Planning Critical Infrastructure based on Population Growth and Environmental Constraints.

This study explores the impact of public school location/distribution and surrounding build environment based on its distance from the main street, service road, petrol stations in Sohar, Oman using GIS. Data have been collected from various official sources to fulfil the requirements of this study, which helped in constructing the geodatabase for this project. The results of this study demonstrated that there is an apparent inconsistency in public schools distribution, as most public schools are concentrated in one location. The study concludes with suggestions and recommendations to use GIS and spatial planning by the decision makers to make future sound decisions of building public schools. It is desirable to build schools in areas with lower percentages of highways and commercial sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]