The potential of E-participation as planning support system

The increasing complexity of spatial planning issues and pressure from citizens to take part in designing and deciding on spatial plans result in a need for improved methods to aid communication between governmental actors and citizens. These developments put high demands on participatory Planning Support Systems (PSS); instruments that can aid planners in doing their planning tasks. By using the accessibility of the internet, e-participation offers opportunities as a PSS. Although many advantages are attributed to participatory PSS, its use in the planning practice remains marginal until now. It is argued here that this is partly caused by the lack of empirical studies that demonstrate potential benefits and problems when applying PSS. This paper provides guidelines for organizations that contemplate on using a participatory PSS. In order to do so, a framework is developed, identifying obstacles that could block effective participation in a PSS. Three planning processes are evaluated to investigate the importance of these obstacles. It is demonstrated that, although e-participation has potential as PSS, the lack of political will blocks effective participation and a more profound link between the citizen input and the decision-making is needed