The use of multi-criteria decision analysis to support the search for less conflicting policy options in a multi-actor context: Case study

Public resource allocation often requires the management of conflicting objectives of multiple policy actors at different spatial levels. An example is the case study on which this paper is based: the definition of an investment policy in new inter-municipal road-links in the Lisbon Metropolitan Region (LMR) for the period 1999–2004. The key regional (inter-municipal) objective is to choose the sub-set of proposed road projects that maximizes the quality of LMR's road network for a fixed available budget. Conflict arises, however, if environmental, social and economic impacts at the level of the 18 municipalities involved are significantly unbalanced. This paper describes how multi-criteria decision analysis' concepts, techniques and software tools were used to analyse spatial conflicts in the LMR case. The study provided the decision-making body formed by all the municipal mayors with useful information about how much it is necessary to negotiate to reach an agreement in a specific investment policy option.