Paper short abstract:

CAD software plays a crucial role in everyday work of planners and practitioners. Our thesis is, that CAD software affects the following discussion and decisions in planning.

Paper long abstract:

Since the 1990s, CAD software plays a crucial role in everyday work of planners and practitioners. CAD software is used to draw official plans, perspectives and sketches in civil services as well as in the private planning sector. Our thesis is, that the reduction of complexity due to visualisation with CAD software affects the following discussion and decisions in planning. Drawing on theoretical concepts borrowed from Science and Technology Studies (STS) and empirical examples from planning practice in Germany, this article investigates the powerful role of CAD software in complex planning processes. We show how planning becomes limited by the technical possibilities of the CAD software and how at the same time the program leads to the stabilisation of planning by labelling, naming and counting, due to layer functions. It is the aim of the paper to contribute to a more critical research of practices and work flows within the German planning system.