Analysis of barriers to development in landfill communities using interpretive structural modeling

Landfill sites in the developing nations are endowed with waste resources which could be utilized as a potential revenue stream for the community that inhabit such sites. Many international aid agencies have started focusing on development of such landfill sites and also on improvements to the associated scavenger community. The paper analyses the barriers to such an intervention by aid agencies using Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM). ISM employs a systems approach to the decision making process and is used traditionally in management studies. The paper highlights the potential of using such techniques to understand and analyze urban planning issues. The case study of a US based organization's proposed intervention in a Karachi landfill community is used to formulate a general model of the barriers and their interactions.