Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Marta Carla Bottero Author-X-Name-First: Marta Carla Author-X-Name-Last: Bottero Author-Name: Federico Dell'Anna Author-X-Name-First: Federico Author-X-Name-Last: Dell'Anna Author-Name: Gian Luca Gobbo Author-X-Name-First: Gian Luca Author-X-Name-Last: Gobbo Title: A PROMETHEE-based approach for designing the reuse of an abandoned railway in the Monferrato Region, Italy Abstract: The paper considers the decision problem related to the reuse of an abandoned railway for the creation of a new infrastructure in the Monferrato Region (Northern Italy). The project represents an important opportunity for the economic survival of the area, contributing to valorise local resources and to promote cultural values. With the aim of addressing the design of the reuse plan, a multi-criteria evaluation based on the PROMETHEE method has been developed for the selection of the best functions to be considered for the various station buildings along the line. The assessment was supported by an experts' panel that contributed to define the decision scenarios and to identify the importance of the evaluation criteria. Journal: Int. J. of Multicriteria Decision Making Pages: 60-83 Issue: 1 Volume: 8 Year: 2019 Keywords: multi-criteria analysis; strategic assessment; railway reuse; greenway; multi-actors' analysis; landscape; experts' panel; SRF method; sustainable tourism; Italy. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=98027 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ijmcdm:v:8:y:2019:i:1:p:60-83 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Nikolaos I. Tegos Author-X-Name-First: Nikolaos I. Author-X-Name-Last: Tegos Author-Name: Georgios N. Aretoulis Author-X-Name-First: Georgios N. Author-X-Name-Last: Aretoulis Title: Proposal for an effective decision support system for the pre-selection of the type of concrete highway bridges Abstract: In the preliminary design phase of a concrete highway bridge project, a critical question arises concerning the pre-selection of the most suitable bridge type. The answer is related not only to cost-effectiveness, but also to the satisfaction of a number of conflicting compliance criteria. Therefore, the development of a reliable decision support system with respect to that kind of selection is an important research objective. In the context of this study, all contemporary construction capabilities for concrete highway bridges are defined. Furthermore, certain evaluation criteria governing the design of bridges are established. These criteria are then weighted and incorporated within two multicriteria analysis methods. Through the application of these methods, the respective optimal selection of the bridge type can be achieved, among a number of potentially suitable alternatives. Additionally, the implementation of the proposed decision support system was deemed necessary in a case study of a famous bridge in Greece. Journal: Int. J. of Multicriteria Decision Making Pages: 38-59 Issue: 1 Volume: 8 Year: 2019 Keywords: decision support system; concrete highway bridges; pre-selection; decision making; multicriteria analysis; compliance criteria; analytic hierarchy process; PROMETHEE method; bridge construction methods; case study. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=98030 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ijmcdm:v:8:y:2019:i:1:p:38-59 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Maged G. Iskander Author-X-Name-First: Maged G. Author-X-Name-Last: Iskander Title: A joint maxmin-lexicographic maximisation approach in fuzzy goal programming using dominance possibility and necessity criteria Abstract: In this paper, a new approach for solving fuzzy goal programming problems is introduced. The coefficients and the aspiration level of each fuzzy goal are considered either trapezoidal or triangular fuzzy numbers. Four dominance criteria (dominance possibility, strict dominance possibility, dominance necessity, and strict dominance necessity) are utilised for comparing the fuzzy numbers. The proposed approach is based on merging the maxmin approach and the lexicographic approach in a two-phase process. The first phase applies the maxmin technique by maximising the minimum achievement degree of the fuzzy goals. The second phase lexicographically maximises the achievement degrees of the fuzzy goals according to their preemptive priorities. This methodology provides the decision maker with the advantage of improving the results of his preemptive priority structure model by initially maximising the lowest achievement of the fuzzy goals, and hence guarantee that the ultimate achievement of any fuzzy goal will never be lower than a specific percentage of the achieved maxmin value. The suggested approach is illustrated by a numerical example. Journal: Int. J. of Multicriteria Decision Making Pages: 1-12 Issue: 1 Volume: 8 Year: 2019 Keywords: fuzzy goal programming; fuzzy numbers; dominance criteria; dominance possibility; strict dominance possibility; dominance necessity; strict dominance necessity; maxmin approach; lexicographic maximisation technique. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=98032 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ijmcdm:v:8:y:2019:i:1:p:1-12 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Issam Banamar Author-X-Name-First: Issam Author-X-Name-Last: Banamar Title: An interpolation-based method for the time weighed vector elicitation in temporal PROMETHEE II applications Abstract: Many real-life decision problems are time-dependant; they cannot be effectively addressed with the classic multi-criteria decision aid methodology which deals with 'static' problems. In fact, comparing time-dependant alternatives (possible decisions, actions …) may require several assessments spaced in time. If the aim is to rank these alternatives by aggregating their periodic assessments, one would wonder how to weigh these assessments with respect to the time scale. This paper introduces a novel method -based on interpolation- for the elicitation of the periodic weights required in temporal PROMETHEE II. Assuming that each periodic assessment has a relative temporal weight, the proposed method derives, from the decision maker, a subset of these weights. Then the remained ones are found by an appropriate linear interpolation. Simulation results show that a few elicited weights are sufficient to determine an effective approximation of the whole set of the desired temporal weights. Journal: Int. J. of Multicriteria Decision Making Pages: 84-103 Issue: 1 Volume: 8 Year: 2019 Keywords: multi-criteria decision aid; PROMETHEE II; time-dependent evaluations; preference elicitation. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=98040 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ijmcdm:v:8:y:2019:i:1:p:84-103 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Bruno Urli Author-X-Name-First: Bruno Author-X-Name-Last: Urli Author-Name: Anissa Frini Author-X-Name-First: Anissa Author-X-Name-Last: Frini Author-Name: Sarah Ben Amor Author-X-Name-First: Sarah Ben Author-X-Name-Last: Amor Title: PROMETHEE-MP: a generalisation of PROMETHEE for multi-period evaluations under uncertainty Abstract: Sustainability is a major concern and decisions have to be made based on the triple bottom line while simultaneously evaluating the economic, social and environmental impacts. In this context, decisions generally have a planning horizon of several years or even decades and consequently need to be evaluated in the short, medium and long term under uncertainty. This paper intends to tackle this complexity and proposes a multi-period generalisation of PROMETHEE under uncertainty, named PROMETHEE-MP, which is based on a double aggregation (a multi-criteria aggregation and a temporal aggregation), followed by an exploitation phase. The multi-criteria aggregation step uses a generalisation of PROMETHEE III in a situation of random uncertainty with intervals generated by Monte Carlo simulation. For temporal aggregation, we use a measure of distance between pre-orders that captures indifference, strict preference, weak preference and incomparability relations. Finally, we illustrate the proposed PROMETHEE-MP in the context of sustainable forest management. Journal: Int. J. of Multicriteria Decision Making Pages: 13-37 Issue: 1 Volume: 8 Year: 2019 Keywords: multi-period evaluation; PROMETHEE; Monte Carlo simulations; sustainability; uncertainty. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=98042 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ijmcdm:v:8:y:2019:i:1:p:13-37