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TCDDM V

PlaceMatters organized and hosted the fifth annual conference on Tools for Community Design and Decision Making (TCDDM V) for planners, tools providers, and community leaders. Over 200 people attended TCDDM V in San Francisco California. Breaking away from the traditional conference format, TCDDM V offered attendees a unique opportunity to get hands on experience with both public participation tools and GIS based planning support tools.

TCDDM V Conference Program

New tools for community planning can make a remarkable difference in crafting a satisfying outcome for regional, community, and neighborhood planning and design. In the 5th Working Session on Tools for Community Design and Decision Making, planners and decision makers from around the country will review and work with a variety of technological and non-technological tools and methods that help develop and visualize design options, involve more people in planning and decisions, analyze how policy decisions impact development, and build agreement among stakeholders.

The TCDDM V conference offered two approaches to learn about the effective use of information technology:

1. The TCDDM Forum with:

  • Morning plenary sessions and an electronic town hall exercise with keypad voting and groupware.
  • Afternoon workshops and panels where participants can watch demonstrations of new tools and learn how to use them, as well as discuss case studies of local governments using design and decision tools to solve urban and environmental problems successfully.

2. A Hands-on Digital Charrette where:

  • Tool designers and attendees will work together in a real-time setting on a specific planning situation.
  • Attendees can apply new technologies to realistic problems and opportunities in regional and neighborhood planning.

 

The charrette provided an intimate exposure to a handful of tools and their direct application to regional and neighborhood planning and design. The forum offered participants an opportunity to choose from a menu of case studies, demonstrations, and discussions. The two programs were integrated to continually inform and enhance each other.