Development of Planning Support System Incorporating Ecological Factors in Urban Planning

The use of planning support systems in urban planning and management provides objective information that is beneficial in the decision-making stage. The existing planning support system, however, lacks in the consideration of ecological properties. In this study, a planning support system development that is capable of reflecting ecological elements was set as the ultimate goal. This system can support planning processes ranging from ecological potential anaylsis to alternatives designing and stimulation. Additionally, factors such as soil, water, climate, biotope, ecological network and recreation can be handled according to their natural potentials. The establishment and visualization of land use planning that addresses ecological characteristics based on the analyzed results are possible. Therefore, this system could operate as a framework to assist planners and decision makers through a computer-based system to provide useful ecological information and to allow effective decision-making by analyzing, displaying and visualizing ecological spatial data.