Enhancing Sustainability in Road Infrastructure: A Comprehensive GIS Approach to Vulnerability Mapping in the Marand-Bazargan Freeway, Iran

Abstract

In this paper, we present a sustainable infrastructural planning using Geographic Information Systems (GISs) for vulnerability mapping of the Marand-Bazargan freeway in Iran. Literature acknowledges that transportation infrastructure is essential for economic development, but it can have significant negative environmental impacts such as land use change, air and noise pollution, and biodiversity loss. In addition, the literature review revealed that EIAs are essential instruments for identifying, mitigating, and/or compensating the environmental impacts of these projects. GIS has emerged as a powerful tool for environmental assessment and transportation planning. However, there is a lack of research on the effectiveness of GIS for road projects in Iran, with most studies focused on site selection and conducted outside the country. This study aims to answer a main research question: How can GIS be used to select the most environmentally friendly route? The analysis conducted detects vulnerable areas and determines the alignment with minimal negative impacts by overlaying maps and utilising ArcGIS Pro and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The vulnerability map generated using GIS overlay analysis shows that the majority of the freeway has low to negligible vulnerability, while only limited areas have moderate to high vulnerability. Integrating GIS and the Leopold Matrix enables a comprehensive analysis and ensures sustainable and environmentally-friendly infrastructure development in road construction projects of Iran. Limitations include the constraints geographic scope, AHP subjectivity, and limited range of experts, environmental factors and stakeholders' viewpoints. Further, the use of Leopold Matrix to assess the environmental consequences of micro-activities would be expanded upon.