Optimal Locating of Physical Development of Bojnourd City using GIS and ANP

This study was conducted with the aim of providing different options and determining the most appropriate direction for the future development of Bojnourd city as determining the appropriate direction for urban development in urban planning is under-studied and many of the problems of cities seem to be the result of urban development policies. The study applied a descriptive-analytical method and described the characteristics. For analyzing the criteria and to provide the appropriate development direction, Analytic Hierarchy Process (ANP) model, network analysis technique, fuzzy logic and layer overlap technique were used. For the purpose, in the first place, all required natural, physical, economic, and human indicators with two dimensions of internal development having ten indicators (route, population density, land price, brown lands, heritage privacy, impenetrability, construction density, building floors, and grading) and external development including seventeen indicators (fault, slope, height, river, water well, rural settlements, land use, cemetery, slaughterhouse, airport, factories, communication roads, surrounding towns, energy zone, and conservative green spaces) were identified. Standardization and integration of layers were done using overlap methods and a combination of maps and weighting by ANP network analysis method. Combining the obtained maps using GIS software, the final map of appropriate directions for future development of Bojnourd was determined and presented in two priorities of internal development and external development (that is, in the southern and southwestern directions of the city with priority in four proposed sites).