LANDSCAPE LIVEABILITY: A SPATIAL-MCDA MODEL FOR ASSESSMENT AND MAPPING

In the anthropocentric view of landscape, ecosystems are able to fulfil important societal needs by providing ecosystem services (ES). Similarly, Urban systems can meet a variety of such needs by Urban Services (US) historically and typically provided within cities. In this view, ES and US influence landscape liveability in a comparable manner so that assessing landscape liveability considering both types of services provided can result effective and coherent for landscape planning and policy - making purposes. However, liveability is strongly dependent not only on objective landscape features, but also on subjective stakeholders' perception. For this reason, their involvement becomes essential for an effective liveability assessment In this direction, the present study aims at developing a methodology for liveability spatial assessment based on ES and US mapping and stakeholders involvement to quantify their relative relevance. A Spatial Multicriteria Decision Aiding (S-MCDA) approach guided the design of a hierarchical classification, including both ES and US, based on the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES). Using a combination of advanced GIS techniques (Euclidean distance, kernel density, network, and viewshed analysis), consistent and comparable ES and US flow spatial indices were calculated. These indices, by means of the S-MCDA method, were integrated with their percentage weights on liveability deriving from stakeholders interviews. The S-MCDA model was entirely implemented using open-source software and applied in an Italian study area. Results include intermediate and overall liveability indices effective at a local scale, capable to include both the local availability of services and their perceived relevance expressed by stakeholders.