An Integrated Multi-criteria Approach for the Regional Facility Location and Development Planning Problem

Abstract

Urbanization trends confront companies with major challenges in their location management. Facility location planning is a complex task, as it usually involves multiple conflicting objectives. In addition, particularly at a regional decision-making level, companies are confronted with relevant dynamics that cause main changes of location requirements and characteristics over time. In order to ensure optimal long-term location decisions, planning approaches have to consider company-driven and municipal location developments over an extended planning horizon. To date, the variety of dynamic multi-criteria facility location planning approaches is generally scarce and possibilities for location developments are not given. Therefore, an appropriate model formulation for regional facility location planning considering relevant dynamics in location development is missing. In this contribution, the Regional Facility Location and Development Planning Problem (RFLDP) is introduced. For this purpose, an appropriate model is developed that provides an integrated decision-aid for a company’s location selection and development. In doing so, a strategic measure plan is determined through an allocation of company-driven measures under consideration of municipal location developments. The model is evaluated based on an illustrative example.