Multi-criteria Decision Analysis for Identifying Potential Sites for Future Urban Development in Haridwar, India

Decadal population growth and increasing demand for land have led to the present study to identify potential sites for future development in Haridwar City, Uttarakhand. This study is conducted using remote sensing (RS) and geographical information system (GIS) using various thematic layers, such as slope, elevation, land use land cover (LULC), a digital elevation model (DEM), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), urban landscape dynamics (ULD), and other physical parameters which can affect the growth of urban expansion. GIS provides an opportunity to integrate various parameters with population and other relevant data associated with features which will help to determine potential sites for expansion. The appropriate weights are assigned to each layer using an analytical hierarchical process (AHP), with a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) technique. The weights are assigned using expert opinion on the factors which are most suitable to least suitable for urban expansion according to their importance and are used in the study to extract the best result from the given data.