Purpose

The Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission's (CMRPC) Regional Development Suitability Model was developed first and foremost to assist in policy formulation in conjunction with the Commission's Development Framework, the new regional comprehensive plan. In addition, because an important part of CMRPC's mission is providing assistance to its forty member municipalities, the model was also viewed as a tool to educate people about Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and the effects of decisions regarding land use policy.

Specifically the main goals of the project were:

• Create a tool to assist CMRPC in the development of regional land use policy.
• Educate the public about land use issues and the potential for GIS technology to solve planning problems.
• Open a dialog with communities about how regional and local issues interact in the realm of land use.
• Make planning more accessible through the use of sophisticated graphic display.