Improving the Adoption and Use of Planning Support Systems in Practice

Planning Support Systems (PSS) are geo-information based tools intended to support planners in planning tasks such as information handling, communication and analysis in planning processes. They can be useful tools in helping planners to handle the ever-increasing complexity of planning. However, PSS technology is trapped in a vicious circle created by the large mismatch that exists between the supply of and the demand for PSS. Despite their many promising characteristics, PSS have not yet become widely used in planning practice; lessons must be learned on how to effectively develop and apply PSS. Without such experience, it becomes difficult to pursue the improvement of PSS technology, which in turn means fewer lessons can be learned. This paper aims to narrow the gap between supply and demand by providing lessons for planners, PSS developers and researchers of PSS development and use.