The information system of plans approach: Using and making plans for landscape protection

This paper outlines a framework for accessing multiple plans in an information system of plans (ISoP) for use in land use planning and deliberation. Using such a system can help planners analyze potential changes to urban and rural landscapes and make decisions through access to information about the intentions and related actions of others. It can also be used to focus attention on gaps in current plans and regulations. In the pilot project reported here, an ISoP was used to facilitate a planning process for resource protection in a rapidly urbanizing county in the Chicago, Illinois (USA) region. In addition to cataloging and displaying plans, we illustrate how an ISoP can be used to develop understanding of the goals and intents of multiple government agencies and interest groups, identify congruence and conflict among plans and facilitate discussion. Successes and challenges in developing a robust and usable ISoP are reported, including gathering information about plans, encoding the content of plans, accessing information in useful form and recognizing alternatives and conflicts among plans.