ICT Tools to enhance the utility of a Spatial Decision Support System – Methodological essays (original) (raw)
Related papers
Proceedings of 7th Virtual Cities and Territories (VCT) conference, 2011
"The basic idea behind urban planning is to produce some kind of explicit rationality driven by collective purposes, capable of regulating the multitude of individual decisions that build the city over time. How this rationality is constructed, that is, which are the underlying criteria and analytical interpretations, is one of the most critical issues in urban planning. In fact, in order to be effective, a plan should be informed by a stringent diagnosis of the reality it aims to conduct and regulate, and it must also be able to prognosticate, at least to a certain extent and with a reasonable degree of confidence, the expected outcomes of the proposed planning strategies. On both these stages of the planning process – diagnosis and prognosis - objective analytical methods and predictive models are key. However, in what concerns the physical and morphological dimensions of urban planning, this kind of methods and models remain largely speculative, if not simply absent from the regular practice. In this paper we propose a Decision Support System (DSS) to address these specific challenges of urban planning practice, with a strong focus on the Portuguese planning instruments. The proposed system, combining GIS spatial analysis technology with space syntax techniques, is able to provide rigorous quantitative descriptions of urban spatial layouts which are, in turn, capable of informing urban spatial strategies from a new and more assertive point of view. Its relevance and operability are demonstrated through the assessment of an actual planning exercise, a Portuguese municipal master plan (Plano Director Municipal - PDM)."
The effects of decision-making on urban form. A tool for supporting planning process
2011
In wide area planning, collaboration and participation are nowadays a common approach to the creation of a land or urban design. Thus, planning involves different kinds of professionals, usually coming from different disciplines and, in particular, speaking different languages. GIS technologies are generally used as support to investigate planning and decision making questions, but knowledge process is often limited by the lack of users’ ability in reading output data. Thus, the improvement of information sharing among many users is one of main tasks of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). This is commonly achieved through the use of visual tools which allow users to understand data through intuitive perception. For this reason, the ongoing research described in this paper is investigating a modelling system to combine visual tools with GIS technologies, in order to create a shared common language which could be able to really support wide area Planning processes.
A generic Integrated Spatial Decision Support System for urban and regional planning
Chan, F., Marinova, D. and Anderssen, R.S. (eds) MODSIM2011, 19th International Congress on Modelling and Simulation., 2011
The proposition that land use dynamics are complex and exhibit self-organising behaviour may seem at odds with the prima facie assumption that planners and policy-makers have a decisive influence on future land use. In reality, this is not a contradiction, but rather a challenge for model developers to recognize disparate types of drivers and to look at autonomous behaviour and (spatial) planning as an integral part of land use dynamics. Furthermore, experience learns that in order to support decision making and/or policy analysis we have to bridge the science-policy gap by ensuring that i) models incorporate policy-relevant drivers and provide policy-relevant output in a comprehensible form, and ii) buy-in from users is achieved by involving them in the development process. From the above applications we have learned the following lessons: (1) ISDSS development is a joint effort of users, scientists and IT-specialists, (2) In ISDSS development, software development is facilitating, not leading, (3) Conceptual challenges regarding model integration cannot be solved by technical solutions alone, (4) The need for software development in various phases of the development and use of an ISDSS can and should be minimized, (5) Reusable concepts and components allow for efficient development of new ISDSS, although genericity remains a trade-off, (6) Funding mechanisms should be accounted for in planning longterm ISDSS development and implementation trajectories.
2016
Territorial planning is the focus of considerable debates, which often develop into uncertain and vulnerable decision contexts. Numbers and quantitative information in fact often dominate the process of decision-making but they are not easily comprehensible through quick and simple reasoning. Nonetheless, the huge quantities of data that describe our cities and regions could provide excellent bases to analyze spatial data in order to assess territories and simulate future development scenarios. The application of innovative digital tools in the analysis of urban issues offers new advantages and opportunities for the improvement of communication values in policies and decision-making processes, concurring to overcome conventional approaches to territorial management. The paper describes the application of the Interactive Visualization Tool (InViTo), a web tool based on maps and visual analysis allowing data to be filtered, explored, interconnected and compared on a visual interface. ...
Revista Brasileira de Cartografia, v. 69, n. 8,, 2018
Planning for the new urban development areas has always been a very contentious issue in local planning in Brazil, as it concentrates important interest conflicts from a diversity of involved stakeholders. Thematic cartography and multiple criteria analytical methods have been widely used as Planning Support Systems, especially with regards to the evaluation of carrying capacity of the territory to guide the location of these areas. However, data and technical information communication to communities is still a barrier to the extension of participatory decision making processes, which has enhanced the importance of geovisualization tools. This paper discusses the results of a simulated collaborative planning process at an academic workshop when Geodesign framework (STEINITZ, 2012) and geovisualization resources have been used to provide simultaneous information sharing, knowledge leveraging and establishment of preconditions for defining areas for urban growth. The outcomes showed the broad analytical and communication possibilities provided by the applied methods, which can be replicated in similar situations, involving non technical individuals with no specific knowledge for traditional cartography reading skills.
Development of National Spatial Decision Support Framework for Sustainable Development
2017
Background: The decision-making process in an organization succeeds when it is comprehensive, reliable, and done in a transparent manner between the departmental management as well as the stakeholders. It also requires complete and correct data to feed the decision process tools and applications. Methods: We designed a socioeconomic approach to build the National Spatial Decision Support System and provide support for the national economy development. The approach is proposing web based platforms for collaboration between government authorities, industry experts and the public. The collaboration is implemented by building one platform for the experts called the Experts’ Collaboration Portal and another platform for the public called the Geospatial Businesses Portal (GBP). Both portals are considered as an envelope on top of the e-government services and are the sources of big data from the public and the industry, which represent all areas of the national economy and the public asse...
Utilisation of Urban Modeling Tools in Decision Making Process: The TELUM Case Study
Psycaris,Y. and Skayannis,P. (eds) The Context, Dynamics and planning of urban development: a collection of papers, Volos: University of Thessaly Press, p. 63-84, 2008
Information technology, urban models and decision support tools have been and will continue to be an integral part of the decision making process in planning. Despite their unambiguous significance, they are underutilized in professional practice. This paper presents the results of a study on the applicability and effectiveness of a complex land use modelling tool in planning practice and agencies’ decision making processes. The study intended to capture users’ perspective and record their experiences when using the modelling tool. The basic research assumption was that there are certain functional and structural factors that could operate as obstacles, or bottlenecks, and block or delay the implementation of such systems. Twenty U.S. Metropolitan Planning Organizations participated in the research and were asked to evaluate the tool in the context of their planning and decision making practices. Based on the research results there are suggestions regarding the development, application and dissemination of Planning Support Systems in agencies and planning practice.
Spatial Information Systems: Design, Modelling, and Use in Planning
International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 1993
This paper focuses on the role of spatial information systems in regional and urban planning. Experiences on the design, modelling and use of such systems are briefly commented upon. Special attention is thcn devoted to the potential of GIS. Next the question of designing tailor made information systems for planning is dealt with. A triple layer methodology for intcgrating information systems in planning models is proposed, with a particular view on three steps: conceptual reflection, prototype cxperimentation and operational software design. Next, the link between information systems and spatial planning models is dealt with. The paper is concluded with a discussion on choicc trajectories for optimum planning uses of a given data input visé-vis optimum data inputs for given planning uses.
A spatial decision support system for participative planning
2005
The fast urban growth process is the root of many problems faced by cities of several countries, particularly those in developing countries. The participation of the community in the planning process can help to drive the development of a city for reaching sustainable development and to improve the community quality of life through an organized process. In that context, the combination of Geographical Information Systems and Spatial Decision Support Systems, through an online interface, can provide new perspectives to participatory planning. That is exactly the focus of this paper, in which a spatial decision support model with online community participation is proposed. Its goal is to promote an integrated and sustainable process of urban and transportation planning for Brazilian medium-sized cities by joining together planners, decision makers and the community in the planning process. A system under development for the city of Bauru is presented to exemplify the proposed approach.
Regional and Urban GIS: A Decision Support Approach – By Timothy L. Nyerges and Piotr Jankowski
Geographical Research, 2012
Regional Science has shaped many of the ways in which we view, analyse, and make decisions regarding the planning and management of transportation, development, and resource allocation and protection across space. Before Geographic Information Systems (GIS), many of the empirical methods which form the basis of modern spatial analysis grew out of the Regional Science approach to planning. More than four decades of GIS development have seen the evolution of a wide array of applications which utilise the knowledge and tools available to users. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that regional and urban planners and scientists have sought to harness GIS in a decision-support context: a subject explored in great detail in this book by Nyerges and Jankowski. Incorporating contemporary thinking on integrated approaches such as growth management and sustainability management with the ability to utilise multiple spatial and temporal scales through GIS, the book provides an accessible and non-specialist view of the subject of decision support. The book takes a three-way approach to the theoretical, methodological, and substantive issues faced by planning and programme managers. These are: frameworks for understanding and practising GIS, perspectives on GIS development for decision support, and GIS-based methods for addressing complex decision making. This structure is presented with consideration of social, economic, and environmental priorities and objectives and ecosystem limits. The authors utilise their extensive knowledge of urbanregional planning, spatial decision analysis, environmental modelling and decision support systems to provide readers with unique perspectives on the benefits and capabilities of GIS to provide practical solutions to sustainability issues facing our cities and regions.