E-Government, e-Governance and Urban Planning: Towards a Complete Digital Planning Process

Urban planning is changing in all its issues, especially with regard to transparency and citizen participation. The purpose of this paper is to provide a complete view of the planning process explaining the project implemented by Aragon’s Government with the ultimate aim of digital switchover of all the stages. The project starts by ensuring urban information access through the use of web-based technology and Geographic Information Systems with a preliminary standardization work, continues with the development of an electronic processing system for urban planning instruments and finishes with the implementation of a new tool that will encourage citizen participation from the beginning of the process. The platform will allow the speed up of these procedures, facilitate the task of municipalities and achieve a greater coordination between administrations and also, as a transparency instrument, should enable the citizen to take an active part in the relationship with public administrations, in other words being involved in the decision-making process.