Open-source planning support system for sustainable regional planning: A case study of Stockholm County, Sweden

Jessica Page,Ulla Mörtberg,Carla Ferreira,Helena Näsström,Zahra Kalantari,Georgia Destouni

doi:10.1177/2399808320919769

Abstract

Population increases and environmental degradation are challenges for urban sustainability. Planning support systems are available to assist local authorities in developing strategies toward sustainability and resilience of urban areas, but are not always used in practice. We adapted an open-source planning support system to the case of Stockholm County, Sweden, where there is a productive working relationship between researchers, city planners, and regional planners. We employed a collaborative approach in extending and updating the planning support system and analyzed the outcomes, in order to both improve the planning support system and to investigate the process of planner engagement in planning support system development. The approach involved systematic interactions with local planning authorities and e.g. additional data processing, integrating scientific knowledge, policy, and engagement by planners in the complex process of planning for sustainable urban development. This made the planning support system more user-friendly for local planners, facilitating adoption by planning authorities through overcoming common quality and acceptance barriers to the use of planning support system in practice. Involving planners in planning support system development thus increases (i) planning support system quality, producing relevant and up-to-date outputs, and (ii) acceptance for planning support system by regional planners. Further assessment is required to determine whether planners can operate the adapted planning support system unaided.

Highlights

Planning support systems (PSSs) are designed to help planning authorities and other urban and regional planners understand complex urban systems, and plan for more sustainable and resilient future cities (Deal et al, 2017a; Kalantari et al, 2019a, 2018; Pettit et al, 2018)
This paper describes the process of planner engagement in adapting an open-source PSS, the Land use Evolution and impact Assessment Model (LEAM; Deal and Pallathucheril, 2008), to the case of Stockholm County, Sweden (Kalantari et al, 2019c; Mo€rtberg et al, 2017; Pan et al, 2018)
The ideas and adaptations emerging from meetings were processed by the researchers after each meeting, with follow-ups by email with the planners to clarify details and data needs. This participatory process is ongoing and iterative; this paper provides a snapshot of a four-stage phase, which led to some significant changes in LEAM Stockholm

Summary

Introduction

Planning support systems (PSSs) are designed to help planning authorities and other urban and regional planners understand complex urban systems, and plan for more sustainable and resilient future cities (Deal et al, 2017a; Kalantari et al, 2019a, 2018; Pettit et al, 2018). PSSs can be used with current and historical data to forecast and assess possible consequences of current policy decisions for a city, helping planners understand the implications of these decisions (Deal et al, 2013). They can be used with techniques like backcasting, in which planners can decide on a desired future outcome and use PSSs iteratively to identify the combination of current and future decisions and actions most likely to lead to that outcome (Deal et al, 2017b; Haslauer et al, 2012)

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Results

Conclusion