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Insight into the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of planning support systems (PSS) is fragmented between users and system developers. The lack of combined insights blocks development in the right direction and makes potential users hesitant to apply PSS in planning. This study presents SWOT of PSS from a combined user–developer perspective. We first express them in terms of combinations of planning task, PSS information function, and user, and subsequently use a literature survey, a series of interviews, and a web survey to gather views from developers, users, and PSS experts. The analysis shows that planners mainly use simple information storage and retrieval systems for exploration tasks, while the majority of PSS are technically much more advanced and aim to support complex tasks. The potential of these advanced PSS can only be realized if planners and system developers start to share knowledge and demands and identify opportunities in a cooperative PSS-development process. Without such a process, the advantages and opportunities of PSS will remain unexploited.

This dissertation starts by observing (Chapter 1) that the question of supporting planning and policy making with dedicated information is an old and important one. In the end of the 1980s a research field emerges dedicated to specifically cater instruments to the needs of practitioners, so called Planning Support Systems (PSS). PSS can be defined as ‘geo-information based instruments that incorporate a suite of components that collectively support some parts of a unique professional planning task’. PSS is often software, which supports understanding and evaluating planning decisions. While the instrumental characteristics of PSS have improved significantly over the last two decades, this has not resulted in intensive usage in planning and policy practice. Earlier research has shed light on the bottlenecks preventing this higher frequency of usage. It has hardly been studied, however, what it means for planning practice if a PSS is indeed used. How can the usefulness of Planning Support Systems for planning practice be conceptualized and how do practitioners experience this? The following six chapters answer different aspects of this research question. Chapter 2 has a chiefly conceptual focus. It emphasizes the collaborative and communicative nature of contemporary planning, whereas PSS traditionally come from a scientific-analytical approach to planning. This chapter argues that a better role of PSS can particularly be found in a careful conceptualization of knowledge.The role of PSS in planning particularly lies in gathering and testing the knowledge claims that are brought forward by different stakeholders. Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 report about the added value of PSS applications as perceived by practitioners. A conceptual framework is developed, in which added value is measured on the individual, group and outcome level. In a Group Decision Room workshop particularly communication and collaboration are emphasized as important added values of PSS.The questionnaires indicate that particularly learning is as an important added value of PSS. Chapter 5 focuses in detail on interdisciplinary learning (part of of learning about others), which is conceived as ‘frame reflection’ by stakeholders three disciplinary frames about planning and PSS: an analytic frame, a design frame, and a negotiation frame. The two case studies reveal that a PSS can both have a positive and a negative effect on interdisciplinary communication. Chapter 6 and Chapter 7 focus on the planning tasks that are supported by the application of the PSS. In both chapters the concept of task-technology fit is used, which refers to the extent to which the support capabilities of a PSS (i.e. the ‘technology’) influence the extent to which planning tasks are successfully conducted. The findings indicate that a PSS is particularly useful when applied selectively. In the conclusion (Chapter 8) the overarching finding is discussed that PSS are to be particularly useful when applied selectively. Facilitation could play a key role in achieving this. In future research it is important that the perspective of practitioners is kept in mind, particularly since the recent attention for smart cities and big data tends to have a chiefly technological focus.

This dissertation starts by observing (Chapter 1) that the question of supporting planning and policy making with dedicated information is an old and important one. In the end of the 1980s a research field emerges dedicated to specifically cater instruments to the needs of practitioners, so called Planning Support Systems (PSS). PSS can be defined as ‘geo-information based instruments that incorporate a suite of components that collectively support some parts of a unique professional planning task’. PSS is often software, which supports understanding and evaluating planning decisions. While the instrumental characteristics of PSS have improved significantly over the last two decades, this has not resulted in intensive usage in planning and policy practice. Earlier research has shed light on the bottlenecks preventing this higher frequency of usage. It has hardly been studied, however, what it means for planning practice if a PSS is indeed used. How can the usefulness of Planning Support Systems for planning practice be conceptualized and how do practitioners experience this? The following six chapters answer different aspects of this research question. Chapter 2 has a chiefly conceptual focus. It emphasizes the collaborative and communicative nature of contemporary planning, whereas PSS traditionally come from a scientific-analytical approach to planning. This chapter argues that a better role of PSS can particularly be found in a careful conceptualization of knowledge.The role of PSS in planning particularly lies in gathering and testing the knowledge claims that are brought forward by different stakeholders. Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 report about the added value of PSS applications as perceived by practitioners. A conceptual framework is developed, in which added value is measured on the individual, group and outcome level. In a Group Decision Room workshop particularly communication and collaboration are emphasized as important added values of PSS.The questionnaires indicate that particularly learning is as an important added value of PSS. Chapter 5 focuses in detail on interdisciplinary learning (part of of learning about others), which is conceived as ‘frame reflection’ by stakeholders three disciplinary frames about planning and PSS: an analytic frame, a design frame, and a negotiation frame. The two case studies reveal that a PSS can both have a positive and a negative effect on interdisciplinary communication. Chapter 6 and Chapter 7 focus on the planning tasks that are supported by the application of the PSS. In both chapters the concept of task-technology fit is used, which refers to the extent to which the support capabilities of a PSS (i.e. the ‘technology’) influence the extent to which planning tasks are successfully conducted. The findings indicate that a PSS is particularly useful when applied selectively. In the conclusion (Chapter 8) the overarching finding is discussed that PSS are to be particularly useful when applied selectively. Facilitation could play a key role in achieving this. In future research it is important that the perspective of practitioners is kept in mind, particularly since the recent attention for smart cities and big data tends to have a chiefly technological focus.

Over the course of many years, professional planners have used a plethora of methods and tools to support their planning activities. Nevertheless, it can be argued that planning practioners have never fully embraced the much wider diversity of available methods, techniques, and models developed in the research laboratories. On the basis of this observation, this study poses several questions about why there is an apparent mismatch in planning practice between supply, demand, and applications of planning-support instruments (including ‘planning support systems’) and their outcomes (dedicated information and knowledge), and how this mismatch can be solved. In order to arrive at an answer, a conceptual framework is constructed, which constitutes crucial factors that influence the potential planning support roles of information, knowledge, and instruments. With the help of this framework, a developmental overview is interpreted of the theoretical planning traditions that exerted an influence on planning practice during the last half millennium in the Western world. From this interpretation, some lessons can be learned about the improvement of the planning-support role in factual planning practice, and moreover, it opens up some new questions and discussion points.

Planning support systems are a subset of computer-based geo-information instruments, each of which incorporates a unique suite of components that planners can utilise to explore and manage their particular activities. The components may include data sets, computer algorithms and display facilities, as well as more abstract theoretical constructs, knowledge and modelling capabilities. PSS are used to support the planning process by communicating information as well as by generating solutions. An Internet-based inventory was established in 2000–2001 to identify the existence and use of PSS in planning practice worldwide. In this paper we take a closer look at the instruments recorded in the inventory and some of their main characteristics. Some recommendations are made for the development and application of PSS in the future.

Since their emergence, digital information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been applied in many urban planning and management contexts. Not only do they have the capability for collecting, managing, analysing and storing information about cities more efficiently than ever before, but new technologies also present planners and managers with opportunities to draw on this information to improve city life.

Recent research has emphasized the importance of workshops as a venue where planning support systems (PSS) are used in planning processes. Empirical studies of these workshops have previously largely overlooked facilitation, in particular the role of a moderator (steering the discussion) and/or a chauffeur (steering the PSS). Drawing on existing facilitation research, we identify four main categories of facilitation interventions: substantive, procedural, relational, and tool-related. We use these categories to develop a novel conceptual framework for facilitation at PSS workshops. We test and develop this framework through semi-structured interviews with eight experienced facilitators of PSS workshops in the US and the Netherlands . The interviews confirm the validity of the intervention categories, but also revealed a wider range of PSS-specific workshop outcomes. We conclude that successful facilitation of PSS workshops requires two different types of facilitation interventions: some to encourage PSS use, and others to prevent PSS domination of the group discussion. Facilitating PSS workshops is mainly about finding the delicate and context-dependent balance between these two extremes.

The collection, analysis, and dissemination of the information needed to improve public and private decision making is one of the major justifications for urban planning. As a result, planning methods and technologies have played a central role in planning practice and education since the profession's inception over 100 years ago. This article reviews the evolution of planning methods and techniques, considers the most important technologies used in contemporary planning practice, and speculates on the future of planning methods and technologies.

In today’s urban planning, two perspectives dominate the discourse: a technical-rational perspective and a communicative rational perspective. Bridging the dichotomy between the two perspectives and situating new planning support methods within the context of complexity theories leads to new structures for planning support systems. The implications of the inherent complex nature of planning when bridging these perspectives should be taken into account for new planning processes and support systems. The development of such methods requires an iterative cycle between methodological and technological aspects of tool development. The chapter presents a technical framework that enables the development of methods integrating both perspectives. The framework derives its requirements from the integration of the two perspectives, and is evaluated in the context of two design case studies in the cities of Stockholm and Paris. The development of the framework and method has implications for the design of tools in urban planning. The tools need to reflect the open nature of the complex systems they represent and operate in. Such methods also expand the boundaries of the design space, allowing for previously unknown configurations.

Previous research on Planning Support Systems (PSS) showed that low usability of these computer-based tools is one of the reasons why they are not widely used by planning professionals. Few studies for evaluating PSS usability are performed, possibly because developers do not regard it as their task, do not have enough skills to conduct them, and have not been stimulated so far to appreciate their value. In this chapter, a framework is described that aims at guiding usability evaluation of PSS; it is developed on the basis of a more general usability evaluation framework. The current version of the framework has been applied to evaluate three PSS by performing a test with a small group of land use planners. Results of this user test are discussed, also providing some recommendations for the design of PSS, specifically those addressing Land Suitability Analysis (LSA), capable to generate a positive user experience.

There is no complete planning-support system (PSS) as yet, and such a thing is unlikely to emerge in the near future, at least in the form of a single software system or a fixed set of tools that can be applied to all planning situations. It is most likely that future PSSs will comprise combinations of software applications, with 'soft couplings' structured to a greater or lesser extent. Such systems are likely to be useful and technically feasible in developing countries, despite institutional obstacles that tend to be greater than those in industrialised countries. This article examines an innovative combination of computer tools that was developed and tested as a methodology for regional industrial location policy in Pakistan. The broad objective of the PSS is to guide public-sector decisions about industrial locations, meeting the twin objectives of safeguarding the natural environment and contributing to public welfare. The methodology consists of four modules that are used sequentially to identify a...

To investigate how surgeons can be supported in planning of screws for femoral neck fracture fixation reducing incidents of misplaced screws, a system was developed which makes use of a deformable model to be adapted to the femoral head/neck. The accuracy and usability of the system was checked against planning support systems mimicking the conventional positioning of screws within bi-planar x-rays. All designs were evaluated and compared by N = 7 test user. Checking the rate of misplaced screws a) at the femoral neck yielded rates of 8% or up to 42%, b) at the femoral head yielded rates of 0% or up to 11% for model-based or conventional planning, respectively. It is thus suggested to constrain the planning and navigation space by means of deformable models of the bone.

Ponencias, comunicaciones y pósters presentados en el 17th AGILE Conference on Geographic Information Science "Connecting a Digital Europe through Location and Place", celebrado en la Universitat Jaume I del 3 al 6 de junio de 2014. Metaplanning can be considered as a necessary step for improving collaboration, transparency and accountability in sustainable and democratic spatial decision-making process. This paper reports current findings on the operational implementation of the metaplanning concept developed by the authors relying on Business Process Management methods and techniques. Two solutions are presented which implement spatial planning process workflows thanks to the development of original spatial data and processing services connectors to a Business Process Management suite. These results can be considered as a first step towards the development of 2nd generation Planning Support Systems.

In this paper I will describe What if?, a scenario-based, policy-oriented planning support system (PSS) that uses increasingly available GIS data to support community-based processes of collaborative planning and collective decisionmaking. It incorporates procedures for conducting land suitability analysis, projecting future land-use demands, and allocating the projected demands to the most suitable locations. The system allows users easily to create alternative development scenarios and determine the likely impacts of alternative public-policy choices on future land-use patterns and associated population and employment trends. It is easy to use, can be customized to the user's database and policy issues, and provides outputs in easy to understand maps and reports.

This article examines the changing views of planning and computer-based information that provide the foundations for a new perspective on computer-assisted planning. It begins by tracing the evolving view of planning as applied science in the 1 960s, as politics in the 1970s, and then as communication in the 1980s. It then reviews the evolving concern of the information sciences with data in the 1960s, information in the 1970s, and knowledge in the 1980s. It concludes by suggesting that the increasingly popular topic of planning support systems (PSS) can be seen as continuing these trends to a include broader concern with intelligence and collective design.

The need for information is growing at all levels, from decision makers at the national and intrenational level to the lowest level of the individual. One of the big contemporary challenges is the development of information support to sustainable development. Efforts are focused on the development of ICT tools based on GIS technologies, which provide efficient collection, storage, updating, handling, analyzing and displaying all forms of data and information related to territory, necessary for the understanding of the territory in the process of collective decision making and the creation of sustainable policies and plans. In sustainable development, everybody is a user and information resource. Integrated approach to sustainability requires development and wide use of contemporary planners and management methods, tools, techniques and procedures that provide the best possible interpretation and integrated analysis of territory in group decision-making on specific actions and assessment of their impacts, risks and benefits for environmental, social and economic development. This research is motivated by the need to create conditions for effective participation of Serbia in the current global development process. At present, activities at local and regional level in the area of improving the information base for decision making and monitoring of integrated territorial development have focused on the development and application of the concept of territorial information systems based on ICT and GIS technologies in order to achieve greater efficiency administration, qualitative improvement of vertical and horizontal coordination, cooperation and rationalization processes in information and communication activities, with emphasis on raising the quality of the information base for decision making. The survey of international experience in developing and implementing this kind of models helps understanding the possibilities and limits of its application in Serbia. The subject of this research is development of territorial information system model to support sustainable urban development in Serbia, as a new instrument of communication and decision support tools in the process of collaborative planning and development management at the local level. The research is aimed at TIS model structuring that would be aplicable in the current conditions of change planning paradigms and practices of planning, but also in future when it is expected a new model of planning based on active participation of all actors of development to established. Application of the model TIS in Serbia should on the one hand, contribute to processes of change and improvements in the system of urban planning and spatial development, and on the other, direct role of planners redefinition to assist them in finding answers to operational questions of who?, As ?, why?, what?, how?, which are daily placed in front of the local community in terms of sustainable urban development. The result of this study should be scientifically-based operational model of TIS to support sustainable urban development in Serbia, structuraly defined at all levels - substantive, functional and institutional - organizational, and methodology of its implementation at the local level confirmed through pilot projects. The scientific contributions of this research is to create a new basis for further theoretical and conceptual redefinition of the planning system in Serbia, questioning the role planners and planners agencies, and ultimately the basis for the development of new methods and techniques of planning in Serbia as a new qualitatively improved information base. Потреба за информацијама расте на свим нивоима, од нивоа доносиоца одлука вишег ранга на националном и интeрнационалном нивоу, све до најнижих индивидуалних нивоа. Један од великих савремених изазова је развој информационе подршке одрживом развоју. Напори се фокусирају на развој ИКТ подржаних алата заснованих на ГИС технологијама, који обезбеђују ефикасно скупљање, складиштење, ажурирање, руковање, анализирање и приказивање свих облика података и информација везаних за територију, а који су неопходни за разумевање територије у процесу колективног доношења одлука и креирању одрживих политика и планова. У одрживом развоју, свако је корисник и извор информације. Интегрални приступ одрживом развоју захтева унапређење и широку примену савремених метода, алата, техника и процедура планирања и управљања, како би се обезбедила најбоље могуће разумевање феномена локлане терторије у у групном процесу доношења одлука о специфичним акцијама и оцени њиховог утицаја, ризика и користи на животну средину, социјални и економски развој. Ово истраживање мотивисано је потребом стварања услова за ефикасно укључење Србије у актуелне светске развојне токове. У овом тренутку, активности на локалном и регионалном нивоу широм света у области унапређења информационе подршке интегралном територијалном развоју фокусиране су на развој и примену територијалних информационих система заснованих на ИКТ и ГИС технологијама, са циљем постизања веће ефикасности управе, квалитативног унапређења вертикалне и хоризонталне координације, сарадње и рационализације процеса у области информационих и комуникационих активности. Истраживање светских искустава у области развоја и примене оваквих концепата доприноси разумевању могућности и ограничења његове примене у Србији. Предмет овог истраживања је развој модела територијалних информационих система за подршку одрживом урбаном развоју у Србији, као новог инструмента комуникације и алата за подршку одлучивању у процесу колаборативног планирања и управљања развојем на локалном нивоу. Истраживање је усмерено ка стурктуирању модела који би био апликативан у актуелним условима процеса промена планерске парадигме и праксе планирања, али и у будћности када се очекује успостављање новог модела планирања заснованог на активном учешћу свих актера развоја. Примена оваквог модела у Србији требало би да, са једне стране, допринесе процесима промена и унапређења у области система планирања урбаног и просторног развоја, а са друге, усмери редефиснисање улоге планера и помогне им у тражењу одговора на оперативна питања ко?, како?, зашто?, шта?, колико?, која се свакодневно постављају пред локалну заједницу у констексту одрживог урбаног развоја. Резултат истраживања био би научно заснован оперативни модел ТИС-а за подршку одрживом урбаном развоју у Србији, структруално дефинисан на свим нивоима – садржинском, функционалном и институционално - организационом, а методологија његове примене на локалном нивоу потврђена кроз пилот пројекте. Научни допринос овог истраживања огледа се у стварању нових основа за даље теоријско и концептуално редефинисање система планирања у Србији, преиспитивање улоге планера и планерских агенција, и коначно основ за развој нових метода и техника планирања у Србији обзиром на нов квалитативно унапређен информациони основ.

To implement innovative social and technological solutions, planners cannot be exclusively concerned with designing alternatives for the physical transformation of an urban area. They must also account for the complex stakeholder as well as institutional regulations and procedures that can support or hinder the successful implementation of innovative solutions. Concerns about stakeholder objectives, values, demands, and positions as well as complex public processes, laws and regulations that need to be accounted for during the implementation of innovative urban solutions are moving to the center of urban planning practice. Numerous past projects have shown that the success of innovative urban transformation depends upon the ability of planners to integrate spatial design with stakeholder management and institutional management tasks. While planning support systems (PSS) can potentially be helpful during the implementation of such innovative urban transformations, still little is known about how to best link urban design support capabilities with functionality to support the management of stakeholders and public institutions. To overcome this gap, this paper presents use concepts to support the design of PSS platforms that can support more integrated urban design, stakeholder management, and institutional management tasks. The paper also illustrates how the use concepts can support the design of PSS by describing two PSS platforms which we developed to support German and Dutch municipalities with the implementation of innovative urban solutions.

Traditional efforts to improve the quality of life in our communities have, at times, had detrimental effects on both the environment and the very issues the investments were designed to address. Sustainable development decisions must take into account–in social, economic and environmental terms–the long-term impacts of planning and investment decisions. In this chapter we argue that advances in computation techniques and network infrastructure enable the next generation of planning support systems to support such an accounting. We describe our experiences and lessons learned from application of the LEAM planning support system and a Web-based GeoPortal in helping to sustain critical green infrastructure resources in the state of Illinois.

Planning Support Systems (PSS) are geo-information-technology-based instruments that are dedicated to supporting those involved in planning in the performance of their specific tasks (Batty 1995; Klosterman 1997). The term PSS appeared on the planning scene in the mid-1980s thanks to its progenitor, Britton Harris, although the concept of building instruments dedicated to the support of planning activities dates back much further. In this first introductory chapter a brief demarcation of the concept of PSS will be provided, besides a concise overview of the content of this book on "Planning Support Systems for Sustainable Urban Development".

With the availability of disaggregated spatial data, residential location choice models have become more and more diverse in the hypothesis tested. This reduces the comparability of the main findings in different studies, although one might expect a comparable human behavior for comparable study areas. In the paper we review recent literature of the residential location choice models on a disaggregated level, in order to conclude in a set of variables recommended for use in models and simulations., Arbeitsberichte Verkehrs- und Raumplanung, 962

For people with mobility constraints, the conditions offered by pedestrian environments are crucial for their ability to remain independent and self-sufficient. Mobility is also a key factor to maintain people actively involved in the community. Taking into account only the physical characteristics of urban spaces, the goal of the present work is to analyse the factors that limit the circulation of people with mobility constraints and to map those conditions in central urban spaces. The assessment was performed in agreement with the standards specified in the Portuguese Law. A multi-criteria model was developed to evaluate the compliance of urban spaces with those standards. Its integration within a GIS platform was performed in order to implement a spatial analysis of the results. A case study was conducted in a central area of the city of Braga, Portugal. Maps showing levels of compliance with the standards were produced and the results are discussed., (undefined)

In this concluding chapter, we note the components and tools used in planning support systems that have been introduced in this book and sketch a possible future for these methods that will be much enriched and radically changed by the online world that is fast developing all around us. We illustrate parts of our argument using an integrated assessment of climate change in the London region.

This thesis takes a deliberately broad investigative approach to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) adoption and use in an Australian planning system. By firstly building on research that suggests a mismatch exists between the supply and demand of Planning Support Systems (PSS), secondly, drawing on socio-technical research conducted during the mid 1990s investigating the human factors involved in the take up of Geographic information systems (GIS) in planning practice. Thirdly, looking at electronic planning (ePlanning) as the e-government concept applied to urban and regional planning. The emergence of E-government has been fuelled by the proliferation of the Internet and its communicative ability to automate existing paper-based procedures. The approach taken by this thesis to data collection and analysis is twofold; firstly by using data collected through case studies and the application of Actor-Network Theory (ANT). Secondly, an online questionnaire of staff in local and state government and private practice. The questionnaire data was analysed using a structural equation modelling (SEM) technique under the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTUAT) framework. The results of both analysis techniques are then compared. Analysis and results of the ANT case studies demonstrates that applying ANT can provide useful insights into the social and technical interactions that are relied upon to build and implement a PSS. Moreover, the UTAUT results found that in order for ICT applications to be widely accepted by planners, the organisations in which they work need to address performance expectancy and facilitating conditions as priorities, also, for this sample, planners are not strongly influenced by social influences in their work place. However, the analysis also suggests other factors are involved in influencing behavioural intentions towards using ICT. Although the methods used in this thesis have vastly different approaches to data collection and analysis, results have been found to be somewhat complimentary. While difficult to generalise from a single set of case studies taken from a single geographic region, this thesis argues that more research using the ANT methodology may be yield answers to demand side issues that are hindering a more healthy adoption of ICT in planning practice.

Mobility is pointed as a key issue to urban planners and managers. In particular the case of pedestrians with mobility constraints implies considering specific parameters. The goal of the present work is to analyse factors that limit the circulation of people with mobility constraints and to map those conditions in central urban spaces. Taking into account only the physical characteristics of urban spaces, the assessment is performed in agreement with the standards specified in the Portuguese Law. A multi-criteria model was developed to evaluate the compliance of urban spaces with those standards. Its integration within a GIS platform was performed in order to implement a spatial analysis of the results. A case study was conducted in a central area of the city of Braga, Portugal. Maps showing levels of compliance with the standards were produced and the results were discussed.

Nowadays, pedestrian mobility is regarded as a key issue to urban planners since several studies have pointed it as an influential factor to the quality of life in central city areas. Consequently, walking conditions must be evaluated and some measures should be taken whenever the results show inappropriate implementations. This concern increases when focusing on the movement of people with mobility constraints, because for them a physical obstacle can represent an insurmountable obstruction. The goal of the present work is to analyze factors that limit the circulation of people with mobility constraints and to map those conditions in central urban areas. Taking into account only the physical characteristics of urban spaces, the assessment is performed in agreement with the standards specified in the Portuguese Law, defined by Decree-Law Nr 163/2006, in short DL 163/2006. The first part of the work introduces a multi-criteria model developed to evaluate the compliance of urban spaces with those standards. This model defines the normalization of measured values for each considered criterion, as well as their aggregation to achieve an index that expresses the compliance level of the evaluated urban spaces. The integration of the model within a GIS platform was performed in order to implement a spatial analysis of the results. The second part shows and discusses the results of a case study in a central area of the city of Braga, Portugal. The chosen area allows for the analysis of sidewalks and crosswalks of streets as a continuous network. Some sidewalk segments constructed before the approval of this law were also included allowing a comparative analysis with new (or improved) segments. The map of results highlights the sidewalk segments with worst performance, reflecting lower index values. This map is very helpful to city managers when identifying critical areas that require an intervention in order to improve the mobility of those pedestrians. Moreover, the proposed model can be easily adapted for other cities and countries.

The main goal of the paper is to present an accessibility evaluation model for the urban area of Santarém, in Brazil. Located midway between the larger cities of Belém and Manaus, Santarém plays a crucial role in the region of Lower Amazonia. The paper describes the research instruments, sampling method and data analysis proposed for mapping urban accessibility. Basic activities (education, health, services, leisure and commerce) provided by the city were used to identify the main key-destinations. The model was implemented within a Geographic Information System (GIS). It estimates an accessibility index for each point of the network aggregating weighted sub-indexes referring to each group of key-destinations. GIS database components are the urban transport network, the location of key-destinations and their relative importance. The model also integrates the individual’s perspective, through the definition of each key destination weight, reflecting their significance for daily activities in the urban area. The city of Santarém was divided into homogeneous groups of districts, according to geographical continuity, socioeconomic features and infrastructures locations. Questionnaires were used to characterize socioeconomics issues, inhabitants’ daily activities, maximum distance travelled to perform those activities and main urban accesses. The map of Santarém showing the spatial distribution of the accessibility index highlights the areas with lower levels of accessibility to the most important key-destinations. The map exposes the actual inequity level of accessibility to main infrastructures of education, health services, leisure and commerce. Hence, the results of this model application can support city administration decision-making for new investments in order to improve urban quality of live. In addition, the model can simulate and analyze several planning proposal for the city, e.g., expansion of the transport network, the construction of new education and health services, helping to understand which will be the consequences of those actions.

This contribution outlines the potential of the category of gender in critical analyses of land use policy and the perspectives it offers for the development of conceptual strategies for sustainable land management. It illustrates gender mainstreaming in urban development approaches, thus showing the potential for enhancing the quality of planning and the reduction of land consumption. The paper goes on to discuss the potential for extended and differentiated communication and participation within participative planning support systems. A major point of discussion is the constraints of computing formalisations and the means of developing software systems for planning support systems (PSS) for participative planning approaches.

Location is a fundamental aspect of spatial planning. It is subject to, and the result of, planning activities. It is therefore not surprising that the first incentives for the development of tools for spatial data management and spatial analysis came from professionals who were engaged in spatial planning. This chapter describes the development and interaction between the evolvement of spatial planning and the rapid development of Geo-ICT in the past decades. This is illustrated with examples of Geo-ICT applications used for spatial planning over the years, from very basic land use models via more advanced models to integrated systems supporting discussion and decision making. Key issues as the growing importance of the communicative aspects of planning processes and the concept of planning as a participatory process are adressed. Through the revolutionary development of internet technology along with geospatial technology new future crossroads between Geo-ICT and spatial planning are foreseen. Although Geo-ICT and spatial planning appear to be closely related interrelated in scientific development, it is stated that the use of Geo-ICT in spatial planning practice lags behind expectations. The key obstacles related to this in methodology, data and competences are reviewed.

Organizations are increasingly being urged by both management and organization theorists to adopt a contingency planning posture of some kind. Yet there is little in the way of work done on the definition or development of the sorts of technical facilities—procedural or instrumental—that could be used to anchor computer-centered planning support systems. One approach that seems particularly promising would be to focus such systems around formal model-base structures. This paper offers suggestions as to what model-base centered planning support systems might look like and how they might be moved toward operational significance.

The need for information is growing at all levels, from decision makers at the national and international level to the lowest level of the individual. One of the big contemporary challenges is the development of information support to sustainable development. Efforts are focused on the development of ICT tools based on GIS technologies, which provide efficient collection, storage, updating, handling, analyzing and displaying all forms of data and information related to territory, necessary for the understanding of the territory in the process of collective decision making and the creation of sustainable policies and plans. In sustainable development, everybody is a user and information resource. Integrated approach to sustainability requires development and wide use of contemporary planners and management methods, tools, techniques and procedures that provide the best possible interpretation and integrated analysis of territory in group decision-making on specific actions and assessment of their impacts, risks and benefits for environmental, social and economic development. This research is motivated by the need to create conditions for effective participation of Serbia in the current global development process. At present, activities at local and regional level in the area of improving the information base for decision making and monitoring of integrated territorial development have focused on the development and application of the concept of territorial information systems based on ICT and GIS technologies in order to achieve greater efficiency administration, qualitative improvement of vertical and horizontal coordination, cooperation and rationalization processes in information and communication activities, with emphasis on raising the quality of the information base for decision making. The survey of international experience in developing and implementing this kind of models helps understanding the possibilities and limits of its application in Serbia. The subj

The way industries are located in a region has profound impact on its environment. Urban and regional planners have been mostly concerned with locating industries for economic development. Environmental impact assessment (eia) has been their main tool for dealing with environmental issues related with industrial locations. Even the new glorified form of eia, strategic environmental assessment (sea), is for evaluating plans and programs and not a theoretical approach that could form the basis of policy formulation for industrial locations. This paper presents a new approach that attempts at determining the types and volumes of industries that may be allowed in different parts of a region without violating the limits natural environment. The new environment-based approach in meant to be for developing countries and its application has been demonstrated in a case study of Punjab province, Pakistan. Using the understanding of planning support systems and the conditions in the study region, the environment-based approach was translated into a methodology having four modules. The first three analytical modules cover three important aspects of regional planning (land, water, accessibility) and are a fair cross-section of current techniques (gis based overlay methods, hydrological modeling and location/allocation methods). The fourth and last module sheds light at the policy and planning implications of the findings of the three earlier modules of the methodology.

This chapter reports on the application of the collaborative GISbased What If? planning support system for managing data and creating exploratory future land use change scenarios. The case study area is Mitchell Shire, a local government municipality located on the urban fringe of the City of Melbourne, Australia. In this research we describe the various modules comprising the What If? planning support systems (PSS) and how they have been applied to assist local planners within the shire to better understand land suitability and the probable impacts of projected population growth. The research also aims to increase awareness of the potential benefits of PSS for planning.

Planning support systems are geo-information-based tools to support those involved in planning tasks. Many see planning support systems capable of improving the handling of knowledge and information in planning processes. Better handling of knowledge and information could help those involved in planning to handle the ever-increasing complexity of planning tasks. In spite of these potential benefits, planning support systems have not yet become widely used in planning practice. A major problem contributing to the arrear in planning support systems use is the profound miscommunication that exists between planners, planning support systems developers, and researchers. Currently there exists little insight in how to solve this problem and enhance the use of planning support systems. This chapter provides practiceoriented lessons about PSS use. Those willing to apply planning support systems in planning practice may use these lessons to enhance the successful use of planning support systems and the handling of knowledge and information in planning.