In general, the history of land use planning in developing countries follows
a three-step process. The time span in which each of these phases
dominates differs from country to country. The phases are not strictly
separated. Generally, land use planning of the first phase type coexists
with land use planning of the second phase type, and so on. Some countries
also skip a phase. The separation of land use planning history into
phases is, therefore, rather a model that helps to understand how things
developed. It does not reflect
a universal process that can be found in the
same way in every place.