Construction of road infrastructures usually produces very relevant landscape changes generating complex environmental, ecological, social, and economic issues. The optimal location of these infrastructures during the planning and design stages becomes a priority to minimize the impacts on the landscape. In this regard, GIS combined with multicriteria decision making can support a wide range of spatial analyses that can be used to support location studies in which participatory steps could be also integrated. This study deals with the creation of a GIS-multicriteria based model to identify the optimal location of road infrastructures taking into consideration the main environmental, social, economic, technical, and operational aspects of the road construction. A particular focus is kept on the analysis of ecological fragmentation caused by the road networks and by urban settlements. The methodology, applied to an Italian case-study, relies on the implementation of spatial indicators concerning the various criteria included in the model. The indicators are hierarchically combined in a final landscape sensitivity index using AHP (Analytical Hierarchy Process), a widely-used multicriteria technique. This index is then used in a least-cost path analysis to identify a corridor composed of three-level of land suitability to be considered in the subsequent design step. Results confirm how the approach could support the initial planning and design stages of road infrastructure projects integrating the main environmental, social, economic, technical, and operational factors. Specific participatory steps could also be developed thanks to the multicriteria approach to involve more stakeholders and the local population to improve the selection of the assessment criteria and the calculation of their relative weights and related scenarios.
A GIS-multicriteria based model for identifying the optimal location of road infrastructures
Vizzari, M.;Santaga, F.;Menconi, M. E.
2018
Abstract
Construction of road infrastructures usually produces very relevant landscape changes generating complex environmental, ecological, social, and economic issues. The optimal location of these infrastructures during the planning and design stages becomes a priority to minimize the impacts on the landscape. In this regard, GIS combined with multicriteria decision making can support a wide range of spatial analyses that can be used to support location studies in which participatory steps could be also integrated. This study deals with the creation of a GIS-multicriteria based model to identify the optimal location of road infrastructures taking into consideration the main environmental, social, economic, technical, and operational aspects of the road construction. A particular focus is kept on the analysis of ecological fragmentation caused by the road networks and by urban settlements. The methodology, applied to an Italian case-study, relies on the implementation of spatial indicators concerning the various criteria included in the model. The indicators are hierarchically combined in a final landscape sensitivity index using AHP (Analytical Hierarchy Process), a widely-used multicriteria technique. This index is then used in a least-cost path analysis to identify a corridor composed of three-level of land suitability to be considered in the subsequent design step. Results confirm how the approach could support the initial planning and design stages of road infrastructure projects integrating the main environmental, social, economic, technical, and operational factors. Specific participatory steps could also be developed thanks to the multicriteria approach to involve more stakeholders and the local population to improve the selection of the assessment criteria and the calculation of their relative weights and related scenarios.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
