Appraising service-based centrality and rural settlement hierarchy using AHP: case study of Dibrugarh district, Assam, India

This article presents a study of service-based centrality and hierarchical distribution of settlements in a rural district of Assam state in India, namely Dibrugarh. A compound Centrality Index has been constructed using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). The centrality of a settlement (for this study, Gram Panchayat-rural administrative unit) has been computed using the index, which considers the relative importance of the available services and facilities (within the settlement) that the rural people regularly access. AHP, a systematic and reliable tool, has been used to measure the relative importance of the available services and facilities. Ward’s method has been implemented for determining the hierarchy of a settlement based on its computed centrality. The results indicate the centrality of the rural settlements varies from moderate to poor, and the spatial distribution of the hierarchy of settlements is unorganised. The study provides an in-depth understanding of the regional development status in Dibrugarh. Policy implications are suggested, and scopes for further studies are identified.