Determining agricultural suitable land in peri-urban geography using GIS and Multi Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) techniques

Abstract

Land-use suitability analysis is of significance for the planning and management of cities. The main objective of this study was to develop a spatial model for land suitability assessment for peri-urban agricultural development with the use of geographic information systems (GIS) integrated with Multi Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) techniques. Physical attributes, land use, natural resources, accessibility, geology and soil properties were recognised as the key factors influencing land suitability for peri-urban agriculture in the study area. The study follows an integrated approach for the suitability assessment of agricultural development in Pendik District of Istanbul (Turkey) through integrating fuzzy logic model, Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) methods. Suitability classification of land was done in GIS by using the specified fuzzy membership functions. The weights of the main criteria and their sub-criteria were determined through the AHP method. Eight different zones were ranked according to agricultural development priority by the TOPSIS method. The area classified as suitable amounts to 27% of the total area with 0.07% classified as unsuitable. The highly suitable areas are mainly located in the north where there are villages specialised in agricultural production. The prioritisation of the suitable agricultural areas would assist in land use planning and urban management.