Resolving the Siting Impasse: Modeling social and Environmental Locational Criteria with a Geographic Information System

Abstract

This site suitability study examines the representation of social criteria for locating a recycling center, and demonstrates how traditional overlay approaches to “McHargian” site suitability analysis can be extended to include these social criteria through the use of a geographic information system. The social criteria, characterized in terms of “closeness” and distance, are examined in relation to siting policy objectives of effectiveness and equity. One social representation is made by transforming a range of the distances between population concentrations and a waste facility into a map of attitudes of opposition towards the facility, using empirical estimates of attitudes. This social representation is combined with environmental criteria to identify solutions that both satisfy environmental concerns and are the best choices according to social criteria of being implementable and feasible, rather than only according to the traditional criterion of maximum efficiency.