A Decision Support Tool for Sustainable Land Use, Transportation, Buildings/Infrastructure, and Materials Management

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Urban Planning
• Information Science

Background:

• Planners and policymakers need accessible sustainability information for infrastructure and decision-making.
• Existing sustainability literature is vast and difficult to navigate for practical application.

Purpose of the Study:

• To categorize sustainability decisions and develop a user-friendly information access tool.
• To address how sustainability literature can be synthesized for practical use in planning.

Main Methods:

• Conducted an ontological analysis of sustainability literature to identify decision categories.
• Developed the Multi-Sector Sustainability Browser (MSSB) as a decision support tool (DST).
• Integrated four key sustainability domains: Land Use, Buildings and Infrastructure, Transportation, and Materials Management.

Main Results:

• Identified major categories for sustainability decisions and their relationships.
• The MSSB tool synthesizes research, providing easy access to information.
• Provided weblinks to downloadable documents and resources for practical application.

Conclusions:

• The MSSB facilitates the incorporation of sustainability principles into planning and decision-making.
• Improved accessibility of sustainability research supports informed initiatives and program development.
• The DST aids community groups, planners, and politicians in leveraging sustainability knowledge.