Main trends of research in the social and human ... - unesdoc - Unesco

612 Pierre de Bie
In the analysis phase, a physical development team is primarily and usually concerned
with such general operations as the analysis of human and social needs in a human
settlement (or a physical area) ... In so doing, it takes into consideration the ability of
the people and of their governments to satisfy those needs, individually or collectively.
The team is likewise concerned as a rule with the analysis of total needs for equipment,
facilities and institutions, and identification of total resources and of the human settle-
ment (or phsyical area) in relation to the broader region in the context of nationalpolicy
and plans. Finally, the team synthesizes and interprets conclusions reached in thecourse,
of analysis in more general terms, relating them to findings and conclusions applicable
to other comparable areas.
During the policy phase, the team normally ranks alternative courses of action based
upon the conclusions reached during the analysis ; outlines the likely short and long-
term effects of each course of action upon the total set of social, economic and political
conditions, problems and policies of the area and their impact upon the people and the
governments; and develops a close familiarity with existing and proposed resources and
with the legal and legislative context within which to carry out projects, programmes
and plans. Finally it decides on and recommends a course of action and policy that not
only satisfies the identified needs (present and future), but also has the greatest possi-
bility of achieving successful completion.49
The policy selected is in turn organized scientifically and technically. Three
phases are distinguished by Iatradis: programme, ‘design’ or ‘plan’ phase and
implementation. During each phase there is a continuous comparison of aims,
insights and of the means best suited to achieve the objectives. Knowledge and
action overlap continuously, up to and including the introduction of research
to evaluate the policies and the results obtained, which may lead to modifica-
tions of the courses of action. There must be a careful synchronization of work
and a synthesis of the contributions of various disciplines. ‘In ekistic practice,
an effort is constantly made to engage the required experts from the conception
of the project to the very end and to operate the team as an integral unit.’so
The summary by P. Bolle and F. Perrin of the research related to develop-
ment planning in France gives an account of a complicated set of investigations
and concrete initiatives which likewise belong to the domain of narrowly-focused
research. Here an administrative body, the Ddkgation a l’arnknagement du
territoire et A l’action rkgionale, acts as a stimulus, co-ordinating and providing
technical help in planning. In the numerous technical studies initiated by this
body, the sciences of man play only a limited part: research is chiefly confined
to technical and financial matters. There is a certain amount of economic re-
search, but hardly any on sociology.
The work of the Ddkgation is presented as
an administrative mobilization for the undertaking of new tasks in stimulating and di-
recting economic life, at a time when decisive progress in the sciences of man makes it
possible to modify some of the conditions governing theexercise of these responsibilities.
Experiments in multidisciplinary association . . . constitute the DBkgation’s main in-
novation. This multidisciplinary association begins with the organization of the DBe-
gation itself, which includes, in addition to administrators and technicians - selected
with unusual care to ensure systematic diversity - one or two representative delegates
from the universities.
The very considerable use made of research committees comprising technicians
and researchers with different kinds of training does not always guarantee a multidis-
ciplinary approach to problems ... The most interesting studies, from the point of view