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Decision support tools

The ultimate objective of spatial decision support is to make sure that the best possible plan is produced in a way that best suits all stakeholders involved. In practical terms this is the plan that makes the most of the information available, and has the largest possible support of the stakeholders. Because the information load is high, spatial decision support should complement design by the landscape architects. Important issues are: fragmentation, landscape patterns, spatial design algorithms, and evaluation under uncertainty.

The communication of scientific findings to policy makers and the discussion of alternative management strategies and land use planning require techniques that allow the involvement of stakeholders. Within the department, different techniques and tools are evaluated that support such stakeholder dialogue. These include the use of spatial multicriteria analysis on a interactive ‘touch table’ to support spatial planning; the use of photorealistic landscape scenarios for participatory workshops on rural development options and a contribution to a European discussion support system for rural areas (EURURALIS, www.eururalis.eu).

Key publications on this theme:

Stewart, T. J., Joubert, A., & Janssen, R. (2010), "MCDM Framework for fishing rights allocation in South Africa", Group Decision and Negotiation.Volume 19(3) pp.247-265.
Janssen, R., Herwijnen, M.van, Stewart,T.J., Aerts,J.C.J.H. (2007) Multiobjective decision support for land use planning. Environment and Planning B: planning and design. Vol. 34.
Janssen, R., Verhoeven, J. T. A., Arciniegas, G., & Riet, B. v. (in press), "Spatial evaluation of ecological qualities to support interactive design of land use plans", Environment and Planning B: planning and design.
Verburg, P.H., Eickhout, B., van Meijl, H. 2008. A multi-scale, multi-model approach for analyzing the future dynamics of European land use. Annals of Regional Science, 42(1): 57-77.
Lovett, A; Carvalho Ribeiro, S; van Berkel, D.; Verburg, P. and Firmino, A. Representing and communicating rural futures through 3D landscape visualizations: experiences from the RUFUS project. In: Buhmann/Pietsch/Kretzler (eds) (2010) Peer Reviewed Proceedings of Digital Landscape Architecture 2010, Anhalt University of Applied Sciences. Wichmann Verlag, Heidelberg, May 2010.