124
development planning in low-income countries, based on the belief that economic growth and social progress are not only mutually interdependent but are also organically related parts of a single process of development. Special research projects were initiated for this purpose and, in 1969, a Meeting of Experts оп Social Policy and Planning, held at Stockholm, laid the foundations of the theory of unified socio-economic development and planning, recognising the interdependency of social, economic and political factors in the development process.
It will no doubt take some time before new concepts are developed to serve as practical tools of analysis for development planning. If the task of integrating, for the purpose of planning, economic and social factors of development, is to meet with success, it is essential that those responsible for such planning are well acquainted with the main issues involved in both types of analysis. The concepts and principles of economic planning are sufficiently well known and studied; CUC problem is to advance the analysis of concepts required for efficient social planning which is
an indispensable prerequisite for any meaningful integration to take place.
II.
PLANNING OF SOCIAL ASPECTS OF DEVELOPMENT - MAIN ISSUES
If we are to believe the lesson of experience with development planning as ve have outlined it above, the obvious conclusion is that the development of society is one indivisible process of great complexity which cannot be explainecd by the working of any single principle taken in isolation.
The mistake we often commit in our studies is that, for the sake cf convenience, since we cannot embrace a complex social reality as a whole, we concentrate on the study of some particular aspect Of this reality, which we consider important; in the next stage, and still for the sake of convenience, we call this aspect a factor and treat it as if it were leading, in the body of society, an independent existence of its own.
In fact, there is no such thing as an independent economic, social or political phenomenon; we are always dealing with the manifestations of the same social reality, only we look upon them once from the economic angle, once from the political angle, or whatever different social sciences we have for analysing societal phenomena. It is with this precision in mind that we can usefully approach the subject of social planning.
The term "social planning" covers usually a number of different things, depending on the context in which the term is being used. In common usage, however, it means, most often, planning in the social sectors of public life, such as health, education, housing, social welfare, etc. On other occasions, it may refer to social aspects of economic growth, to social consequences of economic change, Or even to social objectives of economic planning.1
cf
These examples indicate how difficult it is to obtain a certain uniformity concepts in this field and how important it is to make an effort to clarify them before they are put to use.
1. Definitions and scope of social planning
A great many definitions of planning have been offered by different authors, going often far beyond the idea of "setting out, in advance, a course of action to be followed in the future". Some talk about a "goal-directed decision-making process", others about "models of causative anticipations" cr about "the process of preparing a set of decisions for action in the future, directed at achieving goals by optimal means". Whatever the degree of sophistication used in the construction of these definitions, there seems to be only one important distinction to be made.
I CE. "Approaches to Social Planning", paper prepared by UNRISD, in the UN Correspondence Course in Social Planning, May 1972.
E-1195-2G: 5