Planning Support Systems: Retrospect and Prospect It has been nearly twenty years since the term ‘planning support systems’ (PSS) first appeared in an article by Britton Harris (Harris 1989) and more than ten years since the concept was more broadly introduced in the academic literature (Harris and Batty 1993; Batty 1995; Klosterman 1997). As a result, the publication of a new book on PSS provides an excellent opportunity to assess past progress in the field and speculate on future developments. PSS have clearly become very popular in the academic world. This is the fourth edited book devoted to the topic following Brail and Klosterman (2001), Geertman and Stillwell (2003), and a third by Brail (2008). Papers devoted to PSS have been published in the leading planning journals and the topic has become a regular theme at academic conferences around the world; it has even spawned intellectual o- spring such as spatial planning and decision support systems (SPDSS) and public participationplanning support systems (PP-PSS). However, as Geertman and Stillwell point out in their introductory chapter, the experience with PSS in the world of professional practice has been disappointing. A substantial number of PSS have been developed but most of them are academic p- totypes or ‘one off’ professional applications that have not been adopted elsewhere.
This book is about a particular set of geo-information technologies known as Planning Support Systems (PSS). It focuses on the adoption and application of PSS in practice. It aims to illustrate best practice and to demonstrate new methods that are being developed for creating the next generation of PSS for use in various public or private sector planning contexts. The book serves as a medium for the exchange of knowledge, insights and experiences, thereby preventing those working in this field from having to ‘reinvent the wheel’. It also serves to communicate details about PSS methodology and management to those less informed about contemporary developments. The book stimulates new and exciting applications of PSS in diverse planning situations. It provides planning practitioners, system developers and researchers with helpful insights into what planning support systems are, how they can be constructed and implemented, and in which situations they can provide valuable support for decision making.
