Citizen-based Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Analysis to Provide an Optimal Model of Healthcare Facilities in the City of Islamshahr

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 PhD student in Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems, Faculty of Geography, University of Tehran, Iran

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Urban Engineering, Lorestan University, Khorramabad, Iran.

3 Associate Professor, Department of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems, Faculty of Geography, University of Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Hospitals are one of the most important healthcare infrastructures which demand for proper access to these services increases with the increase in population and the improvement of living standards. Islamshahr is one of the important cities of Tehran province and the most populous city of this province after Tehran, which due to its high population currently has only two hospitals with a total of 230 beds. This city needs at least 350 more beds to reach the national standard. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to identify the optimal sites to create this important infrastructure in this city, as well as to evaluate the location of existing hospitals. For this purpose, criteria such as proper access, environmental indicators and socio-economic indicators have been used. In this article, a framework based on GIS and multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) is presented to identify the optimal sites for hospital construction in Eslamshahr city. Since one of the important things in decision-making is the participation of citizens, the opinions of three categories of people including doctors, urban planning experts, as well as patients who have visited the hospital have been used. The assessment of the status of existing hospitals by combining the opinions of all three groups of citizens showed that the location suitability of the two existing hospitals is 8.2 and 7.9 out of 10. While the best optimal location identified from their point of view has a score of 9.3. Finally, optimal locations for the construction of new hospitals have been suggested. 

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Main Subjects

References

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Geography and Territorial Spatial Arrangement
Volume 15, Issue 57
November 2025
Pages 59-86

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History

  • Receive Date: 29 March 2024
  • Revise Date: 04 February 2025
  • Accept Date: 27 September 2025

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