a b s t r a c tModern planning theories encourage approaches that consider all stakeholders with a variety of discourse values to avoid political and manipulative decisions. In the last decade, application of quantitative approaches such as multi-criteria decision making techniques in land suitability procedures has increased, which allows handling heterogeneous data. The majority of these applications mainly used decision-making techniques to rank the priority of predefined management options or planning scenarios. The presented study, however, shows how spatial decision-making can be used not only to rank the priority of options and performing scenario analysis, but also to provide insight into the spatial extent of the alternatives. This is particularly helpful in situation where political transitions in regard to urban planning policies leave local decision-makers with considerable room for discretion. To achieve this, the study compares the results of two quantitative techniques (analytical hierarchy procedure (AHP) and Fuzzy AHP) in defining the extent of land-use zones at a large scale urban planning scenario. The presented approach also adds a new dimension to the comparative analysis of applying these techniques in urban planning by considering the scale and purpose of the decision-making. The result demonstrates that in the early stage of the planning process, when identifying development options as a focal point is required, simplified methods can be sufficient. In this situation, selecting more sophisticated techniques will not necessarily generate different outcomes. However, when planning requires identifying the spatial extent of the preferred development area, considering the intersection area suggested by both methods will be ideal.

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Multi-criteria decision making techniques have become increasingly widespread in strategic environmental decision making. In Australia these techniques are used to integrate both conservation and development aspects of natural resource use. MCDM can also evaluate the effects of uncertainties at each stage of the decision making process and examine the sensitivity of results to the inputs. This paper reviews the potential uncertainties in environmental management decision making procedures and explores how uncertainty analysis in the framework of MCDM can address some of these uncertainties. It then examines the application of MCDM in 16 Australian case studies to determine how uncertainty has been addressed in practice. Results demonstrate that appropriate use of MCDM can address uncertainties associated with decision makers' preferences and from using different techniques (epistemic uncertainty). Results also highlighted the need for incorporating visualizing techniques such as GIS and simulation algorithms (e.g. Monte Carlo Simulations) to examine the effects of uncertainty on the spatial pattern of the outcomes. This approach also presents promising ways to gain an understanding of the effects of some

Gold Coast Seaway and Jumpinpin Bar are two tidal inlets that connect the Pacific Ocean to the extensive Gold Coast estuarine system. While the Gold Coast Seaway has been stabilized in the mid-1980s by two rock walls, Jumpinpin Bar has remained a highly dynamic tidal inlet. A detailed study of these two tidal inlets is overdue and has been hindered for a long time by the lack of comprehensive field data. This study provides an extensive hydrodynamic data set, which on one side provides an insight into the hydrodynamic behavior of these two tidal inlets and on another side provides a base for their further study. The measured data show relatively high flow velocities at both locations exceeding 2 m/s. It also shows a strong spatial asymmetry in flow velocity distribution across the Gold Coast Seaway during the ebb tide, which accounts for some of the morphological changes at the study area. A five-month waterlevel measurement indicates a mixed, predominantly semidiurnal tidal regime at these tidal inlets. Examination of tidal variation shows minor temporal tidal asymmetry at both inlets with potential impact on the sediment transport regime at the inlets. In terms of stability, investigation into the tidal prism and cross-sectional area relationship for both inlets can be described using existing relationships obtained from regression analysis of tidal inlets on Pacific and Atlantic coasts. In regards to stability analysis based on tidal prism-littoral drift relationship, the Gold Coast Seaway seems to be approaching stability while Jumpinpin Bar seems to be more of a dynamic inlet.

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