“Incipient thoughts about the Relationship between Infrastructure Planning and Implementation in the Global South”
Current thinking on the relationship between infrastructure planning and effective implementation tends to stress the completion of a hierarchy of planning tasks well ahead of the year in which implementation must begin. This implies a process of multi-year budgeting and knowing precisely what is to be done 3 to 4 years in advance of it actually happening. The general underpinning philosophy is that establishing implementation “certainty” well in advance is a necessary pre-condition for successful implementation (usually defined as spending the budget allocated within the designated allocation period). Changing the game plan is seen as potentially catastrophic for implementation efficiency unless these changes are to be implemented 3 to 4 years in the future. As a consequence the delivery process becomes very rigid and it is difficult for politicians, communities and practitioners to make a practical difference because things are bespoken for well in advance. The model is also very demanding of planners and implementers alike, and often assumes the availability of reliable data for planning and the availability of competent professionals to effect delivery. In the developing world retaining rigidity in planning and implementation is difficult in the context of volatile political and institutional environments. Moreover the reliability of planning information is often questionable. In any event planning and implementation processes in the developing world often need to be a lot more responsive and flexible than current established methodologies allow. There is as a consequence a need to develop and test new ways of conducting physical delivery processes in environments of uncertainty and complexity, where a linear sequence of planning, design, procurement and implementation fails to deliver desired outcomes. The talk will examine some incipient thoughts in this regard drawn from the world of education infrastructure implementation.
Biography:
Dan Smit is a highly experienced and accomplished development professional who has been involved in the international development field for more than 30 years. He has worked in many countries of the world and has undertaken substantial consulting work for inter alia the European Union, USAID, the World Bank, GIZ and NUFFIC. He has been a Professor at one of the world’s leading international development schools, the Institute of Social Studies in the Hague and has undertaken several international consultancies on their behalf. Dan Smit is a development all-rounder but has particular expertise in the fields of: international development aid; urban and regional planning; urban management and governance; housing and informal settlements; and infrastructure. In the academic arena he is well known for his writing on South African cities and on the relation between theory and practice. This ability to bridge theory and practice has enabled him to build a reputation for being able to keep the big picture squarely in mind whist simultaneously being able to systematically address the level of attention-to-detail that successful implementation requires.