The Impact of Path Dependency on Planning Systems - the Case of India
Abstract
There is relatively little research on path dependency, planning culture and the impact of institutions on the planning systems of India and other countries, as well as on the opportunities and obstacles for India to transfer planning practices internationally. For India, the concepts and theories of path dependency, planning culture, and the role of institutions are equally important for understanding its planning system. India's existing infrastructure planning and services have struggled to meet its rapid urbanisation, as Mathews et al.（2018) claim that there are several issues hinder urban land planning and service, including the limited use of mapping technology such as GIS, municipal government lack of fundings and advanced technical devices, and land market distortions. Thus, the fundamental reasons for these major problems of urban planning are closely linked to path dependency, planning culture and the role of institutions in India. India's international transfer of planning practice has tended to be dominated by imports, mainly from Britain during the colonial period. Conversely the output side has certain limitations, mainly due to its rapid urbanisation, while the planning of infrastructure has failed to meet the demands of rapid urbanisation.This essay will critically discuss the role of concepts and theories that important to the Indian planning system.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Booth, P., 2007. The control of Discretion: Planning and the Common-Law tradition. Planning Theory, 6(2), pp.127-145.
Booth, P., 2011. Culture, planning and path dependence: some reflections on the problems of comparison. Town Planning Review, 82(1), pp.13-28.
Bradley, Q., 2019. Combined Authorities and material participation: The capacity of Green Belt to engage political publics in England. Local Economy: The Journal of the Local Economy Policy Unit, 34(2), pp.181-195.
Bunker, R., 2012. Reviewing the Path Dependency in Australian Metropolitan Planning. Urban Policy and Research, 30(4), pp.443-452.
Chalana, M. and Sprague, T., 2013. Beyond Le Corbusier and the modernist city: reframing Chandigarh's ‘World Heritage’ legacy. Planning Perspectives, 28(2), pp.199-222.
Deeg, R., 2001. Institutional Change and the Uses and Limits of Path Dependence: The Case of German Finance. SSRN Electronic Journal.
Dolowitz, D. and Medearis, D., 2009. Considerations of the Obstacles and Opportunities to Formalizing Cross-National Policy Transfer to the United States: A Case Study of the Transfer of Urban Environmental and Planning Policies from Germany. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 27(4), pp.684-697.
Friedmann, J., 2005. Globalization and the emerging culture of planning. Progress in Planning, 64(3), pp.183-234.
Gains, F., John, P. and Stoker, G., 2005. Path Dependency and the Reform of English Local Government. Public Administration, 83(1), pp.25-45.
Ghimire, K., 2018. Path Dependence, Abnormal Times and Missed Opportunities: Case Studies of Catastrophic Natural Disasters From India and Nepal. Law and Development Review, 11(1), pp.31-76.
GOLDMAN, M., 2008. Speculative Urbanism and the Making of the Next World City. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 35(3), pp.555-581.
IJ Ahluwalia, I., 2021. [online] Icrier.org. Available at: [Accessed 16 December 2021].
Kay, A., 2005. A Critique of the Use of Path Dependency in Policy Studies. Public Administration, 83(3), pp.553-571.
Keller, D., Koch, M. and Selle, K., 1996. ‘Either/or’ and ‘and’: first impressions of a journey into the planning cultures of four countries. Planning Perspectives, 11(1), pp.41-54.
Kumar, A., Vidyarthi, S. and Prakash, P., n.d. City planning in India, 1947-2017.
Mahoney, J., 2021. attachment_1 (3).pdf - Path Dependence in Historical Sociology Author(s James Mahoney Source Theory and Society Aug 2000 Vol 29 No 4(Aug 2000 pp 507-548 | Course Hero. [online] Coursehero.com. Available at: [Accessed 16 December 2021].
Mathews, R., Pai, M., Sebastian, T. and Chakraborty, S., 2018. state-led alternative mechanisms to acquire, plan, and service land for urbanisation in India. WRI-India Ross Center.
Rauterberg, M., 2018. Culture and Computing. Interactive Cultural Heritage and Arts.
SEARLE, G., 2004. Planning Discourses and Sydney's Recent Metropolitan Strategies. Urban Policy and Research, 22(4), pp.367-391.
Shaw, A., 2009. Town Planning in Postcolonial India, 1947-1965: Chandigarh Re-Examined1. Urban Geography, 30(8), pp.857-878.
Sorensen, A., 2015. Taking path dependence seriously: an historical institutionalist research agenda in planning history. Planning Perspectives, 30(1), pp.17-38.
Taylor, Z., 2013. Rethinking planning culture: a new institutionalist approach. Town Planning Review, 84(6), pp.683-702.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18686/utc.v9i1.171
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright (c) 2023 Xinrui Li
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
