Which GIS operation is primarily used to create a new feature class that contains polygons neighboring the selected features?

The operation that creates a new feature class containing polygons neighboring the selected features is the Buffer operation. Buffering creates a new polygon feature that represents a specific distance around a selected feature. For instance, if you apply a buffer around a lake feature, the resulting buffer polygon will encompass the area within the specified distance from the lake. This makes it ideal for identifying neighboring features based on proximity.

Buffering is often used in various analyses, such as environmental impact assessments or planning, where understanding the area surrounding a feature is essential. This capability to create neighboring polygons highlights the versatility of the Buffer operation in identifying spatial relationships in GIS. The other operations, while useful for different tasks, do not specifically create buffer zones around selected features.