Optimizing cooperation in spatial planning for eGovernment

Abstract

As a reaction to societal, economic and technological changes, new forms of cooperation are applied in projects of urban and regional development. We argue that this trend can significantly be amplified by the use of information and communication technologies (ICT). Through ICT more persons can participate in a more open, fairer and more transparent way. More complex information can be analyzed, discussions can become more focused, the process is documented and becomes reproducible and comparable. Methods and media can be combined in a very flexible way to design more efficient and effective processes. To the extent that projects are stored in a knowledge base, knowledge management tools can exploit growing experience in order to continuously improve a methodology for cooperation in spatial development. Our approach aims at exploring the opportunities that new ICT offer for new cooperation methods in e-Government and planning - beyond the extension of traditional methods to electronic communication media. It acknowledges the need for experimentation and an evaluation, not only concerning isolated methods but the combination of methods based on knowledge management concepts.