SoftGIS development process as a trading zone: Challenges in implementing a participatory planning support system

Abstract

This chapter studies and evaluates the development processes of the SoftGIS methods through four different case studies during 2005-2011 where nine SoftGIS applications were developed in nine different cities in Finland. The Internet-based SoftGIS applications aim to gather residents’ locality-based experiences of their living environment. SoftGIS aims to achieve new and innovative methods to support research and participative urban planning practices as planning support systems (PSS). Often the tools as planning support systems (PSS) that aim to foster the collaboration between planners and citizens are developed separately by researchers and industry who also have limited knowledge of the users’, such as urban planners and residents, actual needs. This creates the problem of an implementation gap, which refers to the mismatch of the supply and demand of planning support tools. To narrow down the implementation gap and to embed these tools more effectively into practice, a more user-sensitive and iterative development process is needed. To open up these multi-actor development processes, the engagements and roles of different actors are studied through the concept of a trading zone that allows describing different forms of cooperation during the development process. The research and development processes of different SoftGIS applications are considered as trading zones where information is shared among the stakeholders. The findings of this study aim to narrow down the implementation gap of PSSs by indicating the importance of the development phase. The development phase and process of the planning support systems should receive more attention to realise a functional system for all stakeholders. To reach this goal, the main focus should be on the social process instead of technical development work, and on a more continuous learning process, which is needed throughout from the development phase to implementation to reduce the implementation gap.