The Deck-of-cards-based Ordinal Regression method and its application for the development of an ecovillage

Abstract

This paper presents the deck-of-cards-based Ordinal Regression (DOR), a new multicriteria decision-aiding procedure that conjugates the deck-of-cards method with an ordinal regression approach to define a multicriteria value function representing the preferences of the decision maker (DM). The deck-of-cards method allows the DM to express the ranking order of a set of reference alternatives along with the intensity of preferences between reference alternatives. An ordinal regression procedure is then used to define a multicriteria value function that represents the ranking of the reference alternatives as well as the preference intensity. This approach can be applied to define value functions with different formulations, such as weighted sum, additive value, or Choquet integral. The value function thus obtained can be used to comprehensively evaluate alternatives of a multi-criteria decision problem. The value function provided by DOR can also be applied to a multi-objective optimisation problem. In this study, we applied DOR to handle urban and regional planning decisions in which facilities are required to be selected, located, and planned. In particular, we consider the interactions between criteria and synergies between facilities in an enriched version of the so-called space–time model. We applied this methodology to a real-world problem to plan the development of a sustainable ecovillage in the province of Turin (Italy), thus supporting the president of the cooperative owning the ecovillage in his decisions regarding which structures to select, where to locate them, and when to plan their realisation.