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levels of political management. Clearly, an informed decision making process is, in these circumstances, acknowledged as much as desirable, but the illusion of omniscience and allunderstanding have to be abandoned in a rapidly changing urban environment, such as that of the cities in the southern hemisphere: the continual and sudden changing processes, the spatial fragmentation and the diffusion and importance of the informal work as in living sector, the scarcity of data, make almost impossible even the recognition and definition of the city using the town planners traditional instruments. The growing emphasis on the current use of public forums favours processes of communication that seem effective in creating consensus and social commitment amongst inhabitants. This doesn’t mean however that more formal information and data sources are being replaced. An important element in public forums, in many countries, seems to be the varying level of knowledge and information available to the participants. A crucial role for town planners could therefore be that of guaranteeing all participants an equal access to the available information, in order to ensure that the final agreements are not spoilt by the difference in knowledge levels between the parts. This involves a particular effort in making understandable to everyone the complex concepts and relationships, as well 110