Digital plans and plan data in planning support science

While we support the idea that the research field of planning support systems should develop into a planning support science, we note that in the current debate the rapidly progressing digitization in spatial planning practice is insufficiently taken into account. In particular, digital plans and plan data are not mentioned in Geertman and Stillwell’s paper. This is likely caused by the fact that the authors narrowly focus on collaborative planning that tends to stress interactions rather than plans. However, planning is multifaceted and plans play a key role in many planning activities. Our commentary thus looks at the potential role of digital plans and related planning data for PSScience. We first point out the position of plans and plan data in planning activities and then address the current status of digitalization in spatial planning before we conclude with three expectations for the further development of the PSS from a planning perspective.