PLANNING FROM BELOW
PLANNING from BELOW
A Decentralized Participatory Planning Proposal
VOLUMES I AND II
Marta Harnecker and José Bartolomé
with the collaboration of Noel López
Translated by FEDERICO FUENTES
MONTHLY REVIEW PRESS
New York
Copyright © 2019 by Marta Harnecker. All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available from the publisher
ISBN 978-1-58367-755-1 paperback
ISBN 978-1-58367-756-8 cloth
Originally published by Centro de Investigaciones “Memoria Popular Latinoamericana”
Havana, Cuba, February 2018.
Series: Socialismo del siglo XXI
Sub-series: Planificando desde abajo No. 2
Marta Harnecker and José Bartolomé
Planning from Below: A guide for decentralized participatory planning
Volumes I: Theoretical Aspects; Volume II: Methodological Aspects
MONTHLY REVIEW PRESS, NEW YORK, NEW YORK
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOREWORD by Dr. T. M. Thomas Isaac
CHAPTER I. WHAT WE MEAN BY DECENTRALIZED PARTICIPATORY PLANNING
1) Seeking the greatest protagonism possible
3) Toward decentralized participatory planning
a) The need for planning to be participatory
b) The need for planning to be decentralized
4) Achievements and weaknesses of participatory budgets
5) Political importance of our proposal
CHAPTER II. VENEZUELA AND KERALA EXPERIENCES
1) The role of organized communities in Venezuela
a) What do we mean by community?
b) Unified plan that brings together all community initiatives
c) Promote community supervision
e) Ensuring an electoral result that reflects the will of the people
e) The Community Assembly: the maximum authority
f) Giving priority to actions over words and speeches
g) How to ensure a large and broad attendance
h) A team to help initiate the process
i) Handing over financial resources to small projects
j) Small public works that had a big impact in Santa Tecla, San Salvador
k) If there is a shortage of resources, hold a community project-ideas competition
2) The experience of decentralized participatory planning in Kerala
a) Three levels of local rural self-government
b) Transfer of resources and competencies
c) From the rural village to meetings in smaller areas: wards and neighborhood areass
d) Decentralization of important financial resources to the lower levels
e) Principles that govern the process
f) The contributions of the experiences of Kerala and Venezuela
CHAPTER III. LEVELS OF PLANNING AND TYPE OF PLANS
1. TERRITORIAL DIVISIONS AND LEVELS OF PLANNING
1) Territorial distribution and corresponding levels of governments