Urbanism

The modes of diffusion of ideas that shape planned environments, and the ways these ideas are realised, have been gaining prominence as subjects of study and discussion among planning historians and others. However, most studies have focused on the diffusion that has occurred within the sphere of the so-called First World, where the participants have been considered as relatively equal partners. On the other hand, where the diffusion took place between the First and Third Worlds, these exchanges have often been projected as one-way impositions where the receivers are silent, oppressed, impotent ¡ if not outright invisible. More recently, some researchers have begun to approach the relations between actors and stakeholders in processes of planning diffusion in a more complex and ambiguous way. To begin with, the natives in developing countries, whether colonial or post-colonial, are being recognised as fully-fledged actors in the shaping of the built environment, with a variety of roles to play and means to play them, even if they frequently face many constraints to their actions. Moreover, the planning influences have started to be acknowledged as going in multiple directions, incl