Sustainable Tourist Walking Trails Development Using GIS and RS
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19489262 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Riyan Mohammad Sahahiri (0000-0003-2430-9574, King Abdul Aziz University Hospital, corresponding author), Abdullah Alattas (0009-0009-6995-5968, King Abdul Aziz University Hospital), Ahmad Fallatah (0000-0001-9820-3831, King Abdulaziz University), Ammar Mandourah (0000-0002-2544-8034, King Abdul Aziz University Hospital) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 218 |
| Publication date | 2026-04-20 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Urban Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2413-8851 • E-ISSN: 2413-8851 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/urbansci10040218 |
| OpenAlex | W7154978785 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 45 |
Designing sustainable pedestrian infrastructure in hyper-arid cultural landscapes requires balancing visitor experience, heritage protection, and environmental constraints. This study develops a statistically grounded model for planning sustainable walking trails in Al-Ula, Saudi Arabia, using multi-spectral remote sensing data integrated with expert-based evaluation. A GIS-based Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) framework was applied to assess topographic slope, vegetation cover (NDVI), built-up density (NDBI), Land Surface Temperature (LST), and solar exposure. Indicator weights were validated through a three-round Delphi survey involving fifteen experts. The results indicate strong consensus among experts, identifying LST (21%) and slope (20%) as the most influential determinants of trail suitability in desert environments. These findings highlight the critical role of thermal stress in shaping safe and sustainable pedestrian mobility in hot climates. The optimized 44.5 km trail network, classified into three difficulty levels, improves energetic efficiency by reducing caloric expenditure by 24% compared to conventional routing. In addition, the proposed network has the potential to reduce carbon emissions associated with heritage-related travel by approximately 75% through modal shift from vehicles to walking. The framework provides a practical decision-support tool for planners seeking to develop low-carbon, climate-responsive tourism infrastructure aligned with the objectives of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030
Delphi method · Geographic information system · Land cover · Pedestrian · Sustainable development · Tourism · Visitor pattern · World heritage · Smart Materials for Construction · Urban Heat Island Mitigation · Wildlife-Road Interactions and Conservation
| Highly cited | No |
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