ABSTRACT
This chapter describes a several-stage process of project planning and implementation that can cope with development problems in an experimental, incremental and adaptive fashion. It describes the characteristics of each phase in an adaptive approach to development administration. Experimental projects are generally small-scale, highly exploratory, risky ventures that do not always provide immediate or direct economic returns or yield quick and visible results. Substantial evidence from experience with development assistance indicates that these conditions characterize most development activities. In Colombo, Sri Lanka, the Million Houses Program to assist poor slum dwellers upgrade their housing and community services during the late 1980s and early 1990s relied almost entirely on the beneficiaries" own definition of problems. During the experimental phases of Saemaul Undong, the national government offered all villages a limited amount of building materials with which to launch small, self-help projects.
