Using GIS and Multi-criteria Decision Analysis for Conflict Resolution in Land Use Planning

Abstract

Based on the principles of sustainable development, land use planning often requires the compromise between economic development and environmental conservation while advocating social justice. Given that ideas, values, and attitudes vary among the stakeholders involved, land use planning inevitably incurs a variety of conflicts. The conflicts in land use planning can be described from the perspective of the conflicts among land use types and the conflicts among stakeholders. Accordingly, land use planning can be conceived as the process of dealing with conflicts among different land use types through resolving the conflicts among stakeholders. This study centers around two important issues in land use planning: land use allocation and specific land use proposal deliberation. A Conflict Resolution Framework was proposed based on GIS and Multi-criteria Decision Analysis techniques. A Consensus Building Model was established to address the conflicts among different stakeholders with competing interests in the process of land use allocation. A Spatial Conflict Resolution Strategy was developed to help stakeholders and planners formulate specific land use proposals through an iterative modification process. The both models were tested and evaluated in the context of Lantau, Island Hong Kong. Moreover, the challenges of this research and future work are also covered in this paper.