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The phenomenon known as urban heat islands (UHIs) is becoming more common and widespread, especially in large cities and metropolises around the world. The main cause of these temperature variations between the city center and the suburbs is the replacement of large tracts of natural land with artificial (built-up) surfaces that absorb solar heat and radiate it back at night. UHIs have been the subject of numerous studies, most of which were about defining the main characteristics, factors, indexes, etc., of UHIs using remote sensing technologies or about determining mitigating activities. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the literature, as well as a bibliometric analysis, to discover research trends related to the application of decision support systems and multi-criteria decision-making for UHI management, with a special emphasis on fuzzy theory. Data collection is conducted using the Scopus bibliographic database. Throughout the literature review, it was found that there were not many studies on multi-criteria analysis and decision support system applications regarding UHIs. The fuzzy theory application was also reviewed, resulting in only a few references. However, this topic is current, with an increase in published papers, and authors see this as an opportunity for improvement and further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renovation of flat roofs typically involves repairing or replacing the existing roof to improve its performance and extend its lifespan. The renovation process may include a range of tasks depending on the condition of the roof, such as repairing leaks, replacing damaged or deteriorated materials, adding insulation, or upgrading drainage systems. This research aim was to establish the priority of renovation of flat roofs of the public building based on the principles of multi-criteria analysis and fuzzy set theory, using the multi-criteria method PROMETHEE II in fuzzy logic form (F-PROMETHEE II). The proposed approach is adequate due to its ability to transform the uncertain and vague information received from an expert into a fuzzy number. This way, the objective outcome can be obtained, the criteria conflict removed and the alternatives ranking and mutual comparison enabled. It was necessary to analyze the existing literature, the flat roofs of a public building in terms of their current condition, and define the main goals and criteria for the roof renovation project. Based on the defined goals and criteria, the roofs are evaluated and ranked according to the priority for renovation. The planning process of renovation of flat roofs was carried out specifically on the building of the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Geodesy in Split. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper proposes a Model of priority ranking of cadastral parcels for planning the implementation of urban consolidation, which is a continuation of the published research on the assessment of fragmentation and assessment bonitet values of cadastral parcels. The research deals with one segment of the Spatial Decision Support System and is one process in the planning of urban consolidation. Comparison criteria were identified for the evaluation and priority ranking of cadastral parcels. The subject of the research is private cadastral parcels in the area of large public project construction. The goal of the research is to find the optimal way to compare conflicting and incomparable criteria for the evaluation of private cadastral parcels and, at the same time, a way of fitting the opinions of stakeholders in the implementation planning process of urban consolidation. Due to the complexity of the task and realizing certain spatial criteria, unique models were developed. Special attention was paid to the participatory approach to problem-solving, in which all groups of stakeholders were identified, and the way of expressing their views was defined. The Complex proportional assessment (COPRAS) method and the Analytic Hierarchy Process method (AHP) methods were used to solve the problem. The defined models were tested in the field of construction of a large public project Campus at the University of Split. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An overview of the charts of the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea is given. It was explained the way Adriatic Sea is spreading in accordance to Mediterranean Sea. Its importance throughout history of Europe was emphasised. Through centuries there were different maps of Europe and Mediterranean Sea. Important graphical representation were also charts/portolans which were a strong help in vessels navigation. In classical period peripluses were drawn and used mostly by Greeks for navigation. Two very famous works representing coast of the Adriatic Sea – Geography of Claudius Ptolemy and Tabula Peutingeriana were explained. Most of the paper is dedicated to portolans and their usage for navigation on eastern Adriatic coast. An overview of most important cartographers of portolans was given. In detail was described Ottoman cartographer of portolans Piri Reis. His symbology usage was analysed and compared to Symbols and abbreviations used on charts (INT 1) content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The project of construction barriers removal is a comprehensive planning task and it demands a suitable support for identification, and priority ranking of facilities necessary for barriers removal. This paper proposes a multicirteria Intuitionistic Fuzzy (IF) ELECTRE model to support decision makers in the process of managing of removal project of construction barriers for physically disabled in high schools. IF ELECTRE approach is used to deal with complex problems, where decision-makers have ambiguities and dualities in evaluation of considered solution. Hereby 17 high schools are defined and seven criteria are determined by decision-makers. These criteria are further used for the alternatives assessments. Each DM is also evaluated by linguistic and numerical values, assigning them this way an importance according to their background and the years of experience. The Intuitionistic Fuzzy Weighted Average (IFWA) operator is calculated to achieve aggregated alternatives evaluations. Furthermore, concordance and discordance sets and indexes are calculated to obtain dominance matrix and final ranking of schools for the construction barriers removal. The model is validated on high schools in the city of Split. Using IF theory, the given problematic can be operated more effectively by diminishing the inaccuracy of available information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A systematic methodology for condition assessment of the historic road bridges was needed because of the poor and inadequate condition of bridges which cannot satisfy everyday-day dynamic loads and deteriorations due to the aging process. Thus in this study, a new expert system based on the knowledge approach has been proposed to develop a systematic procedure for condition assessment of these bridges using fuzzy logic and sets of α -cuts. Each bridge is divided into three components: superstructure, substructure, and equipment, and each component is divided into relevant elements. These elements are evaluated by an expert and their ratings are fuzzified according to defined fuzzy sets, their membership functions, and linguistic values. Furthermore, fuzzy structural importance is given to ratings of each element. Combinations of these two values are calculated to obtain a fuzzy rating of the component using the Fuzzy Weighted Geometric Mean (FWGM). Finally, for the defuzzification of the component rating, the centroid method is proposed. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is used for comparison of the components. The bridge condition rating is achieved by summering all the components ratings multiplied by their relative importance, and it is presented as a value of the Historic Road Bridge Condition Assessment Index (HRBCAI). The validation is conducted on the bridges built until the end of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the important segments of pedestrian infrastructure are pedestrian bridges. The importance is greater if these bridges are of historical and cultural significance to the city or region. To manage these bridges, it is important to develop an approach that can enable systematic and organized decision-making for experts and policy makers. Hereby, a recovery of bridges is analyzed for the priority ranking of historic pedestrian bridges. Maps of Europe from XIX. Century for the area of Split-Dalmatia County (SDC) are used to locate the bridges. A total of nine bridges are identified, and a set of relevant criteria are defined to evaluate these bridges. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is used for the comparison of criteria, evidential reasoning for the assessment of bridges according to each criterion, and then the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) is conducted for priority ranking of bridges for the recovery planning. To achieve the final order of bridges it was crucial to take into account mechanical, dynamical, ecological, financial, and, also, social characteristics of these bridges, which was not an easy task. For this reason, the authors proposed a model of decision support to help policy and decision makers in the managing of recovery activities of historic road bridges. The model was conducted on the bridges in the area of SDC, built until the end of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction barrier removal (for the physically disabled) policy selection is a complex task and a vital part of the planning phase within the management of such construction projects. This paper deals with design of the decision support concept for this kind of task. It focused on support for identification, selection, and priority ranking of schools' facilities, and adoption of this concept improves the project realization. The implementation of the concept began with analysis of the issue and identification of relevant stakeholders followed by a goal analysis. Combining the gained goal tree and its objectives and criteria with the multicriteria decision-making methods analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and Preference Ranking Organization Method For Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE) II, the priority ranking of schools' facilities was determined. Afterward, using budget and/or other constraints introduced by the PROMETHEE V method, several different sets of schools to be sequentially funded in the following investment years were defined. Depending on introduced constraints, three policy design styles were defined (budget, spatial-functional, and combined) and compared mutually, and one was selected. Validating the proposed concept in Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia showed that a high-quality policy to achieve a construction barrier–free environment (by adapting 95 facilities in 4 years) can be selected in a sustainable and systematic manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a decision support concept for management of rehabilitation projects. The focus of the research is on the application of multicriteria methods of decision-making in planning a historic bridge rehabilitation project. The problem addressed in this research is a major one from many different perspectives, such as civil engineering, economics, etc., which indicates a need for the evaluation of different rehabilitation methods using several different criteria. Therefore, a decision support concept for a historic bridge rehabilitation method based on the PROMETHEE method has been designed. Three groups of stakeholders have been included (civil engineering experts, economic experts, and government experts) to define appropriate criteria, their weights, and preference functions. For determination of criteria weights, the AHP method has been used. The model has been tested on the problem of choosing the rehabilitation method for the Pavića Bridge in Croatia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this paper is to define anchorage management model for concession planning purposes to provide quality support to experts in spatial planning when developing maritime spatial plans. The research aim is to develop an anchorage management model that includes decision and concession support concept. Decision support concept is defined in order to support the processes of identifying potential anchorage locations, their evaluation and comparison, and finally, the priority ranking and selection of locations for their construction. The final step is modelling the concession support concept that includes financial analysis to concession parameters definition. The problem of decision making and concession of the anchorage location selection is complex and ill-structured because of the unsystematic and ad-hoc decisions by all included stakeholders. Additionally, the involvement of several stakeholders' groups with different preferences and background knowledge, a large amount of conflicting and seemingly incomparable information and data, and numerous conflicting goals and criteria impact final decisions. The proposed concepts overcome the above obstacles in order to enable the construction of anchorages in a way of optimal use of maritime space. The model is tested on the island of Brač, Croatia. The methods used to solve the task are SWARA (The Stepwise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis) for defining the criteria weights and ELECTRE (Elimination and Choice Expressing Reality) for ranking anchorage locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problems in real life usually involve uncertain, inconsistent and incomplete information. An example of such problems is strategic decision making with respect to remediation planning of historic pedestrian bridges. The multiple decision makers and experts, as well as the various mutually conflicting criteria, unknown criteria weights, and vagueness and duality in final decisions, provide motivation to develop a methodology that is able to resist the challenges implicit in this problem. Therefore, the aim of this research was to propose an algorithm based on the theory of rough neutrosophic sets in order to solve the problem of strategic planning with respect to the remediation of historic pedestrian bridges. A new multicriteria decision-making model is developed that is a fusion of rough set and neutrosophic set theory. A new cross entropy is proposed under a rough neutrosophic environment that does not possess the shortcomings of asymmetrical character and unknown occurrences. Additionally, a weighted rough neutrosophic symmetric cross entropy is proposed. Furthermore, a rough neutrosophic VIKOR method is introduced, with which the values of the utility measure, regret measure and VIKOR index are obtained. These values, as well as the weighted rough neutrosophic symmetric cross entropy measure, are used to provide a ranking of historic pedestrian bridges favorable to remediation. Finally, an illustrative example of the strategic planning of remediation for historic pedestrian bridges is solved and compared to other research, demonstrating the robustness, feasibility and efficacy of the model when dealing with complex multicriteria decision-making processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to present a new decision support concept (DSC) related to the ever-growing problem of the maintenance of damaged asphalt pavements. In the process of defining a sustainable approach to resolving this problem, we found complexity in the different needs considering economic, social, and technical aspects. An additional contribution to the problem's complexity was the many road sections that need to be ranked based on their need for maintenance. The priority ranking was based on the multicriteria Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment of Evaluations (PROMETHEE) method and the Analytic Hierarchy Processing (AHP) method. The DSC implementation contained the inclusion of relevant stakeholders and the definition of goals through identification of several different criteria and their weights. This approach to criteria determination provided a final ranking list of spatial units for maintenance, satisfying the needs of all stakeholders. The DSC presented in this paper was tested in the city of Split for the most important roads needing maintenance of asphalt pavements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the urbanization and expansion of cities, which have taken place over recent decades, new demands and problems are emerging, among which is the problem of inadequate transport infrastructure. The number of motor vehicles is growing, while transport infrastructure is not following that growth fast enough. One of the problems that arises is the insufficient number of garages and parking lots, causing an increase in illegal parking on sidewalks, which impedes and endangers pedestrian traffic. This paper proposes a new decision support concept (DSC) for the management of illegally parked cars in urban centers, which offers a method that can contribute to solving this problem and improving the flow of pedestrians on city roads. Due to its complexity, the problem addressed in this research is recognized as a multicriteria one and therefore the proposed model is based on the use of multicriteria analysis methods—more precisely, the Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation—PROMETHEE, and the analytic hierarchy process—AHP. The proposed DSC is validated in the city of Split (Croatia), more precisely in the neighborhood of Sućidar, which shows that this methodology is applicable and effective for finding not a temporary but a permanent solution to the problem described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Planning of sustainable urban renewal is one of the key issues for city development. Particular emphasis is placed on the problem of the sustainable urban renewal of areas that are made up of a large number of private cadastral parcels that cause ownership fragmentation. Urban renewal is most often carried out to realize a large project where it is necessary to determine the optimal way of its realization. This paper proposes a methodology for assessing the index of fragmentation for the purpose of sustainable urban renewal planning. The methods used to solve the task are Simple Additive Weighting method (SAW) for ranking alternative solutions (i.e., cadastral parcels, spatial elements and areas of future construction), and the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process method (FAHP) for defining the criteria weights. In the process of defining the index of fragmentation model as well as the weighting determination, a group of experts was involved. The proposed model was tested on the field of the construction of the University of Split campus, for which implementation was planned in several periods. The obtained results show that the proposed methodology can provide support in analyzing the spatial–functional capacities of the existing land, and for decision making in optimizing the realization of urban projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In environmental projects, decision-making can be a complex and challenging task due to the in-built existence of compromises between environmental, socio-political, and economic factors. This paper explores a systematic approach to developing a decision support concept that includes the analysis of wastewater treatment problems, knowledge acquisition, and the identification and evaluation of criteria that bring forth an optimal solution to the location selection of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The objective of this research is to develop a decision support concept (DSC) to aid in the planning phases of complex engineering projects, such as the construction of WWTP. The development of the concept starts with an assessment of the issue and an identification of relevant stakeholders accepting their different views and attitudes in an attempt to resolve this issue. The DSC was tested on a real case project—WWTP location selection within the town of Kutina, Croatia. Results indicate that it is possible to develop such a concept based on multicriteria methods on which decision-makers can rely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The planning of nautical tourism development and especially, the planning of its supporting infrastructure development, is important topic of the maritime spatial planning. The focus of research is the integration of multicriteria analysis and stakeholders within concept modeling that will provide support to the spatial planning specialists in the design of plans related to the development of anchorage capacities for small vessels. It examines economic, environmental, ecological, social, and civil engineering concerns related to the use of coastal water. It is a complex and ill-defined civil engineering problem because of multiple stakeholders with diverse interests, numerous conflicting goals and criteria, huge quantities of information and data, limited resources, etc. The research is concentrated on an integral approach to sustainable decision-making within maritime spatial planning by the modeling decision support concept to the processes of identification, validation, comparison, and the selection of locations for anchorage construction, based on multicriteria methods, goal analysis, and the logic of the decision support system. The concept is tested on the island of Šolta, Croatia, and has been proven as being an applicable, consistent, efficient, and effective methodology for the planning of the anchorage locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]