Landform Classification for Community Siting: A case Study in Quxian County,China

This study is to explore a suitable method to classify landform, in order to support the decision making for community siting in mountainous areas.It first proposes the landform classification for community siting(LCCS) method with detailed discussions on its rationality and the chosen parameters.This method is then tested and verified in Quxian county.The LCCS method entails twograde parameters, which uses relative relief as the first grading parameter, slope as the second, followed by a synthesis process to form a suitable landform classification system.By applying the LCCS method in Quxian county, the result shows that its use of watershed to identify geomorphometric units, and its use of the altitude datum concept, can effectively classify landform according to the local cultural traditions, and the economic and environmental conditions.The verification result shows that comparing to the conventional methods, the LCCS method respects to people's daily experience due to its bottom-up approach.It not only help to minimize the disturbance to the nature when choosing locations for community development, but also helps to prepare more precise land management policies,which maximizes agricultural production and minimizes terrain transformation.