The spatial dimension of development planning

Scholars often express concern about the problems of development in Sudan and relate them largely to the inadequacy of planning. Planning in Sudan is characterized by a fragmented nature which ignores the interaction between economic, social and spatial components of the development process. This reflects a narrow centralist policy approach and the lack of broad vision of comprehensive development. The book investigates development policy at national, regional and the local levels. The analysis shows the failure of centralist policy to achieve a widely distributed development. This results from the inability to realize the obvious fact that most of Sudan's conflicts came as a result of ignoring the interaction of development and spatial forces, and to appreciate the problems of the persisting concentration on economic growth and development of few primate cities. It is clear that the failure in achieving a balanced development makes it inevitable that the centralist policy approach will be replaced with the broader vision of comprehensive development, which cannot be implemented by isolated approaches from dichotomized planning activities.