where CSt
k is the composite suitability score of a cell with respect to all factors, Wik are
weights associated with each factor for use k and Xik are scores of factors with respect to
use k and Ci are Boolean scores of restrictive factors, meaning that scores are set to zero for
lands that cannot be used for agriculture, such as urban areas and lakes. Regional policy
regulations are introduced in this step as constraints. For example, policy choices related to
preservation of ALR were considered as constraints for urban development. The weights
in this equation were determined using the MCDM technique—Analytical Hierarchy
Process (AHP) [11]—that is based on decision-maker’s preferences or judgments with
respect to evaluation criteria. AHP decomposes a decision problem into a hierarchy that
consists of the most important elements of the decision problem and is based on pair-wise
comparisons of alternatives or criteria to convert a preference into a numerical value.