Abstract
This paper describes work carried out as part of the Economic and Social Research Council's Virtual Society? Research Programme and presents some initial developments in the field of spatial decision support systems (SDSS) on the World Wide Web (WWW). Particular attention is paid to the development of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and web-based SDSS with the principal aim of increasing public involvement in environmental decision-making. Discussion focuses on public access issues and the implications for online approaches to public participation. Examples of three online SDSS are given covering local, regional and national scale case studies.