Activity: Exercise 1 Research Problem Formulation – Worksheet 1

Name of Researcher: Rhea Joy B. Celzo

Submitted to the Faculty of Management and Development studies

Research Topic:

Land Suitability Analysis for Relocation Sites Selection using GIS and AHP: A
case study in the Province of Albay, Philippines.

The Province of Albay is in need of additional Relocation Sites for informal

settlers currently living within the 8 km danger zone of Mayon Volcano and those who
are vulnerable to flooding and landslide during typhoons. Relocation is considered the
best option to reduce vulnerability to the risks of future disasters. In this study,
Geographic Information System (GIS) and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) will be
used to determine the factors to be considered and where are the potential Relocation
Sites that will be of great help to the Planning and Development office of the Province.

Research Question:

This research study aims to answer the following questions:

1. What are the criteria to be considered in selecting suitable relocation sites?

2. How to determine the weight or importance of each criteria using AHP?
3. Where are the Potential Relocation Sites?

Topic Outline of Literature Review:

 Relocation and Resettlement

Resettlement, alternatively known as relocation or development-induced
displacement is a social process in which people leave their origin area of
residence and settle in a new area. Relocation and resettlement policy is one of
the alternative options to reduce the risks to natural hazards. (Nikuze et.al, 2019)

 The role of Land Use planning in disaster risk reduction and in relocation.
Land-use planning (LUP) is currently considered to be one of the best
practices at the core of natural Disaster Risk Management (DRM) that can
improve the security and resilience of the people affected. With a LUP policy, a
community can consider disaster risks and their spatial distribution, steer more
sustainable land development and use, and reduce the vulnerability of poor
people who are often settled on degraded sites with significant risks and
constraints. (Roy and Ferland, 2015)
  Factors to be considered in selecting suitable Relocation Sites.
Correa et.al (2011) in the resettlement guide of population at risk,
proposed a list of criteria to use in the selection of resettlement land. The list
includes Compliance with existing land use plans, Safety, Location, Access
Roads, Social Service Centres, Access to public services and Land Value.

 Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) in Spatial Multi-Criteria Decision Making

Spatial Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) is a process that
combines and transforms geographical data into a decision (Malczewski, 1999).
The fundamental components of a multi-criteria problem are human value
judgment, trade-off evaluations, and assessments of the importance of criteria.
AHP is a widely used method in MCDM and was introduced by Saaty (Saaty,
1977; Saaty & Vargas, 2001). It is easily implemented as one of the MCDM
techniques. AHP is a decision support tool, which can be used to solve complex
decision problems. It uses a multilevel hierarchical structure of objectives,
criteria, sub criteria and alternatives.

 GIS in Land Suitability Analysis

Suitability analysis in a GIS context is a geographic or GIS-based process
used to determine the appropriateness of a given area for a particular use. The
basic premise of GIS suitability analysis is that each aspect of the landscape has
intrinsic characteristics that are to some degree either suitable or unsuitable for
the activities being planned. Suitability is determined through systematic, multi-
factor analysis of the different aspects of the problem (Murphy, 2005)

References*:

Nikuze, A., Sliuzas, R., Flacke, J., & van Maarseveen, M. (2019). Livelihood impacts of
displacement and resettlement on informal households - A case study from Kigali, Rwanda.
Habitat International. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2019.02.006

Roy, Francis & Ferland, Yaïves. (2015). Land-use planning for disaster risk management. Land
Tenure Journal. 2014. 70-103.

Correa, E., Ramírez, F., & Sanahuja, H. (2011). Populations at Risk of Disaster A Resettlement
Guide. In World Bank. https://doi.org/10.5152/jtgga.2011.09

Malczewski, J. (1999). GIS and multi criteria decision analysis. Wiley & Sons Inc., New York.

Saaty, T.L. and Vargas, L.G. (2001). Models, methods, concepts and applications of the analytic
hierarchy process. International series in operations research and management sciences.
Kluwer Academic Publisher.

Murphy, M. D. (2017). Landscape architecture theory: An ecological approach. In Landscape

Architecture Theory: An Ecological Approach. https://doi.org/10.5822/978-1-61091-751-3