This paper reviews the research work on a relatively particular areaplanning support systems (PSS) for urban land use planning (ULUP) from their emergence to the present. To aid readers' clear understanding of PSS, its definition is discussed in the beginning. The review summarizes the development of PSS from two perspectives: system components and system application. In terms of system components, namely, the major theories and technologies serving for building the PSS such as related planning theories, GIS and decision support systems (DSS) technologies are reviewed respectively. With respect to system application, the paper discusses in detail their application to urban (land use) planning and other specialized planning separately. Based on this systematic overview, the characteristics in different times, especially current advantages and shortcomings of the PSS are indicated. Moreover, several new research trends in the PSS area are also highlighted for guiding researchers in future studies.
Keywords Planning support systems • Land use planning • Urban planning • Spatial decision support systems • GIS
IntroductionLand is the foundation of human activities. Without enough land, cities cannot be formed, let alone developed further. With the development of human civilization, natural land has been occupied by human beings increasingly. Because of the rapid growth of the world population, more and more developed land is needed to satisfy the demands of humans. However, only 29 % of the earth's surface is land, and