Abstract
Siting of burial lands and localization of new cemeteries requires research to determine the geologically, environmentally, and socially optimum regions. This study aims to locate the most suitable places for new cemeteries in Hamedan City, Iran by developing a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) method. These days, MCDA has developed swiftly and has become a principal tool for researchers to challenge intricate decision problems. This procedure is based on the GIS analysis's fuzzy membership functions (FMFs). For cemetery site selection (CSS), ten criteria including geologic unit permeability, distance from faults, ease to excavation, slope, water table, distance from surface water, distance from roads, distance from landslides, distance from the residential area, and land use were utilized. The Fuzzy set theory was first compounded with an analytical hierarchy process (AHP) to make pairwise comparisons to compare CSS criteria for ranking the targets. Then, FMFs were used to specify the criteria weights to expand a CSS suitability map. Finally, a compatibility map was prepared by the fuzzy overlay analyses, and appropriate zones were identified and checked on the field. The results indicated that 46.25% of the study area is unsuitable, 48.60% is moderately suitable, and 5.15% is the most suitable area for cemetery construction. Also, the results obtained were shown almost all available cemeteries in the study area are located in unsuitable areas. The suggested procedure enables the researchers to better understand the perfect assessment process and prepare a more exact, efficient, and systematic intention support tool.