Assessment of Spatial constraints for the allocation of Fuel stations in ABHAUsing GIS Techniques

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to find out the extent to which Fuel stations allocations in the city of ABHA are adhering to spatial constraints issued by the Ministry of Municipals and Rural Affairs (MMRA). GIS technologies were used to achieve the study purposes. The study used some spatial analysis tools available in Applied package open source QGIS 2.12 to identify the distribution patternsof fuel stations(37 stations) in the study area.It also measures the distances between them and some other sites included in the list, such as schools, hospitals, shops, gas kitchens and restaurants by means of Distance matrix, buffering and Nearest neighbor. The study shows that there were good commitments by local authorities in following the official instructions regarding fuel stations allocations. However, the study identified some sites that had failed to live up to the expected level of guidelines fulfilling.A number of recommendations were presented for decision makers to improve their spatial decisions and to avoid potential hazardous of such activities.