SoftGIS as a Bridge-Builder in Collaborative Urban Planning

Abstract

Current trends in urban planning and recent changes in planning culture (Puustinen 2006; Staffans 2004) support the development of a new methodology for collaborative planning. Collaboration in Finland is supported by European Union (EU) directives and the Finnish Building and Land Use Act (1999). The latter aims to ensure wide participation and to support open and high-quality planning decisions and processes. In practice, such wide participation is difficult to realize as resources are inadequate. The participatory approach needs also to be evident in all phases of the planning process, which is rarely the case in reality.