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Towards a pragmatic research agenda for the PSS domain

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  • te Brömmelstroet, Marco

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • te Brömmelstroet, Marco, 2017. "Towards a pragmatic research agenda for the PSS domain," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 77-83.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:104:y:2017:i:c:p:77-83
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2016.05.011
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Henrik Gudmundsson, 2011. "Analysing Models as a Knowledge Technology in Transport Planning," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(2), pages 145-159.
    2. Thomas Straatemeier & Luca Bertolini & Marco te Brömmelstroet & Perry Hoetjes, 2010. "An Experiential Approach to Research in Planning," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 37(4), pages 578-591, August.
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    5. John F. Forester, 1999. "The Deliberative Practitioner: Encouraging Participatory Planning Processes," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262561220, December.
    6. Marco Te Brömmelstroet & Pieter M Schrijnen, 2010. "From Planning Support Systems to Mediated Planning Support: A Structured Dialogue to Overcome the Implementation Gap," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 37(1), pages 3-20, February.
    7. Robert Goodspeed, 2016. "Sketching and learning: A planning support system field study," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 43(3), pages 444-463, May.
    8. Helen Couclelis, 2005. "“Where has the Future Gone?†Rethinking the Role of Integrated Land-Use Models in Spatial Planning," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 37(8), pages 1353-1371, August.
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    13. te Brömmelstroet, Marco, 2017. "PSS are more user-friendly, but are they also increasingly useful?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 96-107.
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