Finding the best location for pumping stations in the Galovica drainage area of Serbia: The AHP approach for sustainable development

Abstract

The paper proposes a new approach for sustainability appraisal in development projects in Serbia by using the analytic hierarchy process as a group decision-making framework. Selection of the most acceptable location for pumping stations in the Galovica drainage area is chosen for the case study. Three experts (an ecologist, a hydro-engineer and a local authority representative) evaluated three alternative locations regarding technical, economical, environmental and social criteria. Sensitivity analysis shows that the group decision will remain stable unless the importance weight of the hydro-engineer is set to 0.9 or higher. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.