Modeling Relationships between Human Settlements Using Transportation Network Model in GIS Environment

Nowadays, sustainable development theories emphasize that providing a good background for economic and welfare growth with spatial planning is necessary. The accessibility of people to welfare centers by proper utilization of sustainable development infrastructure networks, include transportation networks, has been facilitated. This research aims at assessing the functionalities of the GIS network models in creating best links between settlements for rural sustainable development. The main goal that was sketched for my thesis was to apply network model in GIS environment in order to model spatial hierarchy and spatial links of rural settlements. The hypothesis was that GIS network could effectively propose proper locations of establishing service centers. Therefore, such models can be applied in detection of rural settlements where are poor in receiving special services. Consequently, flow of facilities and people traveling time for receiving those services would become optimized. The outcome of the thesis has shown that using GIS network models in combination with rural planning theories and linear programming models; it is possible to detect areas with weak accessibility to facilities. Furthermore, we used. NET and ArcObjects programming in order to develop a new model in the ArcGIS environment. This model enables us to locate the services and facilities at the best place in a way that the settlement relationships would become most effective. Finally, the developed model is evaluated in a pilot project in South Khorasan one of the provinces in Iran. The results have proved the suitability of GIS network models in rural settlement planning.