Decision support framework to rank and prioritise the potential land areas for comprehensive land consolidation

Abstract

In Europe and often worldwide, national and local government authorities utilise different means to stimulate economic development and environmental protection of the land through the application of land consolidation. The direction of these efforts should take into consideration the fact that some administrative regions may have a higher potential for land consolidation than others. This is supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) that advises on the identification of favourable regions for implementation of pilot land consolidation projects. In many European countries, especially those receiving European Union (EU) support for implementation land consolidation projects, the scrupulous allocation of funds to the best suitable regions is very important. The research in this paper identifies a key set of criteria and offers multiple-criteria analysis-based approach to rank and prioritise administrative regions for implementation of land consolidation. This methodology is applied in the case study identifying Klaipeda district as a municipality with the highest potential for land consolidations in the Western part of Lithuania. The proposed framework will enable national and local authorities to identify and prioritise regions for land consolidation in a transparent way ensuring efficient management of resources and fair allocation of financial support.