An Analytic Approach to Understanding Process Dynamics in Geodesign Studies

Chiara Cocco,Piotr Jankowski,Michele Campagna

doi:10.3390/su11184999

Chiara Cocco, Piotr Jankowski + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su11184999

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Abstract

Recent advances in planning support technologies has enabled interactive collaboration in design processes by multiple stakeholder groups. The available technologies collect and store information on both the evolution of design alternatives and the interactions of participants involved in the design process. However, making sense of available process log-data is still a challenge. This study focuses on process analytics in geodesign studies, where iterative collaboration between stakeholders generates design alternatives and consensus by negotiation. Early findings demonstrate how geodesign process analytics makes it possible to gain insights both in recurrent patterns in participant behavior and in the evolution of the design. The approach, based on the enhanced adaptive structuration theory framework, has been tested using data collected by the Geodesignhub web-based collaborative planning support systems in the Cagliari (Italy) geodesign study.

Highlights

Despite claims that spatial planning is in the public interest, the idea that location-based decision problems can only be effectively addressed if approached from a “unitary public welfare” perspective should be rethought [1], if not downright rejected [2]
In an effort to improve our understanding of design processes, this study proposes a methodology to analyze geodesign studies by exploiting the data automatically recorded by a web-based collaborative planning support system (PSS) and uncover patterns in participants’ behavior and design evolution
Process data mining techniques remain largely unexploited in the design domain. This current study aims to investigate the potential of log-data analytics in geodesign processes

Summary

Introduction

Despite claims that spatial planning is in the public interest, the idea that location-based decision problems can only be effectively addressed if approached from a “unitary public welfare” perspective should be rethought [1], if not downright rejected [2]. Due to the academic purpose of the Cagliari geodesign workshop and the homogeneity of participants—mainly between 26–35 years old (Table 3), postgraduate students (Table 4), and researchers (Table 5) in planning-related fields (6)—this result of the study might not hold in other cases with more diverse participant samples It is, important to point out that given the participants’ previous experience with GDH/PSS (Tables 5–7), the group composition was quite diversified (none = 1, low = 11, medium = 6, high = 11). The number of diagrams created by participants was not correlated with participants’ experience with planning and decision support systems This early outcome seems to support a claim that the Geodesignhub platform is user-friendly and can be effectively used by users of various backgrounds. This last assertation and the corresponding hypothesis should be further verified with different cases studies, possibly providing larger and more diverse samples of participants working on realistic design and planning problems

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