Evaluating Open Government Data as a Tool for Planning and Sustainability in U.S. Cities: Portals, Policies, and Plans

Open Government Data (OGD) has the potential to support urban planning by increasing transparency, improving evidence-based decision-making, enhancing public participation, and monitoring progress toward sustainability goals. Despite this potential, the extent to which OGD supports planning and sustainability in practice remains unclear. This study evaluates the user-friendliness of OGD portals in 19 U.S. cities using four criteria identified in the literature: breadth of portal content, structure of governance, user-friendly support, and equitable user access. It also examines how cities incorporate OGD into OGD policies, general plans, and sustainability/climate action plans. This study was designed as an exploratory comparative case study of OGD practices, and the methods included portal assessment using four criteria, content analysis of OGD policies and plans, and semi-structured interviews with OGD and planning experts. The findings indicate that most OGD portals function primarily as data repositories, rather than as planning support tools, and vary considerably in portal content, governance, and user support, affecting their usefulness for planning and sustainability efforts. OGD policies are often absent or underdeveloped and typically emphasize transparency rather than planning applications or public engagement. Only nine cities identified a role for OGD in at least one planning-related document. Interviewees identified low public awareness, limited user capacity, and insufficient integration of data into decision-making as key barriers. The findings identify practical strategies that cities can adopt to better integrate OGD into urban planning and sustainability, including proactive identification of datasets and indicators that will be of interest to various stakeholders, improved stakeholder engagement, data standardization, use of graphics to highlight policy-relevant data trends, improved OGD management, and closer alignment between OGD initiatives and action-oriented planning processes.