Geospatial Intelligence for Peri-Urban Land-Use Conflicts: Evaluating Agricultural Suitability against Rapid Urbanisation using the Analytical Hierarchy Process and Cloud Computing

Abstract

This paper presents a geospatial multi-criteria evaluation of agricultural potential in the suburban region of Bapatla using eight physical and land-use characteristics: elevation, slope, road accessibility, proximity to water bodies, Land Surface Temperature (LST), Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Land Use/Land Cover (LULC), and soil texture, processed using Google Earth Engine. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to determine the relative weights of each criterion. NDVI received the highest weight (26.33%), followed by LST, slope, and proximity to water bodies (14.96% each), while elevation received the lowest weight (4.6%) due to the region's flat terrain. Weighted overlay analysis classified the 142.25 km² study area into Suitable (108.90 km²; 76.55%), Not Suitable (32.60 km²; 22.92%), and Highly Suitable (0.75 km²; 0.53%) categories. Suitable areas are mainly distributed across the southern and peripheral agricultural zones, whereas unsuitable areas are concentrated within Bapatla Urban and its surroundings. The limited extent of highly suitable land highlights the scarcity of optimal agricultural sites. The results reveal land-use conflicts driven primarily by urbanisation rather than environmental constraints. The AHP-weighted suitability map provides an evidence-based tool for agricultural land conservation, water-resource management, and sustainable urban expansion.