ABSTRACT
This paper reports an application of multi-attribute analysis (MAA) in the identification process of agricultural land to be allocated for residential development at Abano Terme in the province of Padova (I). The reasons for studying this are the conflicts that arise when these choices are made owing to the high earnings involved. Fairly informal selection procedures are used at present, which lack clarity and take very little account of changes to environmental quality and primary sector resources. This has created problems in the past, especially in areas with a diffused residential pattern like that on the Veneto plain.
The analyses have demonstrated that MAA, by correctly evaluating the different aspects of the problem permits all the useful information to be put together in a clear manner, identifying and defining the key points in the selections and running through the decision-making process analytically. MAA is not proposed as a planning instrument, but rather as a procedure for rationalising some aspects of planning, in particular, those aspects involving conflicting interests.
