An overview of the methods of GIS-based land-use suitability analysis

The land-use suitability mapping and analysis is one of the most useful applications of GIS for planning and management. There are four objectives of this paper: (a) to present a historical overview of methods and techniques of GIS-based land-use suitability analysis, (b) to overview multi-criteria synthetically overlay land-use evaluation models, (c) to discuss GIS-based land-use evaluation system, (d) to identify the trends, challenges and prospects of GIS-based land-use suitability analysis. There are two focused perspectives of GIS-based land-use suitability analysis in the paper, the techno-positivist perspective and the socio-political, public participation perspectives. It is organized into six chapters. Chapter I defines land-use suitability analysis, and provides an introduction to GIS-based land-use suitability analysis along with a historical perspective. Chapter 2 gives an overview of the development of methods and techniques of GIS-based land-use suitability analysis. The multi-criteria synthetically overlay land-use analysis models is discussed in chapter 3. Chapter 4 offers GIS-based land-use evaluation system. Chapter 5 introduces expert systems for GIS-based land-use suitability evaluation. The concluding chapter summarizes the main points of the papers and discusses problems and prospects from GIS-based land-use suitability analysis. Along with the in-depth development of land research and the constant advancement of GlS technology, GIS-based land-use suitability analysis will toward greater depth.