A Scenario-Based Spatial Multi-Criteria Decision-Making System for Urban Environment Quality Assessment: Case Study of Tehran

Bahare Moradi, Rojin Akbari, Seyedeh Reyhaneh Taghavi, Farnaz Fardad, Abdulsalam Esmailzadeh, Mohammad Zia Ahmadi, Sina Attarroshan, Fatemeh Nickravesh, Jamal Jokar Arsanjani (), Mehdi Amirkhani and Igor Martek
Additional contact information
Bahare Moradi: Department of Urban Planning & Design, Faculty of Art and Architecture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran 14115-335, Iran
Rojin Akbari: Natural Resources Engineering Department, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 84156-83111, Iran
Seyedeh Reyhaneh Taghavi: Department of Urban Planning & Design, Khavaran Institute of Higher Education, Mashhad 91841-68619, Iran
Farnaz Fardad: Department of Urban Planning, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Islamic Azad University Qazvin, Qazvin 34185-1416, Iran
Abdulsalam Esmailzadeh: Department of Social Planning, Faculty of Social Science, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran 15449-15113, Iran
Mohammad Zia Ahmadi: Department of Geography, Dr. Ali Shariati Faculty of Letters and Humanities, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad 917794883, Iran
Sina Attarroshan: Environment Department, Ahvaz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz 61349-37333, Iran
Fatemeh Nickravesh: Department of Human Geography, Faculty of Geography, University of Tehran, Tehran 14178-53933, Iran
Jamal Jokar Arsanjani: Geoinformatics Research Group, Department of Planning and Development, Aalborg University Copenhagen, A.C. Meyers Vænge 15, DK-2450 Copenhagen, Denmark
Mehdi Amirkhani: UniSA Online, Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia
Igor Martek: School of Architecture and Built Environment, Deakin University, Waterfront Campus, Geelong, VI 3220, Australia

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 9, 1-24

Abstract: Spatial evaluation of urban environment quality (UEQ) is a key prerequisite in urban planning and development. The main goal of this study is to present a scenario-based spatial multi-criteria decision-making system for evaluating UEQ. Therefore, stakeholder involvement was conducted and eight environmental criteria and six spatial-functional criteria were identified for five districts of Tehran. The weight of the effective criteria was calculated using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) model. Then, the ordered weighted averaging (OWA) model was used to prepare UEQ maps in different scenarios, including very pessimistic, pessimistic, intermediate, optimistic, and very optimistic. Finally, the spatial distribution of the district population in different classes of UEQ was evaluated. Among the spatial-functional and environmental criteria, the sub-criteria of population density and air pollution, respectively, had the greatest impact on UEQ. In very pessimistic, intermediate, optimistic, and very optimistic scenarios, approximately 76.7, 51.8, 36.4, 23.7, and 9.8 km 2 of the studied area had unsuitable UEQ conditions, respectively. In the very pessimistic scenario, about 37,000 and 1,500,000 people lived in areas with suitable and unsuitable UEQ conditions, respectively. In the very optimistic scenario, the population increased to over 917,000 in areas with suitable UEQ and decreased to 336,000 in those with unsuitable UEQ conditions in terms of both environmental and spatial-functional criteria. The research results showed that a high percentage of the population in the study area live under unsuitable UEQ conditions, which indicates the need for attention to improving the current UEQ conditions. The proposed approach is timely to gain a better understanding of the adverse impact of climate change on human well-being in marginal societies and how climate-resilient urban planning can play a significant role.

Keywords: urban environment quality; environmental and spatial-functional criteria; spatial multi-criteria decision-making system; geographic information system (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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