A GIS-Based Approach for Spatially-Explicit Sustainable Development Assessments in East Azerbaijan Province, Iran

Parviz Mohamadzadeh,Mathias Vogdrup-Schmidt,Ayyoob Sharifi,Samereh Pourmoradian,Bakhtiar Feizizadeh

doi:10.3390/su122410413

Parviz Mohamadzadeh, Mathias Vogdrup-Schmidt + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/su122410413

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Journal: Sustainability	Publication Date: Dec 12, 2020
Citations: 19	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Tabriz, Hiroshima University

Abstract

We propose an efficient integrated approach of spatial decision-making systems and geographical information science for spatially explicit sustainable development mapping. The approach was developed, and its efficiency examined for sustainability assessment in East Azerbaijan Province, Iran. To achieve this goal, sustainable development indicators were employed through GIS decision rule and spatial analysis. Accordingly, 13 main criteria and 44 sub-criteria were identified and prepared as GIS dataset. The fuzzy analytical network process (FANP) method was employed to derive the criteria weights and their significance. We also applied the Global Sensitivity Analysis (GSA) for minimizing the uncertainties associated with the FANP weights. The Ordered Weighted Averaging (OWA) method was applied to aggregate the indicators and develop the sustainable development maps. Results confirmed that integrated GIS-based decision rules can be applied for any sustainable development mapping efficiently. Results of this research present an approach for sustainable development assessment and can be applied for similar research effectually. In the case of East Azerbaijan Province, the detailed results represent the unbalanced sustainable development within the different counties of this province. This requires taking necessary actions to ensure more balanced and just economic development in the province. The degree of sustainable development shows a significant spatial correlation with the industrial activities, employment, demography, poverty and infrastructure properties. The obtained results are of great importance for decision makers to identify efficient approaches in light of sustainable development mapping.

Highlights

Sustainable development principles are widely used to guide plans, policies and programs across different scales [1,2]
In order to make use of the capability of Geographical Information System (GIS)-Multicriteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) for multiple sustainable development assessment (SDA), the main objective of this paper is to provide a model and analyze the degree of sustainable development in East Azerbaijan Province (EAP) in Iran; EAP is known as one the most important states in Iran, which has become unbalanced over the past decades
GIS-MCDA proved to be a powerful methodology for sustainable development studies, and it allows one to employ a variety of indicators with different scales of evaluation

Summary

Introduction

Sustainable development principles are widely used to guide plans, policies and programs across different scales [1,2]. The term sustainable development (SD) entails the balancing of meeting humankind’s present demands while protecting the environment within multiple approaches to ensure the fulfillment of future generations’ rights and needs. The overall goal of SD is to apply a long-term stability policy integrated with economic and environmental protection rules. Such an approach can be obtained through the integration of economic, social and environmental concerns as a basis for more informed decision-making processes. The SD approach is a contested concept which has been subjected to many debates and challenges. A review of research indicates that the SD has attracted significant attention over the past three decades [3]

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