My master’s final paper covers the history of public participation in American urban planning, participation theory, and the general approach that should guide using the Internet for urban planning, among other topics. However, it deliberately avoids the subject of what specific Internet tools could be used. This was intentional, as the technology is rapidly evolving.

Therefore I’ve put together a page on the topic of Internet Tools for e-Democracy in Urban Planning. It contains additional information about why planners should using the web, and a comparison matrix of common Internet technologies (webpages, email lists, blogs, wikis, etc). It also contains an evolving list of additional applications available to local governments that may be useful for urban planning purposes.