Planning for Sustainable Development in Senegal

This thesis aims to contribute to Senegal's progress towards sustainable development planning. It presents how Senegalese planning system is structured as well as its potential and its limits to change. Senegal is a West African country classified as a least developed country. Senegalese decision-makers seek to provide economic and social well-being to their population, while ensuring a rational and sustainable use of ecological resources. They have demonstrated their commitment to sustainable development in official planning documents and several development programs. However, the process towards sustainability faces several constraints. The structure of the development planning system is complex and rigid; involving a plurality of state agencies, local entities, advisory bodies, citizens, and parliamentarians whose work is uncoordinated and inefficient. Furthermore, a tension exists because the political organization is based on a social vision, while development actions are derived from a liberal policy. In addition, planners and decisions-makers do not share the same understanding of sustainable development. The situation is made more complex by international influences on the concept of sustainability that call for the integration of principles such as gender equality and universal education, making it difficult to establish a clear and commonly understood approach to sustainability. While Senegal seeks human, technical, and financial resources from international donors, the conditions of financial foreign partners further complicates the development planning system.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Urban and Regional Planning

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Urban and Regional Planning

Department dc:contributor.department

Public and International Affairs

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2013

Author dc:creator

• Diagne, Yakhya Aicha

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Hall, Ralph P.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Browder, John O.
• Randolph, John

• development planning
• sustainable development
• decision-makers
• planners
• Senegal.

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

vt_gsexam:913

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/23277