Multicriteria Analysis Model of Land

¶ … particularly using multicriteria analysis model of land use planning and land use management and how it affects the future of land management. It has 10 sources in APA format. Issues pertaining to land use management, and land use planning are as varied in nature as their challenging existence. Taking diversity as one challenge, it is noticed that ascertaining the various goals, values and techniques of the land user have remained a crucial task.

The intention of this paper is to detail some methodologies on selected issues of land use management and land use planning, and present relevant literature review that give credence to these methodologies. The determination of how our land is or will be used is coined as land use planning and land management. Seeking to create a vision for use and management of lands and the natural resources, the land and resource management plans requires the involvement of people from equally different disciplines of life.

Strategic planning as we know it today owes its existence to the planning carried out during the period that is normally called the great colonialism, the focus of which was on the manipulation of the physical environment around us. The aim then was to pursue plans that were 'orderly' as perceived by the different colonialist nations. Their approach towards planning was comprehensive in nature, yet limited to the use of land resources to achieve developments in selected areas only.

This selection of areas by the few not only led to displaced urbanization, but a pattern of settlement that was immensely distorted, fragmented, unequal, incoherent and inefficient. With the passage of time, where independent states across the world focused on the multitude of social and political problems at hand, they also became aware of the fact that the economic, social and environmental future of the nations lay in the better utilization of land resources.

Thus, they began to develop and pursue plans that served communities across nations, including taking steps for the preservation of regional and global resources.

Some of the specific needs that could truly satisfy optimum utilization of land resources include the development of policies, the application of which will ensure the best use and sustainable management of land; bringing an improvement and strengthening planning, management, monitoring and evaluation of various land use planning tools and methodologies; strengthening institutions and coordinating mechanism amongst them; and the creation of mechanisms to facilitate a satisfaction of the needs and objectives of communities and people across the nation.

Summarizing the strategies and objectives of land use management, and land use planning, it must be ensured that all programs henceforth adopted and pursued must be of holistic and comprehensive in nature. The plans so adopted should take into account all the requisite factors that are in any manner related to land resource and environmental conservation. When considering and deciding on the various needs assigned for the lands so chosen, it must be ensured that all land use options are duly considered.

Yet, the fact also holds true that of all the measures and policies so taken for the optimum utilization of land use management and land use planning, this responsibility is not limited to a single department, public or private, or of any single group or organization. On the contrary, it is up to every single individual, every national and provincial department to take up spatial planning, for the general and common benefit of the entire nation.

Striking a balance between ownership, responsibility and benefits from land use should be the epitome of all such measures (Toit, 2001). Multicriteria Analysis Method Euro Beinat and Peter Nijkamp in their book Multicriteria Analysis for Land-Use Management [1998] stirred the environmental communities with their theory of multicriteria decision making analysis model. Basically the model takes its cue from land use requirement.

Management of land use is dependent on multiple factors and requires professionals in the filed to have a careful balance between the multitude of the usage goals and the search for the desirable land use. The effectiveness of land use planning therefore rests on sustainable management practices which is made up of sophisticated environment, economy and social analysis. These analysis leads to better land use planning and management.

Furthermore the main objective of the multicriteria analysis rests on land use management that can integrate all kinds of possible problems that the authority is going to face. Beinat and Nijkamp's model therefore support the structuring of land use planning issues and allowing the planner to concentrate on the major factors instead of on the trade offs of conflicting land utility goals. The purpose is to evaluate and develop options to choose from for decision making purposes.

Unless the planners have clear goals and multicriteria schemes of the different types of methods available for analysis, land use planning and management, they will not be able to achieve the objective goal of maximizing finite land forms. For example Guillermo A. Mendoza, Herlina Hartanto, Ravi Prabhu and Teodoro Villanueva [2002] use the muliticriteria analysis model to assess the sustainability level in forestry. They have based the concept of resources and utilization of environmental space by first identifying the qualitative and quantitative models for assessment of forestry.

The sustainability analysis is then carried out in three stages. In the stage the development of criteria and indicator is set; in the second stage the multicriteria model is used to estimate the importance of the factors and in the third stage the qualitative and quantitative factors. Scores are then allocated to the factors by using different kinds of information analysis and feedback to reveal the information extracted from the relevant set of factors.

The end result of the analysis is then used for over viewing the sustainability level of the forest [Mendoza et al., 2002]. Thus, it is clear that criteria setting and choosing of alternatives is not only a management tool but it is also used for the physical allocation of resources. Planning uses criteria to prioritize what elements comes first and what comes second and so on. In land use planning too, criteria in order of importance is set according to the relativity.

It is not necessary to have the most important element first. Instead effective land use management requires the decision maker to envision the utility of the land for the current scenario as well as future ones. He is to analyze how he can create an amalgamated whole and not fragmentation of important components. Land use planning and land use management criteria have evolved over the years due to the changing environment and the apparent limitation of land.

It seems that land as a resource has become limited in the production sense as well as for urban development. Its allocation is becoming complex due to the nature of the land itself, the geographical location and the wealth inherent. Political entities like government as well as commercial endeavors like industries are finding it difficult day by day to allocate land resource for their usage. Users are becoming more varied and diversified day by day and hence sophisticated techniques and methods have to be adopted for its allocation.

Over the years there have been a multitude of tools and techniques introduced for this purpose. Remote sensing techniques and simulation modeling are two preferred techniques introduced recently. With the help of technological advancement these two methods introduces the concept of allocation of land by using real models and then integrating hypothesis simulation factors to analyze feasibility of the plans.

Remote sensing help to achieve the above purpose comprehensively with the use of sensing GIS devices and satellite technology for planners to comprehensively study the problem before choosing alternatives and making the final decision. The multicriteria analysis model support the above two techniques which will be used as the basis of the following discussion. Literature Review The concept of land use and planning for its management is not a new one.

It has gained great importance over the years due to the increase in the openness of the world market and the change in agricultural and urban planning. In Europe for instance land is used for agricultural purposes since age old and is still one of the most important modes of production. The scarcity of arid land has become a major problem as the people, the government and the business sector all depend on the land for its productivity.

Secondary and tertiary industries too experience drawbacks when they were faced with the under productivity of land. As a result of this governments in Europe have adopted zoning techniques to divide the land and manage it according to the needs of the users. Economic develop was possible as the land were allocated according to the utility producers wield from their allocated land forms. Responsiveness of administration in this regard therefore has become imperative.

The planning authority for instance has to develop plans for the land use according to the priority of the demand importance, the needs of the economy and the people. For this reason the concept of land use planning and management have come into existence. F. Joerin et al. [1998] for instance have identified the importance of land use management to support the public and the political arena. The new model of land management according to Joerin et al.

[1998] created a systematic approach to allocation of land forms according to the local communities and the needs of the users for the economic development. The European government according to them realized that random allocation of land is no longer feasible. There has to be a new approach to land management using a general framework is useful but it has to be adapted according to the requirements of the users. In such a case Joerin et al.

proposed an efficient information framework in which the tools for processing the information and coming to the required decisions can be set to serve the decision making process of the concerned parties. Joerin et al. [1998] used the MEDUSAT Model. It is decision support model which uses the GIS [Geographical Information System] and multicriteria analysis method.

A GIS system is basically a quantitative operator that takes into account of the various alternatives of the multicriteria decision analysis model and point out the suitable solution to the decision maker according to the need of the situation. Within this framework of multicriteria analysis is the ELECTRE method as well which is not as efficient as the MEDUSAT but it does consider the partial aggregate criteria that are to be considered.

For example land use management require diverse criteria pertaining to economic, ecological and sociological in nature and the generation of the qualitative and quantitative alternatives for these criteria is difficult. But the ELECTRE help the decision maker to develop domain alternatives which are at times not as useful but they do provide the fundamental basis for the application of other methods [Joerin et al., 1998]. The multicriteria decision analysis model uses the above tools to generate alternatives.

A set of alternatives is often used to plot on a map to see the feasibility of adoption of certain application and whether the alternative chosen is concurrent to the criterion set. These maps are therefore important for the decision maker because it allows the user to integrate the variables into the relevant data and coming to quick decisions.

For administrators especially decision making process and land use suitability is important for the construction of the production environment like urban development, construction of companies or even conservation purposes [Joerin et al., 1998]. Joerin et al. [1998] conclude that the GIS and the multicriteria analysis models are important tools for land use planning and management as it allows the decision maker to come to quick conclusions and device improvement techniques to contribute to land development through projects and efficient allocation.

The GIS model for instance takes into account of the variables and describes it by analyzing the information generated from various alternatives while the multicriteria analysis helps the decision maker to compare alternatives and considering the subjective parameters. The problem of land use planning stems from a multitude of issues and contingencies. Besides the population and environmental demands, social entities like business organizations and officials have to consider how land can be accessed. Transportation and labor are two aspects.

Land on its own has little utility unless it is worked on through labor and technology. However the development of land is not so easily achieved unless the authority plans before hand how the problem of land use is going to be resolved. Transportation network for instance has to be constructed before the land is even distributed for usage. Labor and machineries has to be transported to the desired location of production and the facilities have to be set up to create a congenial working environment for the worker.

The authority also has to consider whether the land is commercial or residential, for production or agricultural purpose or for conservation purposes. The categorization of land forms offers different alternatives for the decision maker and hence generates different decision framework alternatives. Planning cannot be done unless these criteria are set before hand. A. Papazoglou et al.

[1999] in their analysis of land use planning policies revealed that the competencies of the decision analysis model is important for determining the course of planning but it is not limited to the political or legal framework. On the other hand, land use development for the townspeople is not limited to the allocation of lands for urban developmental purposes only either. The varied nature of the land users have given rise to infinite demand for land but being finite itself, all people can do is maximize its utility.

Aside from the usual housing construction, setting up of manufacturing plans and infrastructure, there is the issue of natural hazards as well. Unlike the foreseeable allocation of land resource according to housing demand or transportation networks, natural hazard management require a different set of criteria that is required to be set up. First of all the authority has to be involved in the planning process of such vast project.

Integration of a hazard or risk facility to be incorporated in the current infrastructure requires careful analysis of the policies, the current urban map and the projected urban structure. Here the researcher needs to emphasize the fact that land use planning in such a capacity requires extensive study of previous experience of natural disaster and the projection of future probability keeping the population in mind. The enormity of such a responsibility therefore cannot rest on the local body alone.

Secondly, natural hazard losses from earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and other natural disasters [Burby, 1998] for instance require much participation on the part of both the governments - that is local and national. Land use planning in such a category tends to be more policy oriented rather then decision analysis based. The variables too differ as the authority will take into accounts of the flexibility of financial reforms, mitigation tool, redevelopment locations, foregoing some of the programs and the potential opportunity cost involved.

Here the expected utility theory can be used as a model to gauge the expected economic benefit of maintaining such a facility against the risk of hazard could be used. The loss occurring from natural disasters are often under taken from the national budget and hence avoiding cost is certainly a criterion the authority will consider highest in priority. However, keeping expensive land idle is also costly in the medium and long run and hence landowners are not keen on participating in such a project.

The authority also needs to keep in mind of the people's readiness factor that will affect the decision criteria [Platt, 1999]. For example Papazoglou et al.'s study was based on identification of contingencies for hazard occasions in which land becomes scarce and the authority has to take immediate action. The geographical, economical, social and political aspects are core variables but side from that the authority has to give priority to hazardous facilities as well.

Here the planning of an emergency facility unit is not for the purpose of productivity but rather for conservation. In rural areas in major parts of the world like Bangladesh, India and Africa for instance [and many parts of the United States recently] the installation of hazard facilities has become imperative aside from the usual production purpose of land use [Papazoglou et al., 1999].

Aside from the natural hazard, the authors also categorized hazards an all encompassing terminology that could be used for describe "accidents." This has been done with the purpose to increase the scope of land use planning in the hazard / accident category. The general approaches that Papazoglou et al., [1999] used were to present first a deterministic approach and then a complete quantitative aspect of uncertainties. The approaches are then compared to multicriteria approach to check for effectiveness.

Although the authors have used a chemical site as an example but the researcher will limit the discussion to the interpretation they generated through their experiment. Papazoglou et al. managed to generate six reference scenarios and criteria. The accidents were basically used as conditions and the criteria set were based on acceptability of the effects of hazards.

The resulting calculation led to conclusions in the form of distance of the location from the risk zones and how certain conditions are to be fulfilled according to the limited labor and the compatibility of the usage activities and the possibility of emergency staff training. The above model could be used for other land use planning and management purposes as well. For example the same multicriteria can be set for creation of hazard facility for a violent weather prone location.

The land use plan will also reveal how much of the land is reserved and lying idle for unforeseeable future while leaving the rest for production or urban allocation purposes. The basis of the quantitative risk assessment of building such a facility is to quantity risk to land utility and the probability of a hazard or risk occurrence. The resultant theory generated from this experiment is that individual risk combine makes up the social risk and hence land use planning and management must cater to the need of the society.

A facility must be allocated according to the population size and the probability of fatalities resulting from the occurrence of risk. This type of land use planning takes into account of the specific number of accident occurrence which forms the basis for alternatives and the zones is used for individual risk allocation. No urban development will take place at these zones and they will be reserved for their specific purpose.

Chapter 10 of Agenda 21 of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development also deals with the cross sectoral aspects of decision for the sustainable use and development of land's natural resources that include soils, minerals, water and biota. Recognizing the increasing needs of humans and unparallel growth and increase in economic activities, that in turn are leading to the creation of competitions and conflicts, and consequently resulting in the over optimal utilization of both land and land resources.

Agenda 21 thus, strives to examine all these uses of land, and in doing so makes it possible to reduce the resulting conflicts, bring a balance in the various trade-offs, and finally link social and economic development with environmental protection and enhancement. The Commission was also of the view that in meeting the priority challenges of desertification and drought, sustainable mountain development, prevention and mitigation of land degradation, coastal zones, deforestation, climate change, rural and urban growth and conservation of biological diversity, sustainable development should proceed with a holistic approach.

That is it should also consider the millions of poor people, whose livelihood and opportunities are dependent on the said list of resources.

In its future program, the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development earmarked six key areas including prevention and/or mitigation of land degradation; access to land and security of tenure; critical sectors and issues (such as biodiversity, dry lands, rehabilitation of mining areas, wetlands and coastal zones, coral reefs, natural disasters, and rural-urban and land management interactions); access to information and stakeholder participation; international cooperation, including that for capacity-building, information-sharing technology transfer; and minerals, metals and rehabilitation of land degraded by mining in the context of sustainable development.

(UN, 2002) The United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development acting as the preparatory committed for the World Summit on Sustainable Development in its report of 30th April 2001, on the subject of agriculture, land and desertification highlighted some issues as well as reported the following achievements and measures. On the subject of global food production and management of natural resources, the UN Commission was of the view that though there has been substantial progress in this field, issues of poverty and land degradation have still to be handled.

In this regard, whatever measures taken for increasing the global food supply and that of reduction of prices were nullified by the continuous growth in world populations and lurking famine in regions such as Asia and Africa. In spite of these measures, statistics gathered by the Commission reveal that some 820 million people across the world remained undernourished. Of these 790 million were from the developing countries and 34 million from the industrialized countries and those nations with economies in transition.

(UN, 2001) On the subject of two interlinked issues of hunger and poverty, the UN Commission was of the view that the decade of the 1990s witnessed only a slight decrease on the number of people living in poverty. According to the variable of U.S. 1 per day, marked as the international poverty line, it was estimated that some 1.2 billion people across the world remained well below this level.

The World Food Summit of 1996, and the Millennium Summit of the United Nations of 2000 both reiterated on the governments and leaders across the world to focus on undernourished as well as poor people in their countries and bring down these alarming levels by half by the year 2015. (UN, 2001) On the subject of degradation of land, resources the UN Commission estimated the global solid degradation to be some 2 billion hectares that affected the livelihoods of some 1 billion people.

In its report the UN Commission states that of the total land available across the world, two fifths consists of dry lands, and with a limited supply of freshwater sources, large portions of this is considered as degraded to a certain degree. It is furthermore stated that some 65% of all arable land may have already lost some of the biological and physical functions.

To counter these problems, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in countries experiencing serious drought and/or desertification has addressed various related issues on land degradation in an integrated manner. (UN, 2001) Local Level Initiatives At the local level or community level, yet another project named, 'the Smarter Land Use Project' developed by one Karl Kehde [2000] strives to take up conflicting issues on land use.

The initiators of this project state that any community in need of assistance on any given conflicting issue on land use can refer to this project, and they will endeavor to solve their problems. The key advantages proposed by the directors of the project include features that enhance a community's developmental plans in a manner that involves least amount of litigation, is les controversial, faster and easier to adopt.

Furthermore, the directors of the project also state that their project is implemented in such a manner that they do not require any outside facilitator, and all the requisite material for the possible solution is utilized from within the resources of the project. As evidence of their achievements, the directors of the 'Smarter Land Use Project' cite the case of conflict that erupted between the residents and officials in the town of Blairstown, in the state of New Jersey.

The cause of the conflict was the revitalization of a well-traveled bike/walking trails that originated from within the village and led to the main highway. With the successful collaboration and vision of the 'the Smarter Land Use Project', the conflict was amicably resolved that not only resulted in the contribution of an effective design and financial support for improvement of various historical sites and present day settlements of the trail, but it also resulted in the enhance relations between the State Department of Transportation and the townspeople.

(Kehde, 2002) Technological Tools In pursuant to the Agenda 21 of the United Nations Commission of Sustainable Development, that comprehensively provides a blueprint for global sustainable development, a non-governmental organization Global Vision Corporation has come up with the world's first ever Geographical Information System (GIS) computer simulation programmed. This GIS computerized program has the potential of collecting data for any given city across the world,.