Sustainable Urban Development through Site Suitability Analysis using Geospatial Techniques and AHP: A Case Study of Ballia City, Uttar Pradesh, India

IJEP 46(6): 512-520 : Vol. 46 Issue 6 (June 2026)

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Chhaya Mishra and Ashutosh*

Banasthali Vidyapith, Department of Earth Sciences, Tonk – 304 022, Rajasthan, India

Abstract

Identifying suitable areas for expansion is a critical and tedious task in urban planning. This paper aims to identify potential zones for future urban growth in Ballia city, Uttar Pradesh, India, using geospatial techniques combined with the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). Seven thematic layers were prepared, including landuse/land cover, lithology, soil type, surface water, slope, road network and rivers, selected for their relevance to urban growth. Each layer was assigned a weight according to its importance using Saaty’s scale and these weights were normalized using the analytical hierarchy process. The weighted linear combination method was then used within a geographic information system framework to merge the thematic layers and produce a site suitability map. The resulting map categorizes the city into six zones of suitability: extremely low (3.96%), very low (16.35%), low (8.48%), moderate (28.66%), high (24.42%) and very high (18.14%). This analysis provides a comprehensive spatial tool to assist legislators and planners in making fact-based judgments to support efficient landuse planning and sustainable development in Ballia city.

Keywords

Analytical hierarchy process, Sustainability, Urban development, Geospatial technologies, Ballia city

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