EVALUATION OF LAND SUITABILITY FOR SETTLEMENT AREA IN NORTH MINAHASA REGENCY (RESEARCH LOCATION: DISTRICT OF KALAWAT, AIRMADIDI, KAUDITAN AND KEMA) EVALUASI KESESUAIAN LAHAN PERMUKIMAN DI KABUPATEN MINAHASA UTARA (STUDI KASUS: KECAMATAN KALAWAT, AIRMADIDI, KAUDITAN DAN KEMA)

Settlement has long been one of the main needs for the community. The increasing need for settlement land is caused by several factors, such as increase in population, land availability, and North Minahasa Regency Spatial Plan (RSP) 2013-2033 that make District of Kalawat, Airmadidi dan Kauditan as the settlement area designation location. In addition, the study area act as the main access to the National Tourism Strategic Area (NTSA) of Likupang, in which this area is directed as an investment center with the aim of being an economic driver. However there is a risk of deviation from the main function of the area if the process of developing a settlement area is not supported by adequate studies and directionsThe purpose of this research is to evaluate the land suitability of the existing settlements using land suitability directions, which are obtained from the analysis of land suitability and capability using two types of methods, namely spatial methods and quantitative descriptions.The result is that the land suitability directive that dominates the study area is the Protected Area Directive with a total area of 13.694,78 Ha. While the land suitability class for settlements that dominates the study location is the Very Appropriate Class, which is 299,17 Ha in Kalawat District, 487,34 Ha in Airmadidi District, 352,64 Ha in Kauditan District and 185,77 Ha in Kema District. These results indicate that most of the existing residential areas have occupied land that has a suitability for a settlement area.Keywords: Capability, Evaluation, Land, Settlement, Suitabilit