Advances in GIS and supporting technologies have led to the development of decision support systems that facilitate the community planning process. There are several planning support systems available on the market today to Esri users. PSS uses indicators and alternative development scenarios to measure the attributes and performance of communities and their plans.
Planning support systems are instrumental to successful community planning and public participation processes because they focus on the needs and the know-how of users as opposed to focusing on or requiring a high degree of GIS expertise. Planning support systems can measure and compare performances of different planning scenarios according to planner- or citizen-defined indicators for land use, transportation, natural resources, and employment, to name a few.
The ultimate goal is to bring together all potential players to work collaboratively on a common vision for their community. GIS-based planning support systems allow planners and citizens to quickly and efficiently create and test alternative development scenarios and determine their likely impacts on future land use patterns and associated population and employment trends, thus allowing public officials to make informed planning decisions.