A Geospatial Approach to Measure Social Benefits in Urban Land Use Optimization Problem

Abstract

Different conflicting objectives are used in urban land use optimization problems. The maximization of social benefit is one of the important objectives in urban land use optimization problems. Many researchers have used different methods to measure social benefits in land use optimization. Studies show that there is no established method to measure social benefit in the urban land use allocation game. Against this background, this study aims to (a) identify the appropriate indicators as a measure of social benefit, and (b) propose a composite index to measure social benefit in urban land use optimization problems. Based on the literature review and expert opinion, this study identifies four indicators as a measure of social benefit. These are spatial compactness, land use compatibility, land use mix, and evenness of population distribution. Using the weighted sum approach, this study proposes a composite social benefit index (SBI) to measure social benefit in urban land use allocation/optimization problems and planning. The study suggests that spatial compactness is the most influential indicator to the SBI, but the most critical indicator is compatibility, whose 11.60% value reduction from 0.5 alters the decision of choice. Finally, the proposed method was applied in Rajshahi city in Bangladesh. The result suggests the potential of using SBI in the land use allocation problem. It is expected that the proposed social benefit index (SBI) will help the land use optimization and planning and will be helpful for decision makers.

Land Use Optimization for Coastal Urban Agglomerations Based on Economic and Ecological Gravitational Linkages and Accessibility

“…In the past decades, many scholars have conducted regional land use optimization studies and focused on multi-objective trade-offs, as well as model improvements [20,[57][58][59]; however, few studies take the effect of inner-city economic linkages and ecological gradient on land use changes in UA into account [13,60]. Cao have proposed land use SI (GDP), SII (ESV), and SIII (compactness) achieved better scores, with respect to their preferred objectives.…”

“…In the past decades, many scholars have conducted regional land use optimization studies and focused on multi-objective trade-offs, as well as model improvements [20,[57][58][59]; however, few studies take the effect of inner-city economic linkages and ecological gradient on land use changes in UA into account [13,60]. Cao have proposed land use optimization for urban agglomerations, but he focused on the intermediate process of change between the initial and future patterns and ignored the intrinsic characteristics of urban agglomerations [13].…”

A land-use benefit evaluation system with case study verification

“…There has been a number of fruitful studies in this field. The methods employed include not only conventional methods such as analytic hierarchy process (AHP), expert consultation, artificial neural net (ANN), and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method (FCE), but also new methods such as geographic information system(GIS), remote sensing technology and spatial econometric models [4][5][6][7][8][9].The application of the new methods pays more attention to visual analysis [10]. The perspective of land-use benefit evaluation often focusses on a single or selected several aspects of land use [11,12].…”

Spatial Optimization of Land Use Allocation Based on the Trade-off of Carbon Mitigation and Economic Benefits: A Study in Tianshan North Slope Urban Agglomeration

“…and adjusts the structure and layout of land use types by setting objectives and constraints to achieve the benign development of society, economy, and ecology [5,19,20]. Based on different conflicting goals, the early literature focused on the ecological service system and economic benefits as objectives to simulate land demand [21,22]; with the gradual maturation of social benefit measurement methods [23], social benefits were also introduced, such as Zhao et al setting up the maximization of ecological, economic, and social benefits and adopting the principles of land use suitability and spatial compactness to optimize the land structure and space [24]. Subsequently influenced by national policies, cultivated land protection and carbon emission limitation have become new land optimization objectives [19].…”