INTEGRATING MCDM METHODS TO GIS THROUGH A DEDICATED FOSS APPLICATION

Over the last two decades many approaches that integrate Multi-criteria Decision Making (MCDM) Methods to GIS were developed. However, the most of them are designed only for specialized users. This work aims to develop a GIS-MCDM application which allows both specialized and not specialized users to perform complex decisional tasks. The prototype has been developed by integrating the geospatial analysis typical of GIS systems to two MCDM approaches, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment of Evaluations (PROMETHEE). The application has been tested on the Milan Municipality (Northern Italy) with the aim to find the best place to live within the city, according to specific criteria and preferences expressed by the users. Results demonstrates the feasibility of GIS-MCDM integration into dedicated user-friendly applications, which are promising for diverse applications within manifold scientific and professional fields. These first meaningful outcomes are achieved by leveraging exclusively Free And Open Source Software (FOSS) tools as well as Open Data. Further developments are planned in order to release the application as Web service.