Before the Master Plan: A Framework and Some Difcult Questions for Regional Land Use Planning

Before the objectives outlined in the master plan for the Iraqi marshlands (USAID 2004) can be met, there is a need to examine the methodology at arriving at that stage. I would like to focus in this chapter on the issue from the perspective of modern development, rather than the marshes. I believe that the marshes are part of the situation but won’t, in the long run, drive the sustainable social ecology of that area.