Selection of Optimal Sites for New Airport in Urban Areas: An Intuitionistic Fuzzy based Decision Making Study

Abstract

Airports play an important part in elevating regional communication, resulting in better economic value and enhanced accessibility. Choosing the best location for building a new airport involves considering multiple, interrelated, and complex criteria, including economic activity, population density, land availability, geographic suitability, strategic importance, and accessibility. A decision-making framework has been proposed, involving criteria and suitable regions for establishing a new airport station in urban areas, utilizing Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) procedures. The Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is employed to determine the objective balance for the evaluation criteria, and the Fuzzy Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) is used to rate the alternative locations. Intuitionistic Fuzzy Sets are incorporated into the model to support uncertainty and inaccuracy in the experts' judgments. A comparative analysis is also conducted to ensure the stability and feasibility of the final output. The proposed model aims to assist urban researchers, policymakers, and aviation authorities in making detailed, data-driven decisions for the development of national infrastructure.