GIS-based multicriteria decision analysis for settlement areas: a case study in Canik

Area of Science:

• Urban planning and environmental science
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications
• Natural disaster risk assessment

Background:

• Increasing urban population density necessitates new settlement areas.
• Inadequate preliminary examinations for settlement sites lead to significant losses from natural disasters.
• Canik District faces continuous population growth, increasing the need for careful land-use planning.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the most suitable settlement areas in Canik District using GIS.
• To evaluate landslide and flood risks as primary natural disaster concerns.
• To integrate biocomfort criteria into settlement area selection.

Main Methods:

• Utilized GIS and a digital elevation model (DEM) for analysis.
• Incorporated parameters: elevation, slope, aspect, curvature, lithology, TWI, and river proximity.
• Employed map algebra in ArcGIS to create flood susceptibility and biocomfort maps.

Main Results:

• Only 2.1% of the study area was highly suitable for settlement (low risk, high biocomfort).
• 56.8% of the area presented low landslide/flood risk but was unsuitable for biocomfort, identified as secondary settlement areas.
• 41.1% of the area was unsuitable for settlement due to high landslide and flood risks.

Conclusions:

• A significant portion of the study area is constrained by natural disaster risks.
• The limited availability of ideal settlement land highlights the need for a graded approach to site selection.
• Recommended prioritizing areas with low natural disaster risk, even if biocomfort is suboptimal, for future settlements.