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An open source GIS‐based Planning Support System: Application to the land use plan of La Troncal, Ecuador
Author(s) -
Santé Inés,
Pacurucu Natalia,
Boullón Marcos,
García Andrés Manuel,
Miranda David
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
transactions in gis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.721
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1467-9671
pISSN - 1361-1682
DOI - 10.1111/tgis.12223
Subject(s) - decision support system , computer science , plan (archaeology) , land use planning , heuristic , spatial decision support system , land use , geographic information system , java , software , variety (cybernetics) , land information system , land management , geography , data mining , engineering , cartography , civil engineering , artificial intelligence , archaeology , programming language
Planning Support Systems (PSS) comprise a wide variety of geo‐technological tools related to GIS and spatial modeling aimed at addressing land planning processes. This article describes the OpenRules system, a PSS based on a previous system called RULES. Among OpenRules new features are its architecture, based exclusively on free and open source software, and its applicability to all land use types, including rural and urban uses. In addition, OpenRules incorporates an unlimited number of land evaluation factors and a new objective in land use spatial allocation. OpenRules has been programmed in Java and implemented as a module of the free GIS software gvSIG, with full integration between the GIS and the decision support tools. Decision support tools include multicriteria evaluation, multiobjective linear programming and heuristic techniques, which support three basic stages of land use planning processes, namely land suitability evaluation, land use area optimization and land use spatial allocation. The application of OpenRules to the region of La Troncal, Ecuador, demonstrates its capability to generate alternative and coherent solutions through a scientific and justified procedure at low cost in terms of time and resources.