Landslide Susceptibility Assessment in Planned Areas Using Geographical Information Systems and AHP Method: The Case of Artvin

Artvin is one of the leading provinces in Turkey where landslides occur most frequently. There have been many landslides characterized as natural disaster recorded across the province. The areas susceptible to landslides in Artvin should be identified in order to ensure people's safety, to take the necessary measures for reducing any devastating effects of landslides and to make proper decisions for land use. In this study, using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method, the landslide susceptibility map was produced for the area where the zoning plan of Artvin's central municipality is based on. Parameters including lithology, altitude, slope, aspect, and proximity to the stream were used in landslide susceptibility analysis. In the evaluations, it was determined that 15% of the study area had a very high, 25.52% high, 28.95% moderate, 18.77% low, and 11.76% very low degrees in respect to landslide susceptibility. In addition, the administrative boundaries of the settlement units within the research area along with the building blocks in the current zoning plan were superimposed with the produced susceptibility map in order to determine the landslide susceptibility of both the building blocks and the settlement units. Accordingly, it was established that Çamlık and Balcıoğlu neighborhoods along with over 50% of the lands in Seyitler Village and approximately 68% of the building blocks were susceptible to landslides at very high and high degrees.