Application of TOPSIS method in evaluation and prioritization of social stability in rural areas (Case Study: Zidasht Basin)

Abstract

In recent years, terms sustainability has been becoming a main study field of too many interdisciplinary sciences. Also, it included suitability theory framework on which every planning designed by taking sustainable development should offer a multidimensional image from the study area. Meanwhile, social sustainability serves as one of the sustainable development components along with qualitative aspects which are evaluated by some concepts like human life and welfare feeling in an ambient. The present study deals with social sustainability level and prioritizes them in three rural centers of the Zidasht basin through six indices (Demographic Index, Literacy Index, Poverty Index, Nutrition Index and Food Security, Index Justice and Equality, Ownership Index) and 18 variables. TOPSIS, as one of the multicriteria decision-making method, was used to prioritize social sustainability. In order to assign weights to corresponding criteria, 20 expertise were used. The result showed that Kalanak has the highest priority with the respective value of 0.7456, followed by Zidasht (0.6003) and Sangbon (0.2303). So that, findings from field studies and observation are in line with these results. Therefore, usage of TOPSIS is suggested in other study areas to prioritize social sustainability.

Keywords: prioritization, social sustainable, TOPSIS method, Zidasht basin, rural sustainable development