ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with the nature and potentials of planning as a basis for action, examined in the particular context of situations experiencing the kind of changes associated with economic development. But an initial problem is to find an acceptable definition which will allow the exploration of such a broad approach to planning. One might describe the history of planning concepts as an oscillation between models, modification or replacement of a particular model occurring as a result of challenges on the grounds of internal inconsistency or conflict with other conceptual, often ideological, principles. The consideration of urban areas, and the discussion of urban planning, has been centred around actual examples taken from Venezuela and Colombia, deriving from the author's research work in these two countries. The association of planning with change is frequently stated as an article of faith by planners, sometimes simply because of planning's alleged concern with future states, sometimes because of a concern with societal transformation.
