Affiliations: [a] Faculty of Geography, University of Tehran, Iran | [b] Faculty of Geography, Razi University of Kermanshah, Kermanshah, Iran | [c] Faculty of Natural Resource Engineering, University of Hormozgan, Hormozgan, Iran | [d] Faculty of Geography, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
Abstract: Today, in urban societies, planning plays a crucial role in analyzing land suitability for urban development and identification of suitable and preferred lands for their physical development. Hence, the aim of this study is determining suitable lands for future development of Estahban and emphasizing the capabilities of GIS in presenting optimum patterns of physical development of Estahban. For this purpose, eight indicators were taken into consideration including slope, slope direction, height, land use, geology, distance to the faults, river and lake beds. Then, using AHP model, each of these indicators was weighted and their fuzzy map prepared in Arc GIS software. Finally, using fuzzy Gamma operator, zoning map for the development of the city was used. The results indicated that suitable areas for development of the city are scattered with small spaces that are located in the city centre and these lands have better position than the other areas. On the other hand, very weak class owned the largest percentage compared to the other classes which due to reasons such as inappropriate land use and inappropriate geological formations, small distance of rivers and lakes and faults which are not-suitable lands for physical development of the city.
