{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,10]],"date-time":"2025-12-10T05:39:49Z","timestamp":1765345189471,"version":"3.46.0"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,8]],"date-time":"2025-12-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1765152000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJGI"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Traditional route optimization frameworks often suffer from \u201cspatial blindness,\u201d addressing the problem through abstract matrices devoid of geographical context. To address this fundamental methodological gap, this study proposes the Iterative Score Propagation Algorithm (ISPA), a transparent, GNN-inspired framework that reframes optimization as a holistic corridor problem. ISPA\u2019s robustness and superiority were tested against established Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) methods (WLC, TOPSIS, VIKOR) across three diverse engineering scenarios (Rural Highway, Pipeline, Trekking Trail) and two distinct weighting philosophies (Entropy and AHP). The holistic analysis reveals that ISPA achieves the highest final score (0.815) across all six test conditions, demonstrating both the highest overall mean performance (0.629) and the greatest stability (1.000). Furthermore, its flexible cost function successfully modeled unconventional objectives, such as a \u201cclimbing reward,\u201d enabling a paradigm shift from cost minimization to experience maximization. ISPA\u2019s superior performance stems from its structural advantage in contextualizing spatial data. This work introduces a new, spatially-aware approach that transforms route planning from a static calculation into a dynamic design and scenario analysis tool for planners and engineers.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijgi14120484","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,8]],"date-time":"2025-12-08T14:52:24Z","timestamp":1765205544000},"page":"484","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Iterative Score Propagation Algorithm (ISPA): A GNN-Inspired Framework for Multi-Criteria Route Design with Engineering Applications"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0018-6912","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"H\u00fcseyin","family":"Pehlivan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Geomatics Engineering, Gebze Technical University, 41400 Kocaeli, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Shi, D., Tong, Y., Wan, Z., Zuo, C., Luo, J., Cui, Z., Wang, H., and Dai, Z. 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