Evaluating urban Residential settlement Sites Suitability Analysis Using GIS and Remote Sensing Techniques: A Case Study of Shashemene City, Oromia, Ethiopia

Abstract

Growth in human population is one of the major causes of urbanization all over the world where more than half of the world population lives in urban areas. Improper settlement is due to illegal and informal land acquisition and unplanned spatial development due, to the industrialization and fast population growth. This study is aimed to evaluate urban residential settlement areas using GIS and Remote sensing techniques augmented with multicriteria evaluation for Shashemene city. This study also aimed at evaluating urban residential settlement suitability in Shashemene city, using eleven factors and Four constraints were also determined. In this study Boolean overlay tool of ArcGIS 10.8, software was used to integrate all constraints layers to produce a combined constraint map. The relative importance of parameters were computed using analytical hierarchy process (AHP) methods involving experts’ engagement in giving weights for each criterion by using pair wise comparison technique. Based on the suitability analysis, 400.86 hectare (2.5%) is most suitable, 7822.59 hectare (48.54 %) is suitable, 958.68 hectare (5.95%) is moderate suitable, and 6931.87hectare (43.0%) are unsuitable. The most suitable land is mostly located around the center and western part in the city. this indicates that currently, Shashemene city has 51.04 % (8223.45 hectares) of its remaining existing residential land-use plan to distribute urban land for future residential needs. The 43.00% (6931.87hectares) of the study area exists under restriction zone, which needs attention from local experts and residents to keep it as constraint zone. Therefore, this study recommended that, urban planner; government and residents can give attention, recognition and protection to this area in order to avoid any constriction and development.