Planning Support Systems: Integrating Geographic Information Systems, Models, and Visualization Tools

The integration of community concerns with GIS technologies has had the effect of bringing community planners and designers together at the planning table. Planners no longer plan for the people in the communities, they plan with them. With planning support software, citizen planners can move buildings from block to block, tear them down, build complete subdivisions, run new highways in and around town, analyze any number of scenarios, and see with their own eyes the consequences of each action. This reference offers new possibilities and discusses the most important aspects of computer-aided land-use planning. Topics covered include urban modeling, simulation and scenario construction, collaborative planning, and visualization.