ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the requirements and procedures for project planning and design that were adopted by international agencies and governments in many developing countries. It explores the reasons why projects so often deviated from preconceived plans during implementation and examines the factors that limit the usefulness of rationalistic analysis and control-oriented planning and management procedures in development administration. The rapid turnover of personnel in international funding institutions, national ministries and agencies, and among technical consultants hired to assist with analysis and design often leads to increased inconsistency. Despite the fact that United Nations Development Program (UNDP) procedures required detailed and precise identification of the objectives, goals, and targets of projects they funded, evaluations of UNDP urban development projects frequently bemoaned the fact that in reality projects had vague, unrealistic, and overly ambitious goals and objectives.
