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The present paper proposes a spatial multicriteria approach for supporting Decision-Makers in the siting process of a Municipal Solid Waste landfill in the Province of Torino (Italy).In particular, the contribution illustrates the development of a Multicriteria-Spatial Decision Support System based on the integration of Geographic Information Systems and a specific Multicriteria Decision Analysis technique, named Analytic Network Process (ANP). This technique, which represents the generalization of the more well-known Analytic Hierarchy Process to dependences and feedbacks, is particularly suitable for dealing with complex decision problems which are characterized by inter-relationships among the elements at stake.The application allows the dependence relationships among the criteria to be assessed, and the relative importance of all the elements that play an influence on the final choice to be evaluated.The purpose of the study is to generate a suitability map of the area under analysis for locating a waste landfill, paying particular attention to the contribution that the spatial ANP offers to sustainability assessments of undesirable facilities. To this end, the simple network structure has been used and both exclusionary and non-exclusionary criteria have been identified and grouped into clusters.The results are obtained in the form of suitability maps analysed through ILWIS 3.3 software (52North, ITC, Enschede, The Netherlands) and have been further verified through a sensitivity analysis with reference to the clusters priorities in order to test the robustness of the proposed model.The main findings of this research have proved that the spatial ANP is a useful tool to help technicians to make their decision process traceable and reliable. Moreover, this approach helps Decision-Makers to undertake a sound reflection of the siting problem.Finally, the implementation of the spatial ANP technique gives an originality value to the present research because it represents one of the first applications at both the national and international level.

Starting from the topicality of the issues related to the location of undesirable facilities and on the basis of a brief review of the types of models that are currently being used in the Municipal Solid Waste Management context, the present paper proposes a multicriteria approach that is able to support decision makers in the choice of the best location for a waste incinerator plant in the Province of Torino (Italy). Three alternative sites have been compared through the use of the Analytic Network Process (ANP) method. The application allows the dependence relationships among the aspects and criteria to be assessed and the relative importance of all the elements that play an influence on the final choice to be elicitated.The decision-making process was developed through the identification of 31 environmental and socio-economic indicators that were grouped into clusters and organized in four subnetworks according to the Benefits, Opportunities, Costs and Risks (BOCR) model in order to compare the three alternatives by means of a holistic approach and to better highlight the tradeoffs between the aspects involved in the decision.The aim of this work is to analyse the contribution that the ANP technique offers in sustainability assessment of undesirable facilities, paying particular attention to the use of quantitative indicators in the evaluation process.The strengths and weaknesses of the ANP approach, combined with the use of measurable and verifiable indicators, are also discussed and three different sensitivity analyses have been performed in order to test the robustness of the proposed model and the stability of the results, exploring also rank reversal thresholds.The main findings of the present work have proved that the use of quantitative indicators as nodes of the ANP-BOCR structure significantly improves the internal coherence of the model and makes the decision process more traceable and reliable.

Finding a new use for neglected infrastructures, such as disused railways, provides an opportunity for low carbon travel experiences as reconversion policies promote new uses, arrest decay processes and re-establish continuity in the environmental system, using existing linear infrastructures.Nevertheless, the decision of what to do in order to reuse abandoned railways represents a complex decision making problem, involving heterogeneous impacts and stakeholders. Within this context, Multi Criteria Analysis techniques can be used to synthesize stakeholders' preferences by accommodating conflicting and incommensurable impacts. The present study thus uses MultiCriteria Analysis to answer a real demand for transportation systems' planning coming from the Piedmont Region Authority in Italy, where 12 passenger railway lines have recently been abandoned and replaced by bus services.The main objective of the study is to develop a methodological framework able to support collaborative planning and decision-making processes related to the requalification of disused railways in mixed urban and rural contexts.The ultimate objective is to provide a robust recommendation to the Regional Authority with reference to the best requalification option for the abandoned railway line under analysis. The contribution brought by the study is twofold and refers to: (i) improved operability of the proposed tools obtained by combining visualization analytics with consolidated preference elicitation protocols for assessing multiple impacts and (ii) the provision of a replicable working tool for policy makers. The study has thus an innovative value and may increase the use of Decision Analytics to support the evaluation of environmental impacts of different transportation systems.

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