Improving planning analysis and decision making: The development and application of a Walkability Planning Support System

Planning Support Systems are spatially enabled computer based analytical tools. They are designed to process spatial data and model “what if” scenarios in support of planning analyses. This paper presents how an existing land-use planning software was customised to create the Walkability Planning Support System. The paper describes the tool features including: (i) automated calculation of built environment variables; (ii) “sketch planning” functionality; and (iii) suite of indicators including a walkability indicator that estimates the probability that an adult would walk for transport. We discuss how the Walkability PSS enables urban planners to explore built environment scenarios and visualise their potential impacts on walkability. We present a suburban case study where we compare a baseline scenario with an alternative scenario developed with local planners that incorporated possible built environment interventions. Finally, we discuss potential applications for the tool and present how it could be refined along with recommended research directions.