Skip to main content
Log in

A new method for site suitability analysis: The analytic hierarchy process

  • Profile
  • Published:
Environmental Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A critical shortcoming of methods that are reliant upon the judgment of experts to determine site suitability is noted. The article introduces a new method, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) with which error in judging the relative importance of factors in site suitability analysis can be both detected and corrected. The proposed approach is illustrated with an example to show how the AHP frames the site evaluation problem and can aid in decision making involving multiple criteria, factor diversity, and conditions of uncertainty. The article concludes by suggesting the potential application of the AHP in public choice decisions involving complex, controversial, and conflictual site selection processes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

Literature cited

  • Anderson, L. T. 1987. Seven methods for calculating land capability/suitability. Planning advisory service (PAS) report No. 402. American Planning Association, Chicago: 20 PP.

    Google Scholar 

  • Banai-Kashani, A. R. 1987. A new paradigm for planning simulation. Pages 131–136 In E. Alexander (ed.), Proceedings of the 1987 international congress on planning and design theory. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Banai-Kashani, A. R. 1988. Toward a synthetic measure of good settlement form.Environment and Planning 15B:399–412.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buchanan, J. M., and G. Tullock. 1965. The calculus of consent. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor. 316 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapin, F. S., and E. J. Kaiser. 1979. Urban land use planning. University of Illinois Press, Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dee, N., J. K. Baker, N. L. Drobry, K. M. Duke, I. Whitman, and D. Fabringer. 1973. An environmental evaluation system for water resources planning.Water Resources Research 9(2):523–535.

    Google Scholar 

  • Expert Choice. 1988. Software Package. Decision Support Software, McLean, Virginia.

  • Hall, P. 1980. Great planning disasters. University of California Press, Berkeley, California. 308 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, L. D. 1977. Methods of generating land suitability maps: A comparative evaluation.Journal of the American Institute of Planners 43(4):386–400.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, W. 1986. Deriving utilities using the analytic hierarchy process.Socio-Economic Planning Science 20(6):393–395.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leopold, L. B., F. E. Clarke, B. B. Hanshaw, and J. R. Balsley. 1971. A procedure for evaluating environmental impact. Geological survey circular 645. US Geological Survey, Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lynch, K. 1984. A theory of good city form. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusettes.

    Google Scholar 

  • McHarg, I. 1969. Design with nature. Natural History Press, New York. 197 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, G. A. 1956. The magical number seven plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information.Psychological Review 63:81–97.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nijkamp, P., and H. Voogd. 1983. A survey of multicriteria analysis for development planning. Pages 217–229in L. Chatterjee, P. Nijkamp (eds.), Urban and regional policy analysis in developing countries. Gower, Boston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saaty, R. W. 1987. The analytic hierarchy process—what it is and how it is used.Mathematical Modelling. 9(3–5):161–176.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saaty, R. W., and L. G. Vargas (eds.). 1987. The analytic hierarchy process.Mathematical Modelling 9(3–5).

  • Saaty, T. L. 1977. A scaling method for priorities in hierarchical structures.Journal of Mathematical Psychology 15(3):234–281.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saaty, T. L. 1980. The analytic hierarchy process. McGraw-Hill, New York. 287 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saaty, T. L. 1982. Decision-making for leaders. Lifetime Learning, San Francisco. 291 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saaty, T. L. 1987. Rank generation, preservation, and reversal in the analytic hierarchy decision process.Decision Sciences 18:157–177.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saaty, T. L., and J. M. Alexander. 1977. The forward and backward processes of conflict analysis.Behavioral Science 22:87–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saaty, T. L., and L. Vargas. 1982. The logic of priorities. Kluwer/Nijhoff, Boston. 299 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simon, H. 1981. The sciences of the artificial. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. 247 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simon, H. 1983. Reason in human affairs. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California. 115 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steiner, F. 1983. Resource suitability: Methods for analyses.Environmental Management. 7(5):401–420.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steiner, F. 1987. Agricultural land evaluation and site assessment in the United States: An introduction.Environmental Management 11(3):375–377.

    Google Scholar 

  • USDA (Department of Agriculture). 1983. National agricultural land evaluation and site assessment handbook. Soil Conservation Service, Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vargas, L. G. 1987. Priority theory and utility theory.Mathematical Modeling 9(3–5):381–385.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright, L. E., W. Zitzmann, K. Young, and R. Googins. 1983. LESA—agricultural land evaluation and site assessment.Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 38(2):82–86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zahedi, F. 1986. The analytic hierarchy process—a survey of the method and its applications.Interfaces 16(4):96–108.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Banai-Kashani, R. A new method for site suitability analysis: The analytic hierarchy process. Environmental Management 13, 685–693 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01868308

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01868308

Key words

Navigation