1 AIT Asian Institute of Technology

The spring approach to decentralized district development planning : concept and reality, with emphasis on Thailand

AuthorLiu-weikl, Ling
Call NumberAIT RSPR no. HS-94-10
Subject(s)Development planning--Thailand

NoteA Research Study submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, School of Engineering and Technology
PublisherAsian Institute of Technology
Series StatementResearch studies project report ; no. HS-94-10
AbstractDistrict Development Planing has been given emphasis after many efforts have failed to bring out the expected results in eradicating rural poverty and reducing rural-urban disparities in the regional and rural development process. New development concepts and strategies, in the meantime, are advocated and adopted. New approaches are practiced and experimented. The needs for training new types of regional and district development planners are identified. The SPRING programme is one of the efforts given to train the professional regional I district planners under the decentralized condition. SPRING postulates some selected theoretical positions and a series of methods and techniques related with the planning process which are together referred to as the SPRING approach in this paper. The SPRING approach is taught in the classroom, exercised in the workshop and in the field. But finally it is expected to be applied in the planning practice by the trained participants. However, through a questionnaire survey in this study, although the prevalent opinions showed that the SPRING approach is a problem and action oriented interdisciplinary bottom-up participatory disttict development planning approach, there are some constraints of fully applying it presently in the real planning practice in many Asian countries. The constraints are with the general framework as well as with some planning methods of the approach; and also with the existing political, social, economic and cultural context. The latter, to a large extent, has to be seen as given conditions in the developing countries. The comparison between the SPRING planning approach and the Changwat planning practice in Thailand serves as an example to illustrate the gap between the conceptual approach and the regional planning practice. Further study on the application of the planning approach by the SPRING graduates has been suggested in order to improve the approach and keep the SPRING programme vital. Notes: 1. This Research Study was completed as part of the requirements for the SPRING (Asia) Program. SPRING, an acronym for Spatial Planning for Regions in Growing Economies, is an M. Sc. program jointly offered by AIT and the University of Dortmund, Germany. Under the SPRING Program, a Research Study canying 12 credits must be conceptualized and completed within only one term, i.e. from 1st May to 31st July. Preferably, the topic should be related to the preceding district development workshop. The SPRING Program thus differs from other M. Sc. programs at AIT where most students write a thesis which spans at least eight months. 2. Professor Klaus R. Kunzmann (University of Dortmund, Germany) attended the final examinations of the SPRING (Asia) students in August 1994.
Year1994
Corresponding Series Added EntryAsian Institute of Technology. Research studies project report ; no. HS-94-10
TypeResearch Study Project Report (RSPR)
SchoolSchool of Engineering and Technology
DepartmentOther Field of Studies (No Department)
Academic Program/FoSHuman Settlement (HS)
Chairperson(s)Kammeier, H. Detlef;
Examination Committee(s)Demaine, Harvey;Routray, Jayant K.;
Scholarship Donor(s)Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD), Germany;
DegreeResearch Studies Project Report (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1994


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