Place-bound planning support systems for deliberation: Affording better communication and comprehension

Despite planning support systems (PSS) becoming increasingly useful for citizen participation processes, the effects of such systems’ material and spatial setup on citizen participation processes still need to be studied. PSS have long been equated to software- and data-based technologies, and only little attention has been put on place-bound PSS that prescribe onsite face-to-face collaboration. As closing the ‘implementation gap’ requires extensive conceptualisation, description, and critical analysis of different ideal types, workings, and use cases of PSS, this study researches this understudied place-bound type of PSS. More precisely, this study uses empirical material from Haifa’s 3 S Lab to contribute to closing the implementation gap by identifying place-bound PSS – an under-studied type of PSS – as useful for deliberative decision-making – an overlooked implementation context. This research advances the conceptualisation of PSS by discussing place-bound PSS and their hypothesised utility, practical setup, and empirically tested benefits for deliberative citizen participation. We find that the benefits of place-bound PSS for planning lie in deliberative affordances that ease the communication and comprehension deficiencies that often plague deliberative citizen participation processes. As place-bound PSS, the 3 S Lab provides an immersive shared space that improves communication, while its interactive visualisation techniques afford improved comprehension of complex urban issues.