Conceptualizing the Policy Tools of Spatial Planning

Abstract

While many policy tools can be used to develop spatial plans and implement their goals, there have been very few academic attempts to classify and illustrate the whole range of tools available. This article reviews the different ways in which planning tools have been conceptualized to date and highlights a wide variation in their interpretation. Building directly on literature from policy studies, a new classification is put forward which has many potential applications in studying spatial planning governance. As well as distinguishing between four main policy types (nodality, authority, treasure, and organization), the classification differentiates between procedural and substantive tools.

Semantic City Planning Systems (SCPS): A Literature Review

“…• Planning and Decision Support Systems Planning and decision support systems are a collection of spatial analytical and simulation tools that allow to display (live) geo-spatial and temporal data about cities. These systems often have a 'dashboard' visual interface allowing decision makers and stakeholders to visualise, discuss and decide (Geertman and Stillwell 2004;Hasler 2019;Stead 2021). (Gil 2020).…”

“…City Planning (CP) has been integrating the growing availability of digital data. The rise of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and various digital planning support tools e-governance and entrepreneurial governance systems have become central the discipline (Batty 2013; Burger, van Oort and Meijers 2019; Stead 2021). Despite these recent advances, Batty (2017) and Helbing and Pournaras (2015) note that CP has yet to effectively harness the full possibilities of the ICT revolution.…”

“…Even if these kinds of data are digitised and made available on websites, they remain relatively static and difficult to cross-reference and analyse (Laurian and Inch 2019). The many new digital tools that have emerged lack, as Dominic Stead puts it, a ‘framework for categorizing, analyzing, and comparing’ them (Stead 2021). Providing such a framework would rely on developing ‘a better system of validation and critical assimilation of scientific knowledge’ into city planning (Marshall 2012 b , 267).…”

“…As König et al (2020a) noted, the combinatorial possibilities of automated form generation quickly outpace the possibilities of computers. Planning and Decision Support Systems Planning and decision support systems are a collection of spatial analytical and simulation tools that allow to display (live) geo-spatial and temporal data about cities. These systems often have a ‘dashboard’ visual interface allowing decision makers and stakeholders to visualise, discuss and decide (Geertman and Stillwell 2004; Hasler 2019; Stead 2021). Digital Urban Twins Digital twins complement planning and decision support systems with a virtual ‘twin’ or model to be used for the analytical and simulation work.…”

The Nexus between the Establishment of an Enabling Environment and Local Economic Development in the City of Harare

“…The thrust towards sustainable agriculture in local governments builds more engaged and active communities thereby leading to a community's economic development (Sharpa, Jackson-Smith, & Smith, 2011; Gentry, 2013) Spatial and environmental development: Spatial planning enacts a key role in the provision of a long-term framework for the coordination of policies and development across sectors (Turkoglu, et al, 2012;Stead, 2021). It also assists in the promotion of investment and economic growth while promoting the efficient and optimal use of resources and policies that protect the environment (UN, 2008).…”