GIS-based Services Analysis and Multi-Criteria for Optimal Planning of Location of a Police Station

Abstract

In sustainable urban planning, finding an optimal location for land use is critical to managing the distribution of land. Therefore, finding a location requires detailed information to conduct a correct evaluation of factors influencing the choice. The purpose of this paper is to find an appropriate site for a police station based on GIS in Alaziziyah Municipality, Jeddah. A novel method is proposed by combing service area analysis and multi-criteria analysis to reduce the emergency response time. The evaluation was conducted based on travel time from the two available police stations in the study area. The ten critical zones were generated by using network analysis with each zone representing one-minute travel time coverage. The critical zones were ranking, and weightage was applied as being crime risk-prone considering the distance from facilities and the travel time. The facilities were categorised into three groups, namely education, health, and tourism services. A suitability map was created to determine the priorities of alternative locations and the highly suitable area was overlaid with aerial photograph to determine land availability. The facility location-allocation was used to select the best location for setting up a police station. This approach revealed optimal solutions for government or planners as they seek to make the right decision for site selection.