Pri's blog

photo:ifrc In 1987 my friend, Paul Starkey, wrote a small book for GTZ called ‘Perfected yet rejected’ , sub-titled, ‘a cautionary tale of development’. The book provides a history of research, development and promotion of animal-drawn wheeled toolcarriers. Wheeled toolcarriers are multipurpose implements that can be used for plowing, seeding, weeding and transport. These implements have been universally hailed as "successful" and yet farmer adoption has been extremely disappointing. Farmers have rejected wheeled toolcarriers because of their high cost, heavy weight, lack of manoeuvrability, inconvenience in operation, complication of adjustment and difficulty in changing between modes. Farmer rejection was been apparent since the early 196Os, yet up to the time the book was being written the majority of researchers, agriculturalists, planners and decision makers in national programmes, aid agencies and international centres were under the impression that w...

Reading the Metro paper on the tube this morning I learned that Singapore, the city that our planners in Colombo are emulating,   is the most expensive city in the world.   Another news item about the transformation of London’s infrastructure (London is the 16th most expensive city in the world) suggests ideas actually WORTH emulating.  Talking about changes to the road infrastructure it says… …..  This programme is part of wider plans expected to help create 5,000 new homes and 4,000 new jobs in the area.  A public consultation will begin later this month and work will start early next year. [my emphasis]  ….  In addition, the IMAX roundabout at Waterloo will be redeveloped to create better facilities at Waterloo station as well as improved facilities for cyclists . [my emphasis]  All this to ensure that London “remains one of the most economically productive, vibrant, accessible and attractive world cities”. Creating ho...