Information Systems for Urban Strategic Planning: the Case of Immigrants and Ethnic Minorities

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to report the preliminary results and conclusions of project that researches how Territorial and Urban Planning (for different planning levels and implementation processes) supports an effective territorial and urban integration of immigrants and ethnic minorities, in what concerns the spatial distribution and features of their dwellings. It is emphasized the importance of the application of Urban Management Information Systems to support Strategic Planning - in what concerns land use regulation, orientation, coordination and control - that should stimulate the progressive integration of immigrants and ethic minority groups in a way mutually beneficial to themselves and to the urban progress as a whole. In order to identify the basic relations between immigrant and ethnic minority groups location and urban policies, the demographic evolution and the spatial distribution and features of dwellings were analysed. An integrated and interactive model was designed in order to support municipal agentsŽ decision-making processes, set up by different analytical tools. It was applied, as a case study, to the Oporto Metropolitan Area (Portugal).