GIS-based land suitability evaluation for building height construction using
an analytical process in the Mashhad city, NE Iran
Article · March 2017 DOI: 10.1007/s40808-017-0286-z CITATIONS 5 READS 165 3 authors, including:
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Culture transition in family businessView project Mohammad Reza Mansouri Daneshvar Shakhes Pajouh Research Institute
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Fahimeh Khatami
Università degli Studi di Torino
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
GIS-based land suitability evaluation for building height
construction using an analytical process in the Mashhad city, NE
Iran
Mohammad Reza Mansouri Daneshvar1 · Fahimeh Khatami2 · Sousan Shirvani2
Received: 12 August 2016 / Accepted: 3 February 2017 © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017
current trend is severely in opposite of natural sustainabil-ity in these areas.
Keywords Land suitability evaluation · Building
height construction · Analytic network process (ANP) · Geographic information system (GIS) · Mashhad city
Abbreviations
ANP Analytic network process GIS Geographic information system Introduction
In recent decades, large urban regions in the world are fac-ing the problem of how to strike a balance between urban growth and considering of environmental characteristics (Minghong et al. 2011). An extensive literature exists in the urban planning and regional science fields relating to urban land evaluation models. These models can be classified in two major groups of traditional and empirical procedures. Traditional methods such as Feng-Shui theory are the use-ful approaches for the ecological landscape evaluations (e.g., Mansouri Daneshvar et al. 2013a), while the empiri-cal methods are suitable for the land suitability evaluations or spatial plannings (e.g., Mansouri Daneshvar 2014). Sev-eral studies have developed empirical techniques for inte-grated spatial planning a multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) for integrated urban land use evaluation (Recatala et al.
2000), urban landfill site selection (Gorsevski et al. 2012), relational indicator set model to design urban spatial and non-spatial indicators (Repetti and Desthieux 2005), and to define different levels of urban vulnerability (Zhang et al.
2015). Other studies have also demonstrated quantitative, integrated spatial planning for achieving multiple natural
Abstract In the present study, a GIS-based land
evalua-tion for building height construcevalua-tion was done considering to environmental factors in Mashhad city, NE Iran. By pre-paring effective criteria and sub-criteria, final super-matrix of weight values was achieved by using analytic network process in super decisions software. Then by correspond-ing the weights of each criteria cluster to spatial layers in GIS, a land suitability evaluation (LSE) map was produced for building height construction. The examined results revealed that among 13 municipality districts of Mashhad, about 2 districts (8 and 9) have a low suitability and about 9 districts (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 11, 12 and CBD) have a moder-ate suitability for building height construction. Among the districts, districts 5 and 10 with high suitability values were the suit regions for height development due to low potential of natural hazards and ecological pollutions. Based on the assessment of LSE map, the low suitable prone of districts 8 and 9 comprising seismic faults, steep slopes and high potential of flood risk in the southwestern Mashhad were correspond with increasing trend of tower building con-structions approximately to 40% of existing towers. This
* Mohammad Reza Mansouri Daneshvar
mrm_daneshvar2012@yahoo.com; m.r.m.daneshvar@ bpshakhespajouh.ac.ir Fahimeh Khatami khatami1881@gmail.com Sousan Shirvani sussan_shirvani@yahoo.com
1 Department of Geography and Natural Hazards, Research
Institute of Shakhes Pajouh, Isfahan, Iran
2 Department of Urban Planning and Design, Mashhad Branch,
resource management objectives in fields such as envi-ronmental management (Hill et al. 2005; Crossman et al.
2007), forestry (Bettinger et al. 2005), agricultural resource management (Hayashi 2000), sustainable hillside devel-opment (Chandio et al. 2014) and urban natural disasters (Wang et al. 2008).
Urban construction is defined as a framework of spatial relations between lands, different environmental factors and also expressions of spatial configuration of functions, which is examined on the basis of analytical processes, land evaluation models and GIS analysis. The integration of land evaluation and GIS can provide an improved basis for addressing spatial land suitability. Also, analytic pro-cesses are as multi-criteria decision-making approaches to arrive at a scale of preference among a set of alternatives (Mansouri Daneshvar 2014).
One of the most important and basic topics in urban planning is paying attention to building height construc-tion. Building height construction can define the using degree of urban environment. Building height construc-tion might bring substantial economic and environmental benefits such as facilitate interactions in compacted areas, agglomerative economies of urban density, shopping and healthcare facilities (Rosenthal and Strange 2003; Kohlhase and Ju 2007), discourage mobile usages and improving energy efficiency as well as reduced carbon dioxide emis-sion. Also, negative impacts of building height construction are high pressure on urban infrastructure, congested urban traffic, loss of environmental quality such as blocking of sunlight, trapping of air pollution near the streets; creating urban heat islands and blocking of natural breezes (Ding
2013).
Hence, there are some crucial factors in urban height construction and their environmental development such as their vulnerability or urban land capability. Also, pattern of urban height construction is a very important factor in connection with environmental sustainability. To meet the challenge of urban sustainability, urban lands need to be spatially evaluated by interdisciplinary approaches inte-grated ecological, economical, social, and design/planning sciences (Wu 2014). This seems to be the main theme of urban future study. Today reaching to a consistent and suit-able building construction in urban regions to give a high quality for life and improving development is one of the necessities for this purpose. Population increase have lim-ited environmental land sources in urban regions, where those need to obtain suitable land use development.
In this regard, land suitability evaluation mainly focuses on environmental attributes that refers to the spatial, eco-logical, economical and social configurations of land use development in urban planning. Hence, a multi-criteria evaluation method is used in order to find out the sustain-able balance for aforementioned configurations to assess
the suitability index of land units for sustainable urban development at a region. On this basis, this paper aims to present an integrated procedure of ANP and GIS in order to evaluate the land suitability for building height construc-tion developments in Mashhad, NE Iran.
Study area
Mashhad as the capital city of Khorasan-e-Razavi prov-ince has about 2,766,300 population (Statistical center of Iran, 2011) which located in the northeastern Iran (36°37′–36°58′N, 59°26′–59°44′E) (Fig. 1). This city is located in semi-arid region with sensitive climate that experiences mean annual temperature of 14 °C and annual precipitation of 260 mm based on a long-term time-period of 1966–2015. The spatial analysis of urban topography in GIS indicated that the highest part of the city in the south-west, has an altitude of 1340 m above sea level and the low-est part in the northeast has an altitude of 920 m above sea level. The surface area of urban restriction of Mashhad is recorded as 292 km2 (Mansouri Daneshvar et al. 2013b),
hence the population density of Mashhad is 94.7 p/ha in 2011. Based on the current trend of building height con-struction in Mashhad, all buildings more than 5 floors are categorized as elevated buildings. If the floors exceeds from 10, then they are named tower buildings or skyscrap-ers. In this time, Mashhad has about 150 tower buildings, which have been distributed along the main touristic cor-ridors and renewed districts (Fig. 2a). Mashhad consists of about 13 municipality district included a central business district (CBD) (Fig. 2b).
Methodology
Data preparation
Urban systems are developed during the temporal and spa-tial scales based on dynamical interaction between socio-economical and bio-physical processes, which produce different shapes. To understand the main role of urban systems in development processes for building height con-struction must be studied all effective factors consisted anthropogenic and ecologic characteristics. All effective factors were summarized into 22 sub-criteria and then were clustered into 6 main criteria (Table 1). In this table all measurement scales of sub-criteria were presented. All sub-criteria comprising of (1) land price, (2) land supply, (3) population density, (4) population growth, (5) social security, (6) wind corridors, (7), land slope, (8) soil quality, (9) seismic faults, (10) flood risk, (11) geology units, (12) land use, (13) acoustic pollution, (14) air pollution, (15)
ground water pollution, (16) transportation, (17) street net-work, (18) urban infrastructures (water, electricity, gas and sewage), (19) health service, (20) educational service, (21) commercial service and (22) green space, are presented in Figs. 3, 4 and 5. To recognition of all sub-criteria, different classes and degrees were considered. Then those were grid-ded in GIS to obtain the reclassified raster layers. There-fore, the main six clusters were categorized as economical elements, social compositions, natural characteristics, eco-logical pollutions, physical infrastructures and environmen-tal services. All requirements data were collected based on official documents of Mashhad municipality reports. In order to combine the effective factors, GIS procedure was used to make land suitability layers for building height construction.
Multi-criteria evaluation (MCE)
Multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) is a decision support aspect, which in the context of a GIS-based decision-mak-ing has been projected as a useful method to solve the prob-lems in spatial management. It is also a powerful approach to land suitability evaluations (Joerin et al. 2001; Hossain and Das 2010). MCE merely combines the criteria to con-struct a single composite that can be used for decision mak-ing for a specific objective (Malczewski 1999). The main objective for application of MCE aspect is to integrated
assess the study area and comprehensive determine of land suitability. MCE employs a number of different qualitative or statistical methods, such as, analytic hierarchy process (AHP), analytic network process (ANP), logistic regres-sion (LR), multivariate statistical approach (MSA) and weighted linear combination (WLC) (Mansouri Daneshvar and Bagherzadeh 2011). At the present study, MCE is com-prised of statistic method of ANP because of its reliability and combinability within GIS.
Analytic network process (ANP)
Analytic network process (ANP) is an extension of the Ana-lytic hierarchy process (AHP). Both methods are proposed by Saaty (1980, 2001). AHP is a well-known technique that breaks down a decision-making problem into several levels in such a way that they form a hierarchy with unidirectional hierarchical relationships between levels (Aragonés-Beltrán et al. 2010) but ANP is a nonlinear structure with bilateral relationships (Azizi et al. 2014). So the main innovation of the ANP is its network structure, which enables interactions between elements situated in different clusters and depend-encies between the elements in the same cluster to be taken into account (Nekhay et al. 2009; Tseng 2009). ANP has an ability to make a model for relations and their feedback between the effective factors in a decision process.
In the present study, ANP is used to obtain the weight of the criteria. The application steps of ANP can be described in the following steps. In step 1, the construction of a conceptual model is produced to determine relation-ships between criteria. In step 2, criteria are pair-wisely compared using Super Decisions software in order to form an un-weighted super-matrix same as the AHP. Pair-wise comparisons are made with the priority grades rang-ing from 1 to 9 (Vasiljević et al. 2012). Consistency ratio of pair-wise matrix like the AHP must be less than 0.1 (Sener et al. 2011). In step 3, the weights obtained from the
previous steps are introduced into the initial super-matrix that includes the entire network components and repre-sents their inter relationships (Lee et al. 2009). In step 4, the cluster weights should be calculated in order to weigh the initial super-matrix. When the cluster weight matrix has been obtained, the initial super-matrix can be weighted by multiplying the cluster weights matrix by sub-criteria weight values. The new obtained matrix is known as the weighted super-matrix. In step 5, multiplying the weighted super-matrix are implemented n times by itself until the limit super-matrix to be reached (Nekhay et al. 2009). Result and discussion
Application of analytic network process (ANP)
The complete pair-wise comparison super-matrix contains many multiple paths by which the relative importance of criteria can be assessed, therefore it is possible to deter-mine the degree of consistency that is used in developing the judgments. In this study, the pair-wise comparison matrix with normalized weight values were prepared for six criteria clusters and 22 sub-criteria in Table 2. The pair-wise comparison matrix and the weight values were cal-culated by Super Decision software in preference type and verbal mode. The obtained CR value of the matrix for pair-wise comparisons between six clusters was obtained lower than 0.1, which indicates an acceptable ratio. According to Table 2, natural characteristics and ecological pollutions have the most heavily weights with values of 0.49 and 0.24, respectively. Natural characteristics of an urbanized envi-ronment have the basic roles for land suitability evaluation. With regard to urban regionalization in Iran, natural haz-ards of earthquakes that are originated from active faults are very critical and should be considered in high priori-ties, because the areas with high magnitude and amplitude of natural hazard events are high vulnerabilities in social, economical and spatial levels. Elevated buildings and tower constructions are very high vulnerability toward the natural hazards, then those have a high sensitivity with respect to natural characteristics.
Generation of the land suitability evaluation (LSE)
In the present study, GIS software is used to produce the criteria and sub-criteria maps that assisted in the produc-tion of land suitability evaluaproduc-tion (LSE). Generaproduc-tion of LSE is the result of the analysis carried out in the ras-ter data model using the weight values of the obtained six criteria clusters (Fig. 6). All the weighted clusters were produced as the raster data model and dimension 10 × 10 m after GIS operations derivation database in the Fig. 2 a Inventory map of existing tower buildings distribution in
Mashhad and b general position of the municipality districts in Mash-had
Fig. 3 Evaluation of effective sub-criteria for building height construction; a land price, b land supply, c population density, d population growth, e social security, f ground water pollution, g air pollution, and h acoustic pollution
Fig. 4 Evaluation of effective sub-criteria for building height construction; a wind corridors, b land slope, c soil texture units, d seismic faults, e flood risk, f geology units, g land use types, and h transportation and street network
Fig. 5 Evaluation of effective sub-criteria for building height construction; a water network, b electricity network, c gas network, d sewage network, e educational service, f commer-cial service, g health service, and h green space
study area. By assigning the weight values to each clus-ter, the determined weight values are multiplied by the sub-criteria weight values to obtain a weighted super-matrix of LSE. On this basis, the LSE map produced for the study area (Fig. 7a). The ranking values are classified into three categories of low, moderate and high suitabil-ity to determine the class intervals in the LSE map. Then the produced map was corresponded upon the Mashhad municipality districts to reveal the percentage of urban-ized land suitability for height construction (Fig. 7b).
Distribution of land suitability indices for build-ing height construction based on buildbuild-ing blocks in 13 municipality districts of Mashhad are shown in Table 3. After the table, the percentage distribution of the suit-ability classes are determined as a result of LSE map in Mashhad. Among 13 municipality districts, about 2 tricts (8 and 9) have a low suitability and about 9 dis-tricts (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 11, 12 and CBD) have a moderate suitability for building height construction. Among the districts, districts 5 and 10 with high suitability values were the suit regions for height development.
Assessment of LSE map
The LSE map is the relative spatial probability of a land suitability for building height construction developments Table 1 The effective criteria
and sub-criteria in evaluation of building height construction
Criterion Sub-criteria Measurements
Economical elements Land price Price per one square meter Land supply Percentage of vacant areas Social compositions Population density Rate of population per hectare
Population growth Population growth rate Social security Frequency of annual crimes Natural characteristics Wind corridors Vicinity to wind corridors
Land slope Percentage of land slope Soil quality Soil texture units Seismic faults Vicinity to fault lines Flood risk Land form potentials Geology units Geo form units Land use Land use types Ecological pollutions Acoustic pollution Daily sound level
Air pollution Annual concentration of aerosols Ground water pollution Annual concentration of nitrate Physical infrastructures Transportation Distance to metro lines
Street network Distance to main streets Urban infrastructures Water network
Electricity network Gas network Sewage network Environmental services Health service Accessibility to service
Educational service Accessibility to service Commercial service Accessibility to service Green space Accessibility to space
Table 2 Normalized weight values for criteria and sub-criteria based on ANP procedure
Criterion Weight Sub criterion Weight
Economical elements 0.09 Land price 0.35
Land supply 0.65
Social compositions 0.04 Population density 0.17
Population growth 0.11
Social security 0.72
Natural characteristics 0.49 Wind corridors 0.08
Land slope 0.07 Soil quality 0.06 Seismic faults 0.23 Flood risk 0.26 Geology units 0.19 Land use 0.09
Ecological pollutions 0.24 Acoustic pollution 0.09
Air pollution 0.35
Ground water pollution 0.56
Physical infrastructures 0.08 Transportation 0.08
Street network 0.34
Urban infrastructures 0.58
Environmental services 0.06 Health service 0.12
Educational service 0.27
Commercial service 0.06
Fig. 6 Land suitability evaluation of six criteria cluster for building height construction; a economical elements, b social compositions, c natu-ral characteristics, d ecological pollutions, e physical infrastructures, and f environmental services
in the future. To assess the LSE map (Fig. 7), we should consider current trend of existing tower buildings distri-bution in Mashhad, which has been presented in Fig. 2b as the inventory map. The low suitable prone of districts 8 and 9 comprising seismic faults, steep slopes and high potential of flood risk in the southwestern Mashhad cor-respond with increasing trend of tower building construc-tions approximately to 40% of existing towers. This cur-rent trend is severely in opposite of natural sustainability in these areas. However, the high suitable distracts of 5 and 10 (approximately to 10% of existing towers) have
not been accounted for allocation of tower buildings due to low social qualities. According to Table 4, about 90% of existing building towers in Mashhad have been located in low and moderate suitability for height constructions. Conclusion
The purpose of the present study was to categorize urban height construction with considering environmental factors Fig. 7 a Integrated map of land suitability evaluation for building
height construction using ANP in GIS and b correspond land suitabil-ity evaluation upon the municipalsuitabil-ity districts
Table 3 Distribution of land suitability indices for building height construction based on building blocks in municipality districts of Mashhad
Bold numbers are mean values higher than 50%
District Percentage of land suitability indices Low Moderate High
1 10 85 5 2 40 50 10 3 25 65 10 4 30 55 15 5 10 30 50 6 45 50 5 7 30 50 20 8 50 45 5 9 60 35 5 10 10 30 60 11 40 50 10 12 35 60 5 CBD 5 90 5
Table 4 Distribution of existing tower building locations based on municipality districts of Mashhad
Mean land suitability
evaluation Existing tower build-ing
Freq. (%) 1 Moderate 29 21 2 Moderate 20 13 3 Moderate 3 2 4 Moderate 0 0 5 High 1 1 6 Moderate 2 1 7 Moderate 5 3 8 Low 14 11 9 Low 39 27 10 High 14 9 11 Moderate 7 5 12 Moderate 3 2 CBD Moderate 7 5
1 3
in the Mashhad city, NE Iran. To reach this aim about 6 effective criteria and 22 sub-criteria were achieved. By using ANP method within Super Decision software, normal weights for all factors were achieved and development cate-gorizing the building height construction were regionalized in GIS. GIS-based procedure of ANP by considering rela-tionships between criteria showed that the suitability ranges of land uses for future urban height constructions.
The present study revealed that two districts of 5 and 10 with high suitability values were the suit regions for height development due to low potential of natural hazards and ecological pollutions. Therefore, two districts of 8 and 9 with low suitability values were the restricted regions for height development due to high potential of natural hazards such as earthquake and flood risks.
We concluded that it is possible to have an environmen-tal attitude for evaluation building height construction to reach an urban sustainable development, whereas the envi-ronmental sustainability attitude considers all ecological, social and economical criteria with different weight values. Acknowledgements We thank anonymous reviewers for technical suggestions on data interpretations.
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