Determination of land use suitability using multiple decision methods: A case study of Bartın basin

The rapid population growth today and the growing urbanization causes to the misuse of land.71% of the rural population in Turkey transformed into urban population in 60 years. This change in such a short period of time caused to serious pressures and various social problems on such lands as agricultural lands and forest areas with ecological value. In order to reduce and solve these pressured and problems various notions have been suggested. Sustainability is one of those notions and its integration into land use is now more essential. In order to ensure sustainability, it is necessary to make land use conformity analysis which is a complex process. It is necessary to carry out this process with the most appropriate techniques. Two of the most convenient techniques used for land conformity analysis are Geographical Information Systems and Analytic Hierarchy Process. In this study, land use in Bartın province will be evaluated by using Geographical Information Systems and Analytic Hierarchy Process techniques and with ecological planning perspective. This study is significant in terms of providing the distribution of proper and improper land use. It is believed that the data obtained at the end of the study will be guiding in planning the region. Key Words Sustainable land use; Suitability analysis; Analytic Hierarchic Process (AHP); Geographic Information System (GIS); Bartın