Surfacing Local Issues by Applying the Analytic Hierarchy Process to Make Local Community Management Effective

Abstract

Questionnaire surveying has been one of the main means for surfacing the needs of local residents by the local government or community and these survey results have been utilized to make policies. In this study, based on a questionnaire survey conducted in Shingu Town, Hyogo prefecture in 2004, we found questions that ask satisfaction and importance level of living environment items by means of ordinal scale tend to overestimate residents' needs. Therefore, we propose the introduction of quantification methods such as CVM (Contingent Valuation Method), AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) and Conjoint Analysis to determine the local issues and create a local community that is effectively managed. Particularly, we examined the applicability of an extended version of AHP proposed by Suzuki that uses relative position measurement. In addition, we discuss the viability of a GIS (Geographic Information Systems) based feedback system to provide questionnaire results to local residents. © 2007, JAPAN SECTION OF THE REGIONAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL. All rights reserved.