Suitability Analysis

Suitability analysis maps how well each parcel of land supports a proposed use — housing, conservation, a highway, a landfill — by combining the relevant physical, ecological and accessibility factors into a single composite score. In the tradition established by Ian McHarg's 1969 Design with Nature, each factor is captured as a map layer, reclassified onto a common suitability scale, and overlaid so that places good on many factors stand out from places that are not. The result is a suitability surface that makes the trade-offs in a land-use decision explicit, transparent and defensible.