Land Use Suitability Analysis Using Multi Criteria Decision Analysis Method for Coastal Management and Planning: A Case Study of Malaysia

There is an urgent need to evaluate the land use suitability in coastal area because of increasing population, providing place for naturally protective coastal ecosystem and improving cumulative impacts. This study presented an application of multi criteria decision analysis technique as an approach to deal with regional coastal management and planning. Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique has been used to obtain preference weights of land use suitability criteria in a study area located in Marang region in Malaysia. AHP technique is a useful tool to deal with the problem to design the alternatives which optimize the objectives. Furthermore, this technique can be used by researchers to make a precise decision and acceptable personal judgements together with expert knowledge.