Research Article
Spatial Evaluation of a Management Policy by Comparing Decision Maps
Issue:
Volume 9, Issue 6, December 2024
Pages:
114-125
Received:
15 December 2024
Accepted:
2 January 2025
Published:
7 January 2025
DOI:
10.11648/j.mcs.20240906.11
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Views:
Abstract: Spatial analysis has always been a valuable tool for strategic decision-making. However, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), the tools par excellence for representing and spatializing information, are not always, in their basic version, equipped for effective spatial assessment. Faced with a given spatially-referenced problem whose situation is materialized by an initial decisional map, a management policy is generally applied, resulting in a new final decisional map. How can the impact of this management policy be assessed? The aim of this work is to develop a mathematical and computer model for comparing decision maps in order to assess the impact of a management policy. To this end, a methodology based on a strategy of full integrating of Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) models for the comparison of decision maps in a Geographical Information System (GIS) is proposed and implemented. As decision maps are made up of spatial units, the proposed decision map comparison models are assumed to be independent of the location or geographical contiguity of these spatial units. However, the generic nature of the proposed integration strategy also makes it possible to integrate decision map comparison models into the GIS that take into account the location or geographical contiguity of spatial units. The effectiveness of the proposed model is illustrated through the case study of the evaluation of water resource management policy in Burkina Faso between 1992 and 2002. The results of the assessment showed, globally, a deterioration of water resources on the national territory between 1992 and 2002 with mainly a reduction in Forests (conserving water) in favor of agricultural land (consuming water). The GIS- MCDM integration model proposed for comparing decision maps could be applied in general to situations involving the spatial assessment of management policies (e.g., policy to combat the proliferation of a given disease in an area, policy for managing degraded soils in an area).
Abstract: Spatial analysis has always been a valuable tool for strategic decision-making. However, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), the tools par excellence for representing and spatializing information, are not always, in their basic version, equipped for effective spatial assessment. Faced with a given spatially-referenced problem whose situation is m...
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Stéphane Aimé Metchebon Takougang*
