GIS Based Multi Criteria Decision Analysis Techniques for Urban Development Site Selection: The Case of Jijel Area, NE Algeria

This study presents a framework integrating Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) to identify suitable sites for urban development in the Jijel region in Algeria. A GIS-MCDA model was created to select suitable sites for construction and to demonstrate the effectiveness of these methods and tools to urban planners and decision-makers. Six criteria were used: slope, lithology, flood, liquefaction, swelling, and depth of the groundwater table. These criteria were then standardized and weighted. This crucial step was carried out using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method, based on constructing a pairwise comparison matrix of the criteria. Each criterion was weighted according to its relative importance. Subsequently, six layers were created using ArcGIS Pro software. Weighted Linear Combination (WLC) was used to combine the criteria weights and produce the Building Suitability Index Layer (BSIAHP). The results of this study are presented in the form of a construction suitability map of shallow foundations classified into five groups: very weak, weak, moderate, strong, and very strong suitability. These classes represented 24.48%, 38.48%, 11.41%, 8.05%, and 17.93% of the total surface area, respectively. This map was validated by a few boreholes (control points) that were not used to create the criteria maps.