Evaluating and prioritizing interdependent strategies for construction land reduction in China with interdependent sustainability criteria: an integrated multi-criteria decision-making approach

Construction land reduction (CLR) represents China’s ambitious attempt to promote intensive and sustainable land use, yet its implementation faces challenges due to intricate interdependences within land use systems. Under limited management resources, effective strategies must be allocated differentiated efforts and implemented in an optimal sequence. This study proposes a novel integrated multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach to systematically evaluate and prospectively prioritize interdependent alternative strategies with interdependent sustainability criteria. An empirical study of CLR in Shanghai is conducted to demonstrate the practicality of the proposed approach. Using the triple bottom line sustainability dimensions, the study identifies economic, environmental, and social goals as sustainability criteria to evaluate 20 alternative strategies sourced through multiple channels. The findings highlight extensive interdependences between criteria and strategies, and reveal eight priority strategies — involving overall design, financial mobilization, profit motivation, and multi-party co-governance — requiring substantial upfront investment, alongside two long-term strategies addressing system reform necessitating sustained resource allocation. This study provides methodological advancements in strategy evaluation and prioritization while offering managerial insights into CLR practices and sustainable land use.