Collaborative Planning for Megacities in Developing Countries: Reinventing Urban Democracy.

Urbanization in developing countries is forecasted to double over the next several years. Urbanization and growth of megacities provide potential benefits for developing countries, but they come along with problems and challenges. It is crucial for megacities in developing countries to respond to and cope with urbanization and fast growth effectively. Effective and efficient urban planning and management are essential to responding successfully to the challenges of rapid growth. They decide on the future success or failure of megacities in developing countries. Most megacities in developing countries use a traditional top down process for their urban planning and management. This paper questions whether the government of megacities in developing countries needs a new generation of urban planning process, so-called collaborative planning. It analyzes both the traditional master plan approach and participatory model of planning, exploring their shortfalls and benefits and explores case studies. The paper concludes that participatory approach is more transparent, democratic and effective than the current approach used by the governments of megacities in developing countries as it bridges gap between government and public, increases social cohesion and uses the social capital of the megacity more efficiently