title: Analysis of land suitability for urban development in Ahwaz County in southwestern Iran using fuzzy logic and analytic network process (ANP).
abstract: The ever-increasing development of cities due to population growth and migration has led to unplanned constructions and great changes in urban spatial structure, especially the physical development of cities in unsuitable places, which requires conscious guidance and fundamental organization. It is therefore necessary to identify suitable sites for future development of cities and prevent urban sprawl as one of the main concerns of urban managers and planners. In this study, to determine the suitable sites for urban development in the county of Ahwaz, the effective biophysical and socioeconomic criteria (including 27 sub-criteria) were initially determined based on literature review and interviews with certified experts. In the next step, a database of criteria and sub-criteria was prepared. Standardization of values and unification of scales in map layers were done using fuzzy logic. The criteria and sub-criteria were weighted by analytic network process (ANP) in the Super Decision software. Next, the map layers were overlaid using weighted linear combination (WLC) in the GIS software. According to the research findings, the final land suitability map was prepared with five suitability classes of very high (5.86 %), high (31.93 %), medium (38.61 %), low (17.65 %), and very low (5.95 %). Also, in terms of spatial distribution, suitable lands for urban development are mainly located in the central and southern parts of the Ahwaz County. It is expected that integration of fuzzy logic and ANP model will provide a better decision support tool compared with other models. The developed model can also be used in the land suitability analysis of other cities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environment and Energy, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Malmir
authors.affiliation: Department of Remote Sensing and GIS, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran. MirmasoudKheirkhah@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Mir Masoud Kheirkhah
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Zarkesh
authors.affiliation: Department of Land-use Planning and Assessment, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyed Masoud
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Monavari
authors.affiliation: Department of Environment, North Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyed Ali
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Jozi
authors.affiliation: Soil Conservation and Watershed Management Research Institute, Karaj, Iran.
authors.forename: Esmail
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sharifi
mesh_terms: D002947:Cities; D016208:Databases, Factual; D003657:Decision Making; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D017143:Fuzzy Logic; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D007492:Iran; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D016571:Neural Networks, Computer; D014506:Urban Renewal / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D014507:Urbanization / Q000639:trends
keywords: Ahwaz; Analytic network process (ANP); Fuzzy logic; GIS; Land suitability analysis; Urban development