ABSTRACT
Of the many different characteristics typifying Third World cities, the most common is their limited and often inadequate institutional framework for planning. In countries as diverse as Brazil and Tanzania, India and Mexico, it is common for urban transport plans (where they exist) to be formulated in a way whereby their implementation is frustrated by an inability to direct efforts towards the achievement of pre-specified objectives. Furthermore, even in countries which have a strong planning tradition, such as India and Mexico, urban transport planning is hampered by the fact that urban movement problems are generally treated by central government as a purely local matter. As a result, the local and state urban transport planning agencies tend to draw up plans and proposals which reflect very little of the national development priorities.
