Land use suitability assessment for economic development at the provincial level: The case study of Yazd Province, Iran

Iran's Yazd Province has expanded its economy during the past 40 years due to requests from investors and decisions made by the Provincial Planning and Development Council. This article aims to aid the council's decision-making process by presenting an analytical method for determining whether a region is suitable, unsuitable, or conditionally suitable for developing various economic activities in the form of individual suitability maps. Using a hybrid Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA)-Rule Based System (RBS), the method is made up of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and semi/non-compensatory decision rules in combination with GIS spatial analysis. The findings show that the province has exceeded its environmental carrying capabilities since a significant portion of its overall land area is unsuitable for most industrial and agricultural activities. The Provincial Planning and Development Council seeks to have even fewer options than to concentrate on high-tech and service sector development along major and dense corridors while relocating other economic activity to the periphery to address issues with water scarcity, air pollution, uneven infrastructure distribution, and environmental limitations. The proposed model of this study can be utilized as a real-time Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) for the Yazd Provincial Planning and Development Council. In sequential decision-making processes, the model can examine the effects of previous decisions and adjust its findings/conclusions as needed.