Geospatial modeling for planning an optimum and least-cost route to link three historical sites in El-Fayoum desert, Egypt

Improving the accessibility to archaeological sites in a desert is a crucial issue; it enhances the landscape value and helps in achieving sustainable tourism development. El-Fayoum Oasis and Governorate in Egypt, has a unique heterogenic environment that encompasses desert, lakes, agriculture lands, and urban areas. It is quite rich in historical heritage reflected by abundant archaeological and cultural sites, many of which fall in desert zones. A main constraint is the poor or lack of accessibility to such sites. In this study, we designed a geospatial model for planning a sustainable least cost tourist route (path) to link and develop three archaeological sites namely; Madinet Madi, Watfa city and Ummal-Barijat ruins. Spatial multicriteria decision analysis was integrated with the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and the least cost path modules. Three cost criteria themes were created associated with economic, social and environmental costs. A cost surface and a least-cost path were created for each criterion and for each theme. The themes were combined using weighted linear combination to create four least cost scenarios for the path. Five preference criteria were used to compare the four route scenarios. Results show that the environmental scenario scored first scoring 0.69 while the economy path scores second 0.42, the equal weights path scores third 0.40 and finally the social path comes to be the last having a preference score 0.36. The method is flexible because priority can be changed and adapted according to specifications and site variances. It can be helpful for decision makers and planners in planning routes based on visual maps and priority visions.