Planning Support System Research Articles

Metaplanning: About designing the Geodesign process

Geodesign entails complex processes involving multidisciplinary teams of professionals supporting stakeholders and communities in devising and choosing sustainable future development scenarios for their territories. The roles and the relationships among the actors may vary according to the underlying planning paradigm or style which the local normative and socio-cultural factors shape in the actual practices. Methods and tools to be used in the process phases may vary accordingly. A Geodesign study is characterised by the integrated usage of Geographic Information Science methods and tools to transform spatial data into relevant knowledge for informed design and decision-making. Thus, central to Geodesign are such issues as how to design and manage such complex processes, and how to orchestrate digital methods and tools in Geodesign support systems architectures. To address these challenges, the concept of metaplanning is proposed as an aid to the design of Geodesign processes. Expected benefits of the metaplanning exercise include better process understanding by the participants, improvements in management, and enhanced process transparency and accountability. Moreover, metaplanning may drive the integration of digital information technologies to support the Geodesign workflows.After the formalization of the concept, a Business Process Management (BPM) approach to metaplanning is proposed for its operationalization, aiming at both improving the Geodesign process and easing the creation of process-oriented 2nd generation Planning Support Systems. After a critical discussion on the possible advantages of the metaplanning approach to the design of process-oriented Geodesign workflows and support systems, issues setting the future research agenda in this domain are outlined.

Ecological wisdom as benchmark in planning and design

This paper sets ecological wisdom as benchmark in landscape and urban planning to develop socio-ecologically just plans. It proposes an Ecological Wisdom Inspired Planning Support System (EWIPSS) that incorporates functions of scenario development, simulation and evaluation under a wisdom-guidance framework to facilitate planners' plan-making and public's decision-making activities. Through a case study in the City of Wilmington, Ohio, USA, in which EWIPSS was implemented, we demonstrate that ecological wisdom can be an effective benchmark in planning practice.

3D Interactive Simulation System (3DISS) Using Multimedia Application Authoring Platform for Landscape Planning Support System

Recently, 3D simulation technology has been used as a communication tool in public meetings to facilitate public participation in planning and design development review. The development of 3D visualization that performs an interactive simulation in the Virtual Environment (VE) has grown rapidly and practiced for landscape visualization. VE technology is aimed to create a VE of urban landscape and presenting various alternatives of the landscape changes. The simulation of landscape changes is intended to perform a decision-making system in public participation. A multimedia application authoring platform has an advantage in the design of the graphical user interfaces and supported by a scripting language that can interact with external files. Through the integrated development of an interactive visualization and user interface, this application can be utilized to develop a Landscape Planning Support System. Eventually, the system is expected to attract public interest and elicit more contributions and input into urban planning.

An online platform for conducting spatial-statistical analyses of national census data across Australia

In recent years there have been significant advances in online planning and decision support systems that encompass spatial and statistical analysis and visualisation services. In this paper we provide an analysis and evaluation of one particular online spatial-statistical platform, known as the Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network (AURIN) portal. By adopting the Statistical Data and Metadata Exchange (SMDX) format, more than 500 socio-economic data products can be dynamically searched, browsed, accessed and analysed via the AURIN portal. The significance of this approach is that urban geographers can access both the datasets and statistical analysis tools via the same online Portal and thus in theory, conduct their research more efficiently.In conducting our research we specifically focus on three practical use cases which utilise machine-to-machine access from the AURIN portal to the national census data maintained by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The first use case involves location quotient analysis in New South Wales to analyse the financial sector. The second use case focuses on understanding economic growth across industry sectors across Queensland using shift-share analysis. The third use case aims to identify spatial autocorrelation between low income and other spatial variables in South Australia. Through this in-depth case study approach we have identified there are some strengths and weaknesses with the AURIN portal. We have demonstrated that the portal can successfully search, interrogate and visualise spatial-statistical data from across Australia. We have also demonstrated that the AURIN portal can successfully conduct simple spatial-statistical analysis all via a single online platform. However, we have also found there remains significant challenges in manipulating and visualising complex multi-dimensional datasets through the portal. Yet these challenges are not considered insurmountable and further research should endeavour to address them. In conclusion, it is important to highlight that online platforms such as the AURIN portal hold significant promise as effective planning and decision support systems which can be used to better shape our cities.

Planning resilient roads for the future environment and climate change: Quantifying the vulnerability of the primary transport infrastructure system in Mexico

Climate projections predict an increase in future climate variability. To ensure economically, socially and environmentally responsible transportation planning, it is necessary to consider future weather variations driven by climate change. Despite growing evidence that considering climatic changes is an imperative for resilient future infrastructure, management agencies rarely incorporate climate change into decision-making processes. One reason is the lack of tangible information and tools to help predict and plan for future conditions.This paper presents the impacts and cost of climate change on the road infrastructure of Mexico. Climate change is projected to require an extra national expenditure on road maintenance that ranges from $1.5 to 5 billion USD by 2050. The Infrastructure Planning Support System (IPSS), a tool developed by the authors, is used to quantify impacts of climate change for this study. The results reinforce the need to incorporate forward-looking planning to reduce vulnerability by increase road infrastructure resilience to the future weather changes and provide quantified information for decision makers to consider.

Towards a pragmatic research agenda for the PSS domain

The tenuous link between knowledge and processes of urban strategy-making leads to suboptimal plans, time delays and financial costs. The planning professional is ill-equipped to deal with fundamental urban challenges that threaten the quality and competiveness of cities and regions. For decades, Planning Support Systems (PSS) are being developed to address this challenge. The PSS research domain grew accordingly. Only recently did researchers start to focus more directly on how PSS are used (or not used) by planning practitioners. Understanding the real-life application of PSS is fundamental for addressing the challenges of knowledge use. This commentary argues that we need to go beyond the current simplistic understanding of several key concepts. It identifies academic pathways that further mature the conceptualization of PSS, of planning processes, of the participants and the relationship between them. The argument builds on ten years of full-time research in this domain and combines this with recent insights from other academic fields, such as group performance and behavior psychology. This provides us pathways towards a more realistic evaluation of how knowledge can regain its important role in urban planning.

A planning support system to optimize approval of private housing development projects

Out of 182 million population of Pakistan, 38% reside in urban areas having an average growth rate of 1.6%, raising the urban housing demand significantly. Poor state response to fulfil the housing needs has resulted in a mushroom growth of private housing schemes (PHS) over the years. Consequently, only in five major cities of Punjab, there are 383 legal and 150 illegal private housing development projects against 120 public sector housing schemes. A major factor behind the cancerous growth of unapproved PHS is the prolonged and delayed approval process in concerned approval authorities requiring 13 months on average. Currently, manual and paper-based approaches are used for vetting and for granting the permission which is highly subjective and non-transparent. This study aims to design a flexible planning support system (PSS) to optimize the vetting process of PHS projects under any development authority in Pakistan by reducing time and cost required for site and documents investigations. Relying on the review of regulatory documents and interviews with professional planners and land developers, this study describes the structure of a PSS developed using open- source geo-spatial tools such as OpenGeo Suite, PHP, and PostgreSQL. It highlights the development of a Knowledge Module (based on regulatory documents) containing equations related to scheme type, size (area), location, access road, components of layout plan, planning standards and other related approval checks. Furthermore, it presents the architecture of the database module and system data requirements categorized as base datasets (built-in part of PSS) and input datasets (related to the housing project under approval). It is practically demonstrated that developing a customized PSS to optimize PHS approval process in Pakistan is achievable with geospatial technology. With the provision of such a system, the approval process for private housing schemes not only becomes quicker and user-friendly but also transparent.

Improving essential fish habitat designation to support sustainable ecosystem-based fisheries management

A major limitation to fully integrated ecosystem based fishery management approaches is a lack of information on the spatial distribution of marine species and the environmental conditions shaping these distributions. This is particularly problematic for deep-water species that are hard to sample and are data poor. The past decade has seen the rapid development of a suite of advanced species distribution, or ecological niche, modelling approaches developed specifically to support efficient and targeted management. However, model performance can vary significantly and the appropriateness of which methods are best for a given application remains questionable. Species distribution models were developed for three commercially valuable Hawaiian deep-water eteline snappers: Etelis coruscans (Onaga), Etelis carbunculus (Ehu) and Pristipomoides filamentosus (Opakapaka). Distributional data for these species was relatively sparse. To identify the best method, model performance and distributional accuracy was assessed and compared using three approaches: Generalised Additive Models (GAM), Boosted Regression Trees (BRT) and Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt). Independent spatial validation data found MaxEnt consistently provided better model performance with ‘good’ model predictions (AUC =>0.8). Each species was influenced by a unique combination of environmental conditions, with depth, terrain (slope) and substrate (low lying unconsolidated sediments), being the three most important in shaping their distributions. Sustainable fisheries management, marine spatial planning and environmental decision support systems rely on an understanding species distribution patterns and habitat linkages. This study demonstrates that predictive species distribution modelling approaches can be used to accurately model and map sparse species distribution data across marine landscapes. The approach used herein was found to be an accurate tool to delineate species distributions and associated habitat linkages, account for species-specific differences and support sustainable ecosystem-based management.

Planning Support Systems (PSS)-Based Spatial Plan Alternatives and Environmental Assessment

Spatial planning is at the core of national land and urban development. Many countries and cities seek sustainable development through various means such as coordinated environmental planning, environmental assessment, and internalization of environmental analysis and planning. A Planning Support System (PSS) is a GIS (Geographic Information System)-based, spatial decision-making support system that incorporates a variety of theories and pertinent models. This study adopted the “What if?” model to design an alternative spatial plan that includes generation of predictive scenarios and is relatively easy to use. In the cities studied, we identified a total of six scenarios based on the main drivers of development—namely, population and spatial policies. Subsequently, we assessed the alternatives for their environmental impact, preparing sensitivity maps for each major environmental issue in the target area (natural ecosystem, air and microclimate, natural disasters). One projected advantage of the “What if?” model is that its digital visualization of proposed plans may improve public awareness and involvement. Furthermore, the tool is expected to be highly useful in ensuring the objectivity of quantitative analyses. However, it is necessary to develop a PSS that is both standardized and tailored to the particular needs of each area. Finally, the development of an e-governance system will be beneficial in ensuring public access to the decision making process.

Comparison of Predictive Models for the Early Diagnosis of Diabetes.

ObjectivesThis study develops neural network models to improve the prediction of diabetes using clinical and lifestyle characteristics. Prediction models were developed using a combination of approaches and concepts.MethodsWe used memetic algorithms to update weights and to improve prediction accuracy of models. In the first step, the optimum amount for neural network parameters such as momentum rate, transfer function, and error function were obtained through trial and error and based on the results of previous studies. In the second step, optimum parameters were applied to memetic algorithms in order to improve the accuracy of prediction. This preliminary analysis showed that the accuracy of neural networks is 88%. In the third step, the accuracy of neural network models was improved using a memetic algorithm and resulted model was compared with a logistic regression model using a confusion matrix and receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC).ResultsThe memetic algorithm improved the accuracy from 88.0% to 93.2%. We also found that memetic algorithm had a higher accuracy than the model from the genetic algorithm and a regression model. Among models, the regression model has the least accuracy. For the memetic algorithm model the amount of sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and ROC are 96.2, 95.3, 93.8, 92.4, and 0.958 respectively.ConclusionsThe results of this study provide a basis to design a Decision Support System for risk management and planning of care for individuals at risk of diabetes.

A Framework for Developing Management Intelligent Systems

This paper proposes a framework for developing management intelligent systems (MiS). The proposed framework identifies the main management functions, intelligent systems and decision support systems (DSS) for planning, organizing, leading and controlling, and their corresponding applications as the core components of MiS. It integrates the main management functions with intelligent systems and DSS in a context of decision making by managers in organizations. This paper also examines intelligent systems for management and management decision making. The approach proposed in this paper might facilitate research and development of MiS, management, intelligent systems, and information systems.

A new model for bridge management: Part B: decision support system for remediation planning

Bridges are fundamental elements in any road network and characterize a major capital asset of community resources. Because of their strategic location over obstacles, any failure may limit and restrict road traffic and cause inconvenience and economic loss. It is therefore important to manage bridge assets, to ensure that all the bridges are maintained in a safe condition, with the most cost-efficient use of resources. Most of the existing bridge management systems are to some extent subjective and based on cost optimization which does not address the indirect impact of the remedial actions. The subjective nature of decision-making in bridge remediation could be replaced by the application of a multi-criteria decision support system that supports decision-makers through balanced consideration of multiple criteria. The main goal of this paper is to present a requirements-driven decision support methodology for remediation of concrete bridges with the aim of maintaining bridge assets within acceptable limits of safety, serviceability and sustainability. The simplified analytical hierarchy process is used as a multi-criteria decision-making technique. A method for selection of the best remediation plan in terms of fund allocation for top-ranked bridges of the network is also proposed using the outputs of the previous procedures considering the budget as the main constraint.

Let the Citizens Map—Public Participation GIS as a Planning Support System in the Helsinki Master Plan Process

Current public participation methods are laborious, reach few participants and are ineffective at gathering usable information for planning. This situation leads often to mistrust and dissatisfaction in the process and outcome. This article identifies the critical conditions for meaningful use of public participation GIS (PPGIS) tools to support the making of master plan in Helsinki. With PPGIS tools, residents’ insight of their living environment can be reached and utilized along the planning process. The results are divided to conceptual and empirical points. Whereas the conceptual points emphasize better understanding of the locus of the PPGIS tools in planning process, the empirical findings reveal new ways to study how residents’ perceptions align with the plan proposal. Though new tools, data and analysis can support representativeness, independence, early involvement, influence and transparency, planners and residents need more understanding of the benefits of these tools. The study indicates that though planners found the collected data and the analysis valuable, they still lacked the skills and institutional motivation to use the data effectively. The results point out that when PPGIS tools can be integrated to the mainstream planning practices, the tools have the ability to evolve to a more comprehensive participatory planning support system.

A comparison of the perceived added value of PSS applications in group settings

Research on planning support systems (PSS) is increasingly paying attention to the added value that PSS applications have for planning practice. Whereas early studies tended to have a rather conceptual focus, recent studies have paid more attention to empirics. Although this is a step forward, there is still a notable gap in the literature: a dearth of empirical evaluations of PSS applications from a comparative perspective. This paper addresses this gap, based on an earlier published conceptual framework that identifies the potential added values of PSS applications. The paper also tentatively explores the effect of three explanatory factors: support capabilities of the PSS, usability, and the context. In doing so, it reports on research of four PSS applications in The Netherlands. The research method consisted of questionnaires completed directly after the session, open interviews and conversations with stakeholders, and observations. With regard to added value as perceived by the participants, the findings indicate that learning, both about the object and about others, was a key perceived added value in all four cases, despite differences in context, support capabilities and usability scores. Moreover, although usability perceptions of the PSS applications varied, overall they were relatively positive. Context appears to have a substantial effect on the perceived added value of the PSS application, making it hard to distil the exact effect of the support capabilities and usability perceptions. The effect of context is one of the topics that could be picked up in further studies into the added value of PSS. One way to accomplish this in future research is by comparing a larger number of different PSS applications in different contexts, resulting in a higher n in order to enable correlational analyses and cross-national comparisons to better grasp the influence of the institutional context.

Sketching and learning: A planning support system field study

One of the important bottlenecks to the wider adoption of planning support systems is a lack of evidence about whether they improve planning processes. In addition, existing research does not include field studies with high context validity. This paper fills this gap in the literature by reporting the results from a field study evaluating the performance of a planning support systems used for sketch planning as part of a land use planning project in metropolitan Austin, Texas, USA. Participants reported high levels of learning and dialog quality, the two chosen planning support systems performance measures. A regression analysis finds both are related to the ability of planning support systems to change participants’ perceptions. In addition, as suggested by learning theory, the planning support systems performance outcomes are significantly related to participants’ identity as a planner and meeting attendance, but are not related to gender or educational attainment. Finally, for the planning support systems studied here, participation in the planning support systems creation is less important than other factors in explaining planning support systems performance. The paper contributes to efforts to develop and implement robust measures of planning support systems performance and links concept of planning support systems performance to broader theories of learning.

Stakeholder-oriented Energy Planning Support in Cities

The successful implementation of urban energy planning strategies (applied as a set of measures to improve energy efficiency and carry out distributed renewable energy generation to reduce CO2 emissions) depends on the satisfaction of the stakeholders, involved in future implementation process. This paper presents a stakeholder-oriented approach, implemented in a planning support system, to provide stakeholders with specific information from their points-of-view, regarding the impact of energy strategies on their interests. The approach is based on semantic web technologies, where an ontology is gradually developed to be used to provide information to different stakeholders during the process of developing urban energy strategies. Measures to be implemented are defined. For each measure, involved stakeholders are identified and questions they raise for their decision making are listed, as competency questions of the ontology. Computation models to answer these questions are identified or developed, based on the data availability in the city. The semantics used in these models are then captured and classified within the ontology. Then the decision making knowledge of the stakeholders is integrated within the ontology, as inference rules. Finally, the ontology is used through a web-map-based interface. The proposed solution anticipates the potential decisions of the different stakeholders, easing the progress of the energy planning process, typically happening in workshops or forums in collaboration with different stakeholders.

Development of a multi-criteria spatial planning support system for growth potential modelling in the Western Cape, South Africa

Growth potential modelling is useful as it provides insight into which settlements in a region are likely to experience growth and which areas are likely to decline. However, growth potential modelling is an ill-structured problem as there is no universally-agreed set of criteria (parameters) that can be combined in a particular way (rules) to provide a definitive growth potential measure (solution). In this paper we address the ill-structured problem of growth potential modelling by combining multi-criteria decision making (MCDM), geographical information systems (GIS) and planning support systems (PPS) to generate a number of growth scenarios for settlements in Western Cape province of South Africa. A new framework and methodology for selecting, structuring and analysing multiple growth potential criteria is proposed. The framework, based on the principles of innovation potential and growth preconditions, was applied to demonstrate how it can be used to identify a series of candidate criteria relating to the growth potential of settlements. The criteria were subjected to a MCDM process involving criteria selection, weighting and normalisation. Two criteria sets, weighting schemes and normalisation methods were considered. Two different classification techniques were also evaluated. A total of 16 scenarios were generated using a newly-developed growth potential PPS (GPPSS). The paper shows how the GPPSS can be used to quantitatively and qualitatively assess the various scenarios and to select the most appropriate solution.

Spatial accessibility to amenities, natural areas and urban green spaces: using a multiscale, multifractal simulation model for managing urban sprawl

We are confronted with rising energy consumption inter alia due to increasing worldwide mobility contributing to the greenhouse effect and global warming. Thus, one of the challenges in planning is to manage urban sprawl by introducing an efficient distribution of agglomerations and an optimal urban pattern incorporating economic, ecological, and social expectations of sustainable regional and urban development. In order to tackle these challenges we have taken a specific interest in the benefits of using a multifractal logic combined with measures of accessibility to urban and rural amenities including temporal settings for planning. Herein, we propose a multiscale, multifractal simulation model named Fractalopolis for simulating and evaluating scenarios consistently from a regional to a neighbourhood scale. Access to shops, services, and facilities can be improved by altering the location, whereas access to natural areas and urban green spaces can be improved by suggesting different areas for urbanization. The urbanization strategy will impact on the future regional layout and urban form. The computer application supports GIS data for incorporating the simulation system into planning support systems to support planning processes and assist with choice processes.

Integrating management tools and concepts to develop an estuarine planning support system: A case study of the Humber Estuary, Eastern England

Estuaries are important because of their multiple uses and users which often makes them challenging to manage since management must strike a balance between the needs of users, the estuaries' ecological and economic value and the context of multiple legislative drivers. To facilitate management we have therefore developed an Estuarine Planning Support System (EPSS) framework using the Humber Estuary, Eastern England, as a case study which integrates the current legislation tools and concepts. This integrated EPSS framework is an improvement on previous approaches for assessing cumulative impacts as it takes into account legislative drivers, management tools and other mechanisms for controlling plans/projects specific to the estuary. It therefore enables managers and users to assess and address both the current state and the way in which a new industrial, port or urban development could impact an estuary in an accessible and understandable framework.

Delineation of River Basin Committees in Peru using WARPLAM DSS

In order to promote good water governance practices, harmonize multiple objectives, and reflect the linkages between environmental, socioeconomic and politico-administrative aspects, it is imperative to define appropriate regions for water resources planning and management. The Water Resources Planning and Management Decision Support System (WARPLAM DSS) is presented here as a tool to support the definition of suitable limits for water resources regions. Although river basins are generally considered the most suitable regions to achieve Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) goals, WARPLAM DSS facilitates the analysis of politico-administrative, historic-cultural, socioeconomic, and physical-environmental aspects. This paper summarizes an initiative to define integrated water resources regions for the establishment of River Basin Committees (RBCs) in Peru, based on a comprehensive analysis of the Peruvian territory. The study was developed through a partnership between ANA-Peru and ANA-Brazil, with the cooperation of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The results simulated in this attempt anticipate a more harmonized division of Peru's territory into water resources regions. Such an approach aims to establish more robust RBCs and to increase the chances of attaining IWRM goals.