Methodology
There are two methods that were used: MCE Boolean approach and MCE non-boolean approach.
In the MCE Boolean approach, criteria is developed and standardized. A simple Boolean aggregation method is used to come to a solution. The Boolean approach only uses constraints and values are given as 0 and 1.
When considering the development of a new volleyball facility, there were several criteria that had to be met.
1. Landuse - The site had to be situated on Open/undeveloped, Residential/Commerical Mixed, Industrial, or Institution landuse types. These landuse types are considered as best areas for development. Open undeveloped lands are the least expensive and will be suitable for development. Facilities near institutions and commercial/ residential will allow more revenue. Development on industrial land allows for bigger areas of development and prevents disturbance for residents.
2. Distance to Roads – Areas closer to major roads is considered more suitable than those that are distant. An optimal area of development will be a distance within 300 meters of the road. Anything beyond is considered unsuitable.
3. Distance to Transportation (bus stops and skytrain stations) – Areas closer to bus stops and skytrain stations are more suitable because it will allow for easy accessibility for people to reach and leave the facility. Some people do not want to drive or do not have vehicles; therefore, by developing the facility near bus stops and skytrain stations it allows them to use public transportation. An optimal area of development near bus stops is 500 meters and 1000 meters near skytrain stations.
4. Slope – Relatively low slopes make buildings and road less expensive. Therefore a slope less than 15% is considered suitable while anything greater than 15% is unsuitable.
5. Distance from current areas – Competition from other volleyball areas have been taken into consideration. The site should be away from existing facilities to make their resources more widely available and to avoid competition amongst other facilities. Therefore, a distance of 2000 meters away from current areas is considered optimal.
6. Age Density - An assumption was made that ages 15 to 39 are high active participants of volleyball. Therefore, the site should be built near populated areas of ages 15 to 39.
MCE: Boolean Approach
There are 7 constraints that were considered:
1. Landuse
2. Bus stops
3. Skytrain Stations
4. Other facilities
5. Major roads
6. Slope
7. Age Density (15 to 39)
Landuse – The landuse image was assigned using the ASSIGN module. Values of 1 was assigned to the corresponding types of landuse while values of 0 were assigned to the areas not considered. As a result, a Boolean image (Burnaby_constraint.rst ) was created.
Boolean images (bus_stops.rst , Stations_reclassed.rst, other_areas.rst, major_roads_reclassed.rst, target_age_reclassed.rst) were created from the reclassification of bus stops, skytrain stations, other facilities, and major roads images. These were all separately reclassed using the RECLASS module in macro modeler. Values of 1 are given to anything that is over 1 while a value of 0 was given to anything under 1. When the images were created, they were separately buffered using the buffer module.
Bus stops – A buffer image (bus-buff.rst) was created using the buffer module with a distance of 500m. Anything within 500 m is considered optimal for development.
Skytrain-stations – The Boolean image was buffered with a distance of 1000 m. A Buffer image (Stations-buff.rst) was created. Anything within 1000 m is considered suitable for development.
Other facilities – The Boolean image was buffered with a distance of 2000 m. A buffer image (otherareas_buff.rst) was created. Anything outside 2000 m of current facilities is considered suitable while anything within 2000 m is unsuitable.
Major roads – A buffer image (major roads buff.rst) was created with a distance of 300 m. Anything within 300 m of the major roads is considered optimal for development.
Age Density – A Boolean image was created using the RECLASS module. A value of 0 was given to anything under 355 and a value of 1 was given to anything 355 and above. This created a Boolean image that shows the most populated areas of ages 15 to 39.
Slope - The slope Boolean image (slopebool.rst ) was created from the Burnaby_dem.rst file and the SURFACE module. It was then reclassed using the RECLASS module. Values of 1 were given to anything between 0 and 16 while values of 0 were given to anything 16 and over. This image shows the suitable areas with a slope of less than 15%.
All of these images were overlayed together using the OVERLAY module which created the final suitable area of development image.
Click to see macro modeler.
MCE non- Boolean Approach
To further enhance my analysis, I have used the non-Boolean approach. This required the two types of criteria: constraints and factors. A constraint serves to limit the alternatives under consideration and is composed of Boolean maps or images. Factors are a criterion that enhances or detracts from the suitability of a specific alternative for the activity under construction. Unlike the Boolean Approach, there were 2 constraints and 6 factors.
Constraints:
1. The site must be located in Burnaby and had to be situated on Open/Undeveloped, Institutions, Commercial/Residential Mixed or Industrial landuse types.
2. Population density by age - The site should be located in areas where most people ages 15 to 39 reside. These people are high participants of volleyball and are more likely to use the facility. Age density was calculated by adding both male and female ages between 15 to 39 and was divided by the total population of Burnaby.
Factors:
Landuse – The site must be further away from inappropriate landuse types.
Distance from bus stops – The site should be located close to the bus stops so people can have access to and from the facility.
Distance from skytrain stations – The site should be located close to the skytrain stations so people can get off the station and access the facility. Also, if the station is not close to the facility, people can get off the station and use the bus to get to the facility.
Distance from existing volleyball facilities – The site should be away from existing facilities to make their resources more widely available and to avoid competition amongst other facilities.
Distance from major roads – To keep costs of development down, areas closer to roads is considered more suitable than those that are farther. Therefore, the site should be located close to major roads so people can access it easily by car.
Slope –Relatively low slopes make construction less expensive. Therefore, the site should be built on slopes less than 15%.
Click to see Macro Modelor:
The images were created using the same processes as the Boolean approach. However, there were a few changes and additions that were made. The BUFFER module has been replaced with the DISTANCE module creating distance images. Four distance images were created from bus stops (bus_stop_dist.rst), skytrain stations (skytrainstations_dist.rst), other facilities (other_area_dist.rst), and major roads (major_road_dist.rst). Looking at the images, the darker the color (from blue to black) the cheaper it is. The brighter the color (from orange to red), the more expensive it is.
Landfuzz – A landfuzz (landfuzz.rst) image was created using the ASSIGN module. Numerical values were given from 0-255 to produce an image for best suitability. By looking at the value of the image, anything that is 0 is not suitable and as it goes up the suitability increases.
Fuzzy Sets
In order to create fuzzy sets, the decision wizard was used. 
click to enlarge
A monotonically decreasing linear function was chosen because the farther away from major roads networks and public transportation, the accessibility decreases. A monotonically increasing function was chosen because areas further away from current facilities are the most suitable. As a result, suitability increases with distance. The farther away it is, the better the suitability.
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