Work with suitability analysis

You can use the suitability analysis to identify and select parcels that are suitable for further development. For example, you can find optimal sites for housing, a school, or open space. The suitability of each parcel is assessed based on its properties, which are called criteria. Criteria can be properties such as the underlying zoning type, the maximum building height, or the age of existing buildings on the parcel. You can use prepopulated parcel and zoning properties and custom external layers as criteria. By reclassifying the original values of each criterion to a common scale and giving a weight to each criterion, a suitability score is calculated using a weighted sum. After the calculation, you can identify and select suitable parcels on the map.

There are five main steps when assessing parcel suitability:

1. Create a suitability analysis.
2. Add criteria data.
3. Reclassify the original values of each criterion to a common suitability scale between 0 and 10 (0 is unsuitable; 10 is most suitable).
4. Weight criteria relative to one another and combine them to calculate a suitability score for each parcel in the study area.
5. Select suitable parcels.

Note:

• The suitability analysis is only available in plans.
• Suitability models that have been created prior to the Urban November 2025 release are automatically migrated when the analysis mode is opened for the first time.

Work with suitability analysis in plans

In plans, the suitability analysis is available in the analysis mode where the results are persisted. See Analyze a plan to learn how to access the analysis mode.

To configure a suitability analysis, complete the following steps:

1. Open the analysis mode.
2. Select the suitability analysis you want to configure from the analysis list or create a suitability analysis.

   The analysis configuration panel appears.

3. Provide a name and description for the analysis.
4. Configure the suitability criteria. Choose from the following options:
   • Add criteria
   • Reclassify criteria
   • Delete criteria
5. Weight the suitability criteria. See the Weight criteria section below to learn more.
6. Run the suitability analysis. See the Run analysis section below to learn more.
7. Select suitable parcels. See the Explore result and select suitable parcels section below to learn more.

Add criteria

There are three types of criteria based on the source:

• Parcel—Includes prepopulated parcel properties such as parcel area
• Zoning—Includes prepopulated zoning properties such as zoning type or allowed building height
• External layer—Allows you to select an external feature layer as a source

Add criteria from a parcel or zoning property

To add a criterion from a parcel or zoning property, complete the following steps:

1. Open the analysis mode.
2. Select the suitability analysis you want to configure from the analysis list or create a suitability analysis.
3. Click the Add criteria button in the side panel.

   The Criterion panel appears.

4. Provide a name for the criterion.
5. Select Parcel or Zoning as a source.

   The Field section appears with a drop-down list.

6. From the drop-down list, select the field you want to use.
7. Reclassify the criterion. See the Reclassify criteria section below for more information.

Add criteria from an external layer

To add criteria from an external layer property, complete the following steps:

1. Open the analysis mode.
2. Select the suitability analysis you want to configure from the analysis list or create a suitability analysis.
3. Click the Add criteria button in the side panel.

   The Criterion panel appears.

4. Provide a name for the criterion.
5. Select External layer as a source.

   The External layer section appears.

6. Click the Select item button to open the Select external layers dialog box.
7. Select the layer you want to use and click Select.
8. In the Sublayer step, select a sublayer, and click Select to continue.

   You can select polygon, polyline, or point feature sublayers.

   Additional options are enabled and appear below the portal item picker.

9. Select the field you want to use from the Field drop-down list.
10. Choose the method you want to use to spatially join external features with parcels from the Intersect with options:
    • Parcel—External features are joined if they intersect the parcel geometry.
    • Parcel centroid—External features are joined if they intersect the parcel's centroid.

    You can only select Parcel for polyline and point layer types.

11. If multiple features are intersecting a parcel, select the method you want to use to combine multiple records:
    • Any—A random feature is selected.
    • Average—Values are averaged.
    • Maximum—The maximum value is selected.
    • Minimum—The minimum value is selected.
    • Sum—Values are summarized.

    If the source field contains text, you can only select Any.

12. Reclassify the criterion. See the Reclassify criteria section below for more information.

Note:

Keep the following in mind:

• Ensure that you share the layers used in the suitability analysis if the plan is shared with others. You can do this on ArcGIS Online. Criteria with an inaccessible layer (either not shared or deleted) are highlighted with a label and excluded from the analysis.
• You can click the link to the feature layer on ArcGIS Online as well as see other source settings in the Criterion panel.

Reclassify criteria

The original criteria values need to be reclassified to a common suitability scale between 0 and 10. The reclassification depends on the type of source values:

• Numeric values—Values are reclassified based on numeric intervals.
• Discrete values—Individual values are reclassified.

You can reclassify the original criteria values in the Edit criteria section of the suitability tool. Alternatively, you can use numeric values from external layers without reclassification. In this case, the values are used directly as scores.

Reclassify numeric criteria

Numeric values are reclassified based on intervals. All source values within the interval will be reclassified. The start of the range is inclusive, and the end of the range is exclusive (start ≤ source value < end). For example, if the range starts at 0 and ends at 100, 0 is reclassified, but 100 is not.

To reclassify numeric criteria, complete the following steps:

1. Open the analysis mode.
2. Select the suitability analysis you want to configure from the analysis list or create a suitability analysis.

   The criteria list appears. If it is empty, see the Add criteria section above to learn how to add criteria.

3. Click the name of a criterion with numeric source values.

   The Criterion panel appears. Alternatively, the Criterion panel automatically appears after adding a criterion.

4. Enable the Reclassification option if you are using an external layer.
5. Click the Add interval button in the Intervals section to add an interval.
6. Provide start and end values for the interval.

   Setting the start value of an interval automatically sets the same value for the end of the preceding interval.

7. Do one of the following to reclassify the source values that fall within the interval:
   • Assign a score to all source values that fall within the interval (this is most common)—Provide a score between 0 and 10 and check the interval check box. This score is used in the weighted sum when combining multiple criteria.
   • Always deem parcels with source values that fall within the interval unsuitable—Uncheck the interval check box. Parcels with matching values are always assigned a final score of 0, ignoring scores of other criteria in the weighted sum. In this case, the Score value is ignored. You can use this to exclude restricted areas from your analysis.
8. Optionally, add more intervals by doing one of the following:
   • Add an interval at the bottom—Click the Add interval button at the end of the list of intervals.
   • Add an interval above an existing interval—Click the Options button to the right of the interval and click Add above.
   • Add an interval below an existing interval—Click the Options button to the right of the interval and click Add below.
9. Optionally, reclassify parcels with a source value of NULL or without intersecting source features in the No value or no intersection row.

Note:

Keep the following in mind:

• To remove an interval, click the Options button to the right of the interval and click Remove.
• Intervals cannot have the same start and end value. The end value must be higher than the start value.
• Parcels with values that are outside of the interval are not assigned a suitability score, independent of other criteria. To avoid this, ensure that the interval includes all source values.
• Parcels without intersection or with a source value of NULL are not assigned a suitability score. To avoid this, add No value or no intersection as a source value and assign a score (see above).

Reclassify discrete criteria

For criteria with discrete values, individual values are reclassified. In this process, a source value is assigned to a score.

To reclassify discrete criteria values, complete the following steps:

1. Open the analysis mode.
2. Select the suitability analysis you want to configure from the analysis list or create a suitability analysis.

   The criteria list appears. If it is empty, see the Add criteria section above to learn how to add criteria.

3. Click the name of a criterion with discrete source values.

   The Criterion panel appears. If you just added a criterion, the Criterion panel automatically appears.

4. Click the Add value button in the Values section to add a value.

   A drop-down list including all source values appears.

5. From the drop-down list, select the value you want to use.
6. Do one of the following to reclassify the source value:
   • Assign a score to the source value (this is most common)—Provide a score between 0 and 10 and check the value check box. This score is used in the weighted sum when combining multiple criteria.
   • Always deem parcels with matching values unsuitable—Uncheck the value check box. Parcels with matching values are always assigned a final score of 0, ignoring scores of other criteria in the weighted sum. In this case, the Score value is ignored. You can use this to exclude restricted areas from your analysis.
7. Optionally, do one of the following to add more intervals:
   • Add a value at the bottom—Click the Add value button at the end of the list of values.
   • Add a value above an existing value—Click the Options button to the right of the value and click Add above.
   • Add a value below an existing value—Click the Options button to the right of the value and click Add below.
8. Optionally, reclassify parcels with a source value of NULL or without intersecting source features. Add a value, select No value or no intersection from the drop-down list, and assign a score.

Note:

• To remove a value, click the Options button to the right of the value and click Remove.
• Parcels with values that have not been reclassified are not assigned a suitability score, independent of other criteria. To avoid this, ensure that you add all source values to the reclassification list.
• Parcels without intersection or with a source value of NULL are not assigned a suitability score. To avoid this, add No value or no intersection as a source value and assign a score (see above).

Use an external layer without reclassification

You can use criteria values from an external layer without reclassification. This is useful if you calculated the suitability scores in another application. To do so, complete the steps below.

Note:

Keep the following in mind:

• The scores must be stored in a numeric field.
• Field values will be clipped between 0 and 10. Ensure that your values fall within this range or are set to -1 (see below).
• A value of -1 will exclude the parcel from the analysis.

1. Open the analysis mode.
2. Select the suitability analysis you want to configure from the analysis list or create a suitability analysis.

   The criteria list appears. If it is empty, see the Add criteria section above to learn how to add criteria.

3. Click the name of a criterion with numeric source values.

   The Criterion panel appears. If you just added a criterion, the Criterion panel automatically appears.

4. Disable the Reclassification option.

Delete criteria

To delete a criterion, complete the following steps:

1. Open the analysis mode.
2. Select the suitability analysis you want to configure from the analysis list.

   The criteria list appears.

3. Click the name of the criterion you want to delete.

   The Criterion panel appears.

4. Click the Delete button .

   The criterion is deleted.

Weight criteria

Multiple criteria are combined through a weighted sum. You can weight the criteria relative to each other to reflect differences in their importance. Weights can have any value greater than or equal to 0. During the calculation process, weights are normalized. The normalized weight is reflected in the percentage values in the criteria list, which always sum up to 100 percent. The cumulative suitability score for each parcel is between 0 and 10.

To weight criteria, complete the following steps:

1. Open the analysis mode.
2. Select the suitability analysis you want to configure from the analysis list.

   The criteria list appears.

3. Change the value in the Weight field. The relative weight (%) automatically changes accordingly.

   Changing the weight of one criterion adjusts its relative importance to all other criteria. This is reflected in a change of the percentage values of all other criteria.

4. Optionally, exclude criteria from the calculation by unchecking the check box next to the criteria name.

   Unchecked criteria will not be used in the calculation. This is useful when you want to quickly test the effect of certain criteria on the final result.

Run analysis

You can run the suitability analysis directly from the list of analysis or in the analysis configuration panel. This calculates the suitability score for each parcel inside the study area. You can continue to edit the plan while the analysis is running and you can run multiple suitability analyses at the same time.

In the list of analyses, you can check the status of each suitability analysis:

• Running—The analysis is running. Click the analysis to check its progress.
• Pending—The analysis is pending. It will be run after previous analyses are done.
• Done—The analysis is done. Click the analysis to explore its result and see how long it took to run it.
• Out of date—The analysis is done, but it is out of date. This is, for example, possible when parcels have been edited. Run the analysis again to get accurate results.
• Failed—The analysis has failed. Click the analysis to learn why.

Note:

You can compare the suitability result of different scenarios using the scenario switcher. You must run the analysis for each scenario individually.

Run the analysis from the list of analyses

To run the analysis from the list of analyses, complete the following steps:

1. Open the analysis mode.
2. Select the scenario for which you want to calculate the scores using the scenario switcher.
3. Click Run in the list of analyses for the suitability analysis for which you want to calculate the suitability score.

   The status of the analysis changes to Running or Pending, depending on whether there is already an analysis running.

4. After the analysis is done, you can click it to explore its result. See the Explore result and select suitable parcels section below to learn more.

Note:

Click Cancel in the list of analyses to cancel an analysis that is running.

Run the analysis in the analysis configuration panel

To run the analysis from the analysis configuration panel, complete the following steps:

1. Open the analysis mode.
2. Select the suitability analysis for which you want to calculate the scores from the analyses list.
3. Select the scenario for which you want to calculate the scores using the scenario switcher.
4. Click Run below the list of criteria.

   The progress of the analysis is shown in the side panel. After it has finished, the result is shown in the map. At the top of the side panel, you can check how long it took to run the analysis.

5. After the analysis is done, you can explore its result. See the Explore result and select suitable parcels section below to learn more.

Note:

Click Cancel below the list of criteria to cancel an analysis that is running.

Explore result and select suitable parcels

After a suitability analysis is done, you can explore its result and select parcels based on their suitability score. To do this, complete the following steps:

1. Open the analysis mode.
2. Select the suitability analysis for which you want to explore the result from the analyses list.
   Make sure that the status of the analysis is Done; otherwise, first run the analysis. See the Run analysis section above to learn more.
3. Explore the suitability score of each parcel by clicking the parcels in the map.
   Suitable parcels are colored in green, and unsuitable parcels are in red. Parcels that have been excluded from the analysis are colored in gray. When you click a parcel, a pop-up shows detailed information about the cumulative score as well as the scores and values of each criterion.
4. Select suitable parcels using one of the following options in the blue header in the map view:
   • Adjust the blue slider.
   • Set a score in the input field next to the slider.

   All parcels with a score equal to or above the defined threshold are selected.

5. Click Development in the header.

   The suitability analysis closes. The parcels remain selected.

Note:

• Parcels with values that have not been reclassified are not assigned a suitability score and are not colored. Be sure to reclassify all values to avoid this. You can identify the criteria with incomplete reclassifications in the parcel pop-up.
• If the blue header in the map view is missing, no suitability score was found. You need to run the analysis first.
• You can export the suitability result to a web scene. See Create a scenario web scene to learn more.