Land Use Suitability Assessment for Economic Development at the Provincial Level: The Case Study of Yazd Province, Iran

34 Pages Posted: 3 Jun 2022

See all articles by Mehrdad Rahmani

Mehrdad Rahmani

University of Tehran

Aynaz Lotfata

Chicago State University

Esfandiar Zebardast

University of Tehran

Saeed Rastegar

Iran University of Science and Technology

Thomas W. Sanchez

Texas A&M University

Babak Aminzadeh Goharrizi

Iran University of Science and Technology

Sina Landi

Imam Khomeini International University

Abstract

Developing economic activities in Yazd Province, Iran, has been carried out at the request of investors and following decisions of the Provincial Planning and Development Council over the last 40 years. This paper aims to support the council's decision by developing an analytical procedure for determining suitable, unsuitable, or conditionally suitable areas for developing various types of economic activity in the form of distinct maps. This is accomplished by combining spatial analysis, GIS with a hybrid Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA)-Rule-Based System (RBS) approach comprised of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and semi/non-compensatory decision rules. According to the findings, a significant portion of the province's total land area is unsuitable for industrial and agricultural activity. This finding directly conflicts with the prevalent practice in Yazd Province over the last three decades. The province appears to have no choice but to focus on high-tech and service sector development, as well as key and dense corridors while shifting other economic activity to the periphery. The proposed model in this study can be used as a real-time Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS). Furthermore, in sequential decision-making processes, the model can examine the effects of previous decisions and adjust its findings/conclusions as needed.

Keywords: Land Use Suitability Analysis, economic development, Water Scarcity, Yazd Province

Suggested Citation

Rahmani, Mehrdad and Lotfata, Aynaz and Zebardast, Esfandiar and Rastegar, Saeed and Sanchez, Thomas W. and Aminzadeh Goharrizi, Babak and Landi, Sina, Land Use Suitability Assessment for Economic Development at the Provincial Level: The Case Study of Yazd Province, Iran. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4127310 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4127310

Mehrdad Rahmani (Contact Author)

University of Tehran ( email )

Amirabad e shomali, kuye daneshgah e Tehran
Tehran, UT 5433174616
Iran

Aynaz Lotfata

Chicago State University ( email )

Chicago, IL 60628
United States

Esfandiar Zebardast

University of Tehran ( email )

Amirabad e shomali, kuye daneshgah e Tehran
Tehran, UT 5433174616
Iran

Saeed Rastegar

Iran University of Science and Technology ( email )

Tehran
Iran

Thomas W. Sanchez

Texas A&M University ( email )

College Station, TX
United States

HOME PAGE: http://tomwsanchez.com/

Babak Aminzadeh Goharrizi

Iran University of Science and Technology ( email )

Tehran
Iran

Sina Landi

Imam Khomeini International University ( email )

Ghazvin
Ghazvin
Iran

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