ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING The 8 th International Conference May 19–20, 2011, Vilnius, Lithuania Selected papers ISSN 2029-7106 print / ISSN 2029-7092 online ISBN 978-9955-28-829-9 (3 Volume) ISBN 978-9955-28-827-5 (3 Volumes) http://enviro.vgtu.lt © Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, 2011 850 EVALUATION OF THE IMPACT OF GEO-FACTORS ON SUSTAINABLE LIVING ENVIRONMENT Jurgita Antucheviciene 1 , Saulius Sliaupa 2 , Algimantas Zakarevicius 3 , Gediminas Zukauskas 4 1, 3 Vilnius Gediminas technical university, Saul÷tekio ave. 11, LT-10223 Vilnius, Lithuania. E-mail: 1 jurgita.antucheviciene@vgtu.lt, 3 algimantas.zakarevicius@vgtu.lt 2 Nature Research Centre, Akademijos g. 2, LT–08412 Vilnius, Lithuania. E-mail: Sliaupa@geo.lt 4 National Service of Forensic Psychiatry. A. Kojelavičiaus st. 121, LT-11106 Vilnius, Lithuania. E-mail: g.zukauskas@gmail.com Abstract. The need of incorporating the principles of sustainable development to land management as well as urban development decisions is widely discussed. Social, economic factors, visual quality of natural as well as man-made landscape are commonly evaluated. However, the influence of the living natural environment on the human health and psychic behavior is still little studied. The aim of the present study is to evaluate impact of different geo-factors on human diseases and psychic disorders. The area of the research is territory of Lithuania. Main geo-factors ana- lyzed are gravity and magnetic fields, concentrations of geochemical elements in the soil, other geological factors (e.g. soil lithology), relief and landscape. Environmental factors are correlated with the spatial variations of somatic diseases and psychic disorders. The methods of mathematical statistics are applied and some significant correlations are identified that persuade the influence of geographical environment on the human health and living environment. The defined relationships can be applied in elaboration of methodical approach for ranking of different territories of favoring (or ”problematic”) environment using MCDM (Multiple Criteria Decision Making) approach for particular real estate development decisions. An example of ranking Lithuanian regions applying TOPSIS (the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) method is presented. Keywords: sustainable living environment, real estate development, geo-factors, human diseases, statistics, MCDM. 1. Introduction The need for incorporating the principles of sustain- able development to land management as well as urban development decisions is widely discussed. There is a lot of studies of basically three common subsystems, i.e. social, economic and ecological factors evaluated, while the implementation of sustainable development policy is one of the most complex tasks and challenges faced by the global community (Burinskien÷ and Rudzkien÷ 2009). Incorporating geology and geomorphology in land management decisions in developing regions with limited financial, technical and data resources was presented by Andreas and Allan (2007). Furthermore, there is growing evidence and increasing realisation that the natural envi- ronment has a prominent impact on the health of a man. On the other hand, the influence of the living natural en- vironment on the human health and behaviour is still little studied and mainly concerns specific regions showing anomalous natural conditions. Medical geology, the study of the impacts of geologic processes on human health, is an emerging discipline to solve a wide range of environ- mental health problems (Bunnell et al. 2007). The aim of the present study is to analyze relation- ship of different geo-factors and human diseases and psy- chic disorders and to elaborate the methodical approach for ranking of different territories of favoring (or ”prob- lematic”) environment using MCDM (Multiple Criteria Decision Making) approach for particular real estate de- velopment decisions. 2. Impact of environmental factors on psychic disor- ders and somatic diseases in Lithuania The Lithuanian territory is characterized by a rela- tively low variability of the geological conditions. Still, the territorial analysis of selected diseases shows some clear geographical patterns in Lithuania that is interpreted as an evidence of the impact of the living environment on the human health (see the example of cardiac-vascular disease rates and magnetic field maps in Fig 1).