Sustainable land-use planning: The integration of process and technology

Approaches to developing sustainable land use plans have become focused in two directions. One focuses on a process-oriented approach that develops community-wide consensus on the nature of the problem and the definition of progress. The other focuses on a more technology-oriented approach that constructs planning support system (PSS) tools to identify problem areas and manage complex information.; A process-oriented approach would help garner community-wide support in determining a vision for the future and the indicators that signal success or failure in realizing that vision. This approach would insure communal consensus on the issues and community support for the developed plans. But would it allow for the rapid testing of alternatives and their impacts? A technologically-oriented approach would identify PSS tools to help codify the issues and process complex information toward developing alternative solutions. This approach would involve a more rigorous analysis and provide future scenario-based planning solutions. But does it provide a vision for the future and have the support of the community.; While the process- and technology-oriented approaches appear divergent on the surface, possible benefits can be found in the convergence of the two. While others have suggested that planning support systems exist that can help to inform and support the visioning process. Can the visioning process in turn be used to improve the relevance, usefulness, and legitimacy of PSSs? Perhaps the seamless integration of the two approaches would enhance the ability of communities to develop sustainable land-use plans. This study argues that in order to insure relevance and community buy-in we need to take a communal consensus approach to the generation and application of sustainable development PSS tools. In order to truly operationalize sustainable planning ideals we should consider a strategy that integrates process and technology.; This dissertation explores issues of model development and integration into the planning process of a complex PSS called the Land use Evolution and impact Assessment Model (LEAM). The basis for this discussion is my experience in developing and applying LEAM to the planning process in a central Illinois community.