THE RATIONAL APPROACH IN ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING AND DESIGN

The rational approach is a legacy of Western thought. It has its roots in Greek philosophy and is based on reasoning and inquiry. It is rooted on reduction and positivism; reduction refers to the solving of a problem by breaking it into small parts while positivism implies that everything can be explained in a logical way. Le Corbusier applied the rational approach as the basis for the planning and design of the city of Chandigarh, India. This city however, has failed to respond to the life style of its residents because it has ignored the important dimensions of social and cultural issues. The objective of the paper is to understand the meaning of the rational approach. The paper examines the role and influence of the rational approach in the areas of environmental planning and design1. It also analyzes its impact on the planned city of Chandigarh2 in India. Environmental planners and designers solve their design problems in a number of ways. They generally use, whether consciously or unconsciously, one of two paradigms. The firs