| Author | Vu Hong Phong |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.RD-00-27 |
| Subject(s) | Rural development projects--Vietnam--Hanoi
|
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of
Science |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | In Vietnam, a "top-down" approach has dominated development planning in the country for a
long time. Not until 1986 was bottom-up planning has been adopted in development work
through a promotion of people's participation in the planning process but this is still limited in
scope and practice, especially in a physical planning.
Phu Thuong Community Planning Project is one of the first projects in Vietnam in which the
government has tried to emphasize a participatory planning process in physical planning. This
is the first attempt of the government to find ways to apply a participatory approach in
planning process effectively.
The study was undertaken to investigate forms and extent of people's participation in the
planning process; to study people's awareness of their role, their willingness to participate;
their satisfaction on project performance and perception on the importance of people's
participation. The study explored social, economic and institutional factors affecting people's
participation. Based on the findings, recommendations for strengthening participatory
planning process and strengthening participation are given.
Findings from the study showed that a framework of participatory planning applied in the Phu Thuong Project had positive effects on mobilization of people and local resources for public
infrastructure projects. People were actively involved in the planning process in the form of
providing data for planning, attending meetings, joining discussions and contribution of
resources both in cash and voluntarily labor. Their contribution of resources organized by
local leaders and local organizations concerned.
People in general supported the implementation of the project. They were quite aware of their
role in the planning process, satisfied with project performance and realized the importance of
the participatory planning process applied in this project. Local organization and institutional
factors were found to be important in organizing, coordinating and facilitating participation in
the whole process, particularly in project implementation.
It is recommended from this study that some flexibility is needed in this type of project to
identify and match resources, which should be affordable by people and what is required by
the project. This may result to more active participation of people in this kind of project in
future. |
| Year | 2000 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Development and Sustainability (DDS) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Rural Development, Gender and Resources (RD) |
| Chairperson(s) | Soparth Pongquan; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Dale, Reidar ;Savage, Bill; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Norwegian Agency for Development; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2000 |