Urban Planning and Information and Communication Technology: Ideas and Facts

In our modern network world, ICT acts as a connecting and integrating mechanism. Information (data, knowledge) has become a core constellation in an open economy. The avalanche of information supply however, has not kept pace with the use of information by decision-making bodies. Especially in the public domain we observe often an insurmountable gap. The actual use of opportunities offered by the ICT sector to the public domain is disappointingly low. The paper sets out to explain the existence of impediments in information acceptance and use in urban policy making. Particular attention will be given to the perception of the information potential by planners, experts and decision-makers. In this respect various constraints exist in terms of lack of awareness of ICT policies, and lack of consensus about goals and means of ICT policies. The analysis will be illustrated by reference to a Dutch study on the role of the advanced information sector in modern urban planning and administration.