Least cost path for green corridors delineation in metropolitan margins: The distance weighting effects

Y. Cohen, I. Amit-Cohen, A. Cohen, M. Shoshani

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

The optimum path found by the least-cost path (LCP) method is determined by the cost surface as well as the distance. In environmental applications it is not desirable that distance makes a significant impact. Instead, the decision maker seeks for the LCP that reflects the environmental cost surface. However, in most studies this impact is overlooked, and the resulting LCP does not provide this type of optimum path. In the present study the impact of the distance on the LCP is demonstrated by delineation of green corridors in the southern margins of the central metropolis of Israel. The research shows that a cost surface based on an inappropriate encoding type leads to a ‘minimum-distance path’ instead of an LCP that reflects the environmental cost surface. It is concluded that non-linear encoding types, with sizeable separations between environmental cost classes, provide a suitable balance between habitat suitability, minimum Euclidean distance, and degree of ‘connectivity’ between core areas.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)63-78
Number of pages16
JournalJournal of Spatial Science
Volume54
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 2009

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors are thankful for the anonymous reviewers who helped us to provide better analysis and explanation of the methodology and results. We would like to thank the Yad-Hanadiv Foundation for funding this project. We also want to thank all the organizations that provided us with vector layers: the Survey of Israel; The Israeli National Society of Roads, Ltd.; the Israel Nature and Parks Authority; and the Jewish National Fund.

Funding

The authors are thankful for the anonymous reviewers who helped us to provide better analysis and explanation of the methodology and results. We would like to thank the Yad-Hanadiv Foundation for funding this project. We also want to thank all the organizations that provided us with vector layers: the Survey of Israel; The Israeli National Society of Roads, Ltd.; the Israel Nature and Parks Authority; and the Jewish National Fund.

FundersFunder number
Yad-Hanadiv Foundation

    Keywords

    • Environmental cost encoding
    • Green corridors
    • Least-cost path

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