemanding from the standpoint of their data-handling requirements. Consequently, in place of the 1970s image of the typical British planning agency computer user as a graduate professional specializing in quantitative analysis, the current stereotype is that of a clerical assistant operating an extended word processing system for processing planning applications or a minicomputer for computing mapping purposes.*

Recent British experience can be regarded as fairly typical of what has been happening in other parts of the world. For many urban and regional planners in developing countries the advent of the micro is an event of particular importance because of its low cost and its user friendliness. The latter quality is felt by them to be especially significant in that it eliminates the need for the costly technical support systems that are associated with mainframe computing and allows users to control their own computing environment.

The potential significance of microcomputers for urban planners in developing countries has been recognized by the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements in Nairobi who have taken the lead in the development of portable software packages for urban data management and housing finance.’ The Centre has adopted a policy of making these packages freely available to potential users and it is also undertaking a number of training programmes in Africa, Asia and South America to familiarize users with the concepts underlying the software packages.

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Information management for planning in developing countries

4LlN L)EPAKIMENT Ok TECHNI(‘AL (‘OOPPKA-

mm FOK DEVELOPMENT (1985). Modern managrmenf and informatiorl systems fbr public administration in developing coun- tries. Dot. No. STIESA/SER.EI.?h. New York: United Nations. 5~~~~~)~~~~, K.V. (1986). An integrated approach to training for the establishment and use of information systems for sub- national development planning. Paper pre- sented at expert meeting on Training in information systems for local and regional planning in developing countries at UN Centre for Regional Development, Nagoya, Japan. %N CLNTKE I,OR KEGIONAI DLVE, OPMLN7 (1986). Information systems for urban and regional planning: Asian and Pacific pers- pectives. Nagoya: UNCRD. ‘UN C‘ENTKE FOR KF(ilONA,. oavtt.oPMENr (1984). Information systems for urban and regional planning: their use and application in developed und developing countries. Report of the Kawasaki International Seminar on Information Systems for Urban and Regional Planning. Nagoya: UNCRD.

A number of other UN sponsored agencies with special interests in developing countries have been active in the public sector information management field in recent years. The UN Department of Technical Cooperation for Development has published a reference book on government information systems which provides guidelines for public policy makers and experts.” This draws their attention to the converg- ence that has taken place in computing and telecommunications technologies and the wide-ranging impact that this is likely to have on public administration in practice. It is particularly concerned with the broader policy issues arising from these developments and the need for governments in developing countries to make the institutional arrange- ments that will be necessary to exploit the full potential of the new information technologies.

UNESCO has also been active, particularly in the development of information systems for sub-national planning. It has commissioned a series of case studies of current practice in Asian countries which led to the proclamation of the Visakha Declaration on Information Systems for Sub-national Planning for the Developing Countries in December 198s.5

Information management issues associated with metropolitan plan- ning have been tackled by another UN sponsored agency, the United Nations Centre for Regional Development which is located in Nagoya, Japan. It commissioned a number of case studies on Asian cities which were presented at an international seminar held in Kawasaki in October 1984” and the discussion at this seminar Icd to the proclamation of the Kawasaki Declaration on Information Systems for Urban and Regional Planning with particular reference to developing countries.’

The findings of the UNCRD project are particularly interesting in that they deal with information management issues from the standpoint of the requirements of metropolitan planning. As a result of rapid national population growth and the movement of large numbers of rural people to urban areas, particularly the largest cities, the expansion of these metropolitan areas has been taking place on an unprecedented scale in many developing countries. This is especially evident in Eastern Asian countries such as the Philippines, Thailand and Korea, where Manila, Bangkok, and Seoul, respectively. face urgent and pressing problems as a result of rapid urbanization.

What is particularly interesting about cities such as these is that the seriousness of their planning problems has generally been acknow- ledged by their national governments and many of them have been given special powers to deal with them. This is the case in many East Asian countries. Conseyuently, in terms of both the state of planning practice and information management these metropolitan areas tend to occupy an intermediate position between current practice in developed countries and the non-metropolitan portions of developing countries. It is likely for this reason that their experience will be regarded as a model for planners in other developing countries.

The two papers that follow describe some of the information management issues involved in metropolitan planning in developing countries with particular reference to East Asian experience. In the first of these papers Josefa Edralin outlines some of the main issues that emerged from the UNCRD project. In the process she highlights the extent to which information management strategies are determined by the style of planning that is adopted by particular planning agencies. It is

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obvious from her analysis that there is no one best way of information system planning which can serve as a model for all circumstances. It is necessary therefore to tailor information management strategies to meet the specific requirements of local organizational structures and the needs of particular sets of users. Special significance must also be attached to monitoring and evaluation activities within the agency because of the nature of the demands that they impose upon data collection and information usage.x

Edralin’s paper also draws attention to a number of practical problems that are associated with the implementation of information management strategies. These are explored in greater depth by Elena Panganiban in her case study of the Metropolitan Manila Commission. In the study she considers some of the information management issues that are involved at four different levels of planning:

1. Strategic policy formulation. 2. Capital investment folio management. 3. Project and programme monitoring. 4. Local planning.

The findings of her study indicate the extent to which ad hoc procedures still persist within the agency despite the efforts of those involved to introduce more systematic and comprehensive information manage- ment practices. The persistence of these procedures appears to be largely due to the deep-rooted traditions which manifest themselves in administrative practices that have remained largely unchanged despite recent developments.

The case of Metro Manila also provides a timely reminder that data are not necessarily information from the standpoint of potential users. There is no shortage of data in Manila. The main problem is the extent to which these data meet the needs of potential users. In Metro Manila there is ample evidence of information overload existing alongside a serious shortage of information that can be used by planners in connection with their vital monitoring and evaluation activities.

Taken together the two papers give a good indication of the information management issues that face urban and regional planners in developing countries. They provide both an overview of recent experience in some key Asian cities who are currently in the front line of planning efforts to deal with rapid urban expansion and an in-depth

'MASER, I. (1986). Strategic monitoring account of current practice in one city. It is to be hoped that urban and for urban planning in developing countries: some guidelines from British and Dutch

regional planners in other developing countries will-take the lessons of

experience. International Journal of In- this experience into account when formulating their own information

formation Management, 6, pp. 17-28. management strategies in the future.

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