Bangladesh has been experiencing rapid growth and development since last few decades. This development has been mostly unplanned and spontaneous, resulting in acute pressure on the resources. The most affected of all, arguably, is the land resource which is acutely over-utilized and constantly being polluted to support the huge population of Bangladesh. The reasons for declining of the land resource can be attributed to unplanned and illegal development of land, poor land administration and management system, absence of proper land use planning etc. It is now of utmost importance to ensure the most effective and optimum use of land resources. For that purpose there is no alternative to systematic land use planning. To achieve that goal “Land use suitability analysis” is a pivotal instrument. Land use suitability analysis is a process through which the most suitable use for a parcel of land is determined depending on several criteria. Important international guidelines like “FAO framework” of 1976 describes land use suitability as a must before any kind of development. Various types of land use suitability analysis are conducted in different countries. Unfortunately this type of exercises has not been practiced in Bangladesh, even though there have been a number of attempts to create various development plans nationwide. None of these plans have attempted to justify the suitability of proposed land uses. This may result in proposing unsuitable land uses which in longer term would adversely affect the sustainability of the plans. So, to ensure the most effective and efficient use of a given tract of land, land use suitability analysis is a must in every development plan.
This study aims at analyzing the land use suitability of a one of the Ecologically Critical areas, Cox’s bazar, which is also the most famous tourist spot in the country. For environmentally critical area it is of utmost important to protect the resource without hampering the development potential. Recently the development plan of Cox’s Bazar District has been prepared. But like other development plans, Cox’s Bazar development plan was also prepared without any land use suitability analysis. This study successfully attempted to analyze the land use suitability in the Cox’s bazar Paurashava (municipality) and surrounding area and then compare the proposed land uses in the development plan to the results from suitability analysis.
For analyzing the land use suitability Fuzzy AHP method was applied incorporating GIS software in the process. This study focused on the finding out suitable places for residential and commercial development. At the first step, suitable criteria for analyzing residential and commercial land use suitability were determined through expert opinion and elaborate literature study. Three types of criteria were considered for both residential and commercial land use suitability: physical factors, development factors and environmental factors. For residential land use suitability analysis physical factors were: slope and elevation; development factors were: Proximity to existing residential area, Proximity to existing commercial area, Proximity to existing nearest paved road, Proximity to open space and recreational area; and environmental factors were: Distance from existing water body, Distance from existing forest and vegetation and Distance from Sea-beach area. Similarly physical criteria for commercial land use suitability were slope and elevation; development factors were: Proximity to existing residential area, Proximity to existing commercial area, Proximity to existing nearest paved road; and environmental factors were: Distance from existing forest and vegetation, Distance from Sea-beach area. The weights of these criteria were determined through Fuzzy AHP method and Chang’s extent analysis. Considering those criteria suitability analysis was conducted through a model in GIS software. Once a suitability map was generated, this was compared to the proposed land uses in the “Cox’s Bazar development plan” to identify matched and mismatched land uses.
From the analysis it was found out that 97.68 sq km area was suitable for residential development and 92.5 sq km was suitable for commercial development. Around 10.25 sq. km cannot be utilized for development and hence restricted zone. Separate suitability maps were generated showing the suitable land parcels for each land use type. From the comparison of the proposed land uses in the development plan to the suitability map, it was seen that a considerable amount of development was proposed in the plan on unsuitable and restricted zone, which may hamper the sustainability of the plans in future. From the analysis it was evident that about 94% of the total proposed residential land use was in the highly and moderately suitable lands which only cover 39% of the total suitable land area. However, most strikingly, 5.08% of the total proposed residential area is proposed to be built in the restricted zone as defined by the suitability analysis. The land use proposed in the moderately suitable and restricted zone could have easily been shifted to the highly suitable area, had there been a suitability analysis done. In the long run this would have helped in achieving the goal of sustainable development. Similarly, 85.89% of the total proposed commercial land falls in the highly and moderately suitable land and 14.11% of the total proposed commercial land use falls in the low suitable and restricted zone, which can easily be shifted to the high and moderate suitable zone.
The outcome of this study will help decision makers and practitioners from different fields to understand the importance of land use planning and suitability analysis. It can be very useful tool for strategic policy preparation, development control and guidance, zoning etc. and very helpful for central, local authorities, private organizations involved in development planning and implementation.