Multicriteria Evaluation in Spatial Planning: A Participatory Methodological Approach

Abstract

Engaging public and stakeholders in contemporary spatial planning exercises calls for the use of proper tools and methods, which support planners to acquire and manage local information and knowledge (local views, values, attitudes, interests, etc.), increasing thus the effectiveness of both the process and the outcome of planning efforts. The focus of the present paper is on the development of a methodological framework that can accommodate participatory tools at the stage of the evaluation in the planning process. Such a framework can support planners and decision makers to: evaluate alternative scenarios, incorporating multiple perspectives; and explore potential ‘alliances’ or ‘conflicts’ among different interest groups, thus improving policy options. This approach is applied to a specific Greek region, where alternative scenarios for its future development were evaluated, following a participatory planning context.

Keywords

• spatial planning
• participatory planning
• scenarios
• multicriteria evaluation
• NAIADE model