Abstract
In the past, evaluation techniques were considered to be “decisional techniques”, “decisional tools”. There was a rough idea that, after the important data had been collected, the technique in question would, by itself, indicate the best decision. Evaluations of this kind clearly depended on the more or less implicit adoption of a “rational-comprehensive model”, which tended to downplay the ethical and political dimension of decisions, while stressing the role of both technique and technicians. This approach has been widely criticized. Partly as a result of such criticism, many evaluation techniques are now considered to be not “decisional tools” but forms of “decision aid”. The problem is that the expression “decision aid” lacks clarity and is by no means unequivocal in urban decisional situations. We believe in this regard that there is a gap in research and in the academic literature. Starting from this conviction, the article presents an investigation of what being a “decision aid” might mean for a technical evaluation today. The aim is to provide a conceptual framework within which to critically revisit and rediscuss the question, with particular regard to urban sustainability issues.
Highlights
From Decisional Techniques to Decision-Aid TechniquesAs Ernest House [1] (28) notes, all evaluation approaches assume that there is a connection between decision-making and evaluation
An urban development project consists of several steps whereby specific results can be achieved through proposals, plans, changes, and recommendations [61]
There is a recurrent question in the field of evaluation techniques that is crucial when addressing urban sustainability issues: Is the role of analysts/evaluators (i) to make the decision themselves by recommending a specific course of action, or is it rather (ii) to present the problem and its implications? [95] (p. 109)
Summary
As Ernest House [1] (28) notes, all evaluation approaches assume that there is a connection between decision-making and evaluation. 194) observe, the use of properly designed decision aid techniques “can help analysts and decision-makers focus their limited attention, information-processing capabilities, and resources on essential elements of the evaluation, thereby improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the decision-making process” (compare with [26]) In this new perspective, evaluators are “advisors to decision-makers”; they are information generators, processors, and analysts, and facilitators of the public dialog [27] We believe that there is a gap in research and in the academic literature in this regard Starting from this conviction, this article presents a critical discussion of what being a decision aid might mean for a technical evaluation today. It is necessarily generated by a set of intentions, projects, and concrete actions carried out by a multiplicity of actors, whose choices overlap, and sometimes contradict each other
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