Determine the Suitable Zones to Locating “Industry Clusters” by Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) in GIS Environment. Case Study: Wooden Industry Clusters in Ardabil Province

Urban and regional development in developing countries depends largely on the desirable use of the industrial sector. Meanwhile, small and medium-sized industries play a very important role. These industries often form industry clusters because of the economy of scale. In a developing country like Iran, most industry clusters are scattered in regional spaces in an unplanned manner because of the spatial-regional planning weaknesses. This issue results in the formation and aggravation of regional development instability. A proper use of the advantages of industry clusters requires their accurate locating in regional levels. It is necessary to use appropriate methods to locate proper industry clusters. This study seeks to find an answer to the question of which area of Ardabil province is suitable to locate industry clusters. The main goal of this study is to identify appropriate areas for the settlement of industry clusters in Ardabil province. In this context, based on the potential of wood industry clusters, these clusters are selected as sample. There are 20 indexes in the form of VIKTOR decision making criteria in GIS environment. Arc GIS10.3 and IDRISI SELVA software are used for data analysis and output capture. The findings of this study indicate that immediate areas to urban settlements of the province are the most appropriate areas to launch wood industry clusters because of the geographical advantages. Finally, based on the results, some suggestions are presented for space planning in the development of industry clusters in the studied area.

From the last output of the VIKTOR locating model we found that: A) Urban population centers, especially the cities, access to fundamental sources, direction of the wind and distance from faults, soil slope (topography), land use and basic infrastructures will play an important role in the establishment of new industry clusters. B) Cities play a very important role in locating industry clusters because they contribute to economic and environmental conditions, including labor force, infrastructure and consumer markets. C) The central parts of Ardabil province have the most suitable areas to locate industry clusters.

The results of this study showed that the suburbs of urban settlements are appropriate to locate and develop wood industry clusters. The economy of scale, accessibility of infrastructures of transportation, natural conditions and environmental requirements, centralization of population and human forces are the most important indicators in locating these industries. The following suggestions are made based on the findings of the study: 1) Provincial development plans should not be only regional. Spatial planning is needed for the development of industry. 2) These plans are not only specific to the industrial sector, it is also necessary to consider regional potential (vegetation, population, infrastructures) in the development of new industry clusters. 3) Regarding the environmental components (water, soil, trees, etc.), it is necessary to pay serious attention to the permanent regional development and the requirements of the future generations in locating industry clusters. 4) Considering the proportion of selected areas to locate industry clusters, it is needed to concentrate on these areas – resulted from the combination of different criteria – in the industrial sector development. 5) It is suggested that industry managers and policy makers of the province and region avoid intolerances and turn to interdisciplinary collaboration to conduct more comprehensive studies through spatial planning. It is necessary to follow the basics of spatial planning, especially in the industrial sector of the studied province, to achieve proper regional development.