Irit Amit-Cohen

Least cost path for green corridors delineation in metropolitan margins: The distance weighting effects

The optimum path found by the least‐cost path (LCP) method is determined by the cost surface as well as the distance. In environmental applications it is not desirable that distance makes a significant impact. Instead, the decision maker seeks for the LCP that reflects the environmental cost surface. However, in most studies this impact is overlooked, and the resulting LCP does not provide this type of optimum path. In the present study the impact of the distance on the LCP is demonstrated by delineation of green corridors in the southern margins of the central metropolis of Israel. The research shows that a cost surface based on an inappropriate encoding type leads to a ‘minimum‐distance path’ instead of an LCP that reflects the environmental cost surface. It is concluded that non‐linear encoding types, with sizeable separations between environmental cost classes, provide a suitable balance between habitat suitability, minimum Euclidean distance, and degree of ‘connectivity’ between core areas.