Planning from the ground up ... Or getting down to earth

Abstract

If urbanization per se improves the lot of the vast majority of urban newcom­ers, such improvement is marginal and at best only reflects degrees of poverty. Populist rhetoric creates and nurtures expectations that cannot realistically be achieved nor maintained. People are encouraged to see themselves as victims and therefore entitled to special treat­ment. In reality, the urban poor are caught in the clutch of poverty with its concomitant dependency syndrome and learned helplessness. The promise of the city gives way to the 'land of waving palms' - cupped hands and a beggar mentality: Without access to work or productive resources, the most the poor can expect is a shift in geographic lo­cation.