Proceedings of the 2012 Winter Simulation Conference C. Laroque, J. Himmelspach, R. Pasupathy, O. Rose, and A.M. Uhrmacher, eds AN OPEN SOURCE SIMULATION-BASED APPROACH FOR NEIGHBOURHOOD SPATIAL PLANNING POLICY Peter Lee Centre for Urban and Regional Studies School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences The University of Birmingham, Edgbaston Birmingham, B15 2TT, UNITED KINGDOM Georgios Theodoropoulos IBM Research Dublin Research Lab IRELAND ABSTRACT We describe the development of a practical tool for urban planning, using innovations in agent-based modelling to reconcile conflicts at the local/neighbourhood level and designed to improve engagement in neighbourhood spatial planning to deliver optimal planning and regeneration solutions. Neighbourhood or ‘place’ is an important factor in deciding social and economic outcomes. Neighbourhood is also in- creasingly important for urban planning across Europe as communities are at the front-line in developing resilience to anthropogenic and natural shocks. The current financial crisis and public sector austerity measures across Europe represent shocks to local communities that require policymakers to maximize in- vestments and resources delivered to local communities. Communities and citizens can therefore play a bigger role in contributing to the resilience of cities through local neighbourhood planning. However, there is a need to work differently as public and private finances are restricted and communities need to co-produce plans and delivery of services. Co-production can therefore be one contribution to solutions designed to foster resilience and deliver efficient neighbourhood planning and associated services. Co- production in this context requires an open source approach in which producers and consumers can ob- serve viewpoints and react to the implications of simulated outcomes. Whilst there are numerous exam- ples of Planning Support Systems (PSS) designed to assist urban planners there has been no significant progress made in developing a ‘grounded’ approach incorporating ‘real-time’ inputs from users and stakeholders at the neighbourhood level. This paper sets out the principles and objectives of a simulation- based OpenPlan system in which producers and consumers swap roles. This leads to a greater co- production of planning inputs designed to deliver optimal outcomes and more resilient cities. 1 INTRODUCTION This paper sets out the principles for furthering the use of simulation and agent-based modeling in mech- anisms of community and public engagement in urban planning. The aim of using simulation and agent- based modelling in a neighbourhood planning applications is to broaden the consultation engagement process by enabling a variety of stakeholders involved in planning and regeneration to co-produce neigh- bourhood plans and make it more cost-effective by isolating conflicts early on in the plan process thereby reducing waste. Firstly, we discuss the drivers for greater public engagement in planning; this includes complexity of urban problems in large cities and urban areas and associated risks to security and resilience. Recent aus- terity measures across Europe to tackle budget deficits adds a further layer of complexity and threat to re- silience of cities. Secondly, we define what we mean by public engagement in planning and identify the role for ICT and simulation before going on to consider the state-of-the-art in the application of simula- tion and other related technologies to enable greater public participation. 978-1-4673-4780-8/12/$31.00 ©2012 IEEE 1219 978-1-4673-4782-2/12/$31.00 ©2012 IEEE