The Effects of Contextual Factors on PSS Usefulness: an International Questionnaire Survey

Abstract

Contextual factors have been consistently argued as influencing the usefulness of planning support systems (PSS). Whereas previous studies were mostly conducted within a single planning project or based on experimental workshops, the present study looked at the application of PSS in smart city projects worldwide, and investigated the extent to which subjectively measured contextual factors contribute to PSS usefulness in smart cities. Based on a recent international questionnaire (268 respondents) designed to gather the perceptions of scholars and practitioners in the smart city realm, an ordinal regression model was fitted to assess the associations between the argued contextual factors and PSS usefulness. The results show that, in general, four contextual factors—namely the characteristics of the technology itself, user characteristics, characteristics of the planning process, and political context—have a significant influence on the usefulness of PSS, and that their impacts vary significantly. This paper emphasizes that only when PSS users can identify the critical contextual factors that are favorable and unfavorable, will the potential benefits of PSS for spatial planning be fully achieved.