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Due to rapid urbanization in Egypt, the need for job creation and redistribution of population became a top priority for the Egyptian government. Creating infrastructure and new industrial zones in Sinai Peninsula can participate in solving the problem. Geographic Information System (GIS) and Spatial Multicriteria Evaluation (SMCE) have been widely used to analyze the land utilization based on the land’s potentials and constraints. Using Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) digital elevation model, meteorological data and various land use information, a holistic approach involving generation of thematic maps for two themes, natural resources theme and a least-cost theme, was adopted. Data such as accessibility, soil type, land cover, utilities and other ancillary information was employed to arrive at a locale-specific prescription for an industrial land use strategy. Analytical hierarchy process was conducted to investigate the resource-based suitability while minimizing cost of development using various spatial data. Expert knowledge was used to weigh factors within the natural resources theme based on three development objectives (scenarios). Running the weighted overlay model for each of the three objectives, three suitability index maps were produced. Potential sites for developing new industrial zones were identified based on the high suitability values for each scenario. Results highlight a good opportunity for developing the middle zones of Sinai (El Hassana and Nekhel divisions) in addition to the coastal belt.
Egypt, GIS, multicriteria evaluation, natural resources, remote sensing, SRTM, zoning map
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