Introduction to ‘Planning support science for smarter urban futures’

This introductory chapter establishes the context for subsequent contributions by outlining some of the major physical and social challenges that confront planners and policy-makers in different parts of the world. It then explains how the development of planning support systems has evolved into a much broader field of Planning Support Science which intersects with the emergence of data science, big data, data analytics and new urban science, thereby creating new opportunities for innovative solutions to support progress towards the development of smarter and more resilient urban futures. The structure of the book is clarified and short summary reviews of each chapter provide a composite portrait of the contents as a whole.