Optimization of the Distribution of Shopping Center to Manage the Shopping Trips in a China's City

Abstract

In order to manage the transportation demand through land use planning, we developed a model to optimize the distribution of shopping centers in a Chinese city. In the model the location behavior of shopping centers and the destination selection behavior of the shoppers are considered. It is a p-median style model, in which we considered the modal split model. Respective models based on road network and super transportation network are structured. The objective of both models is to decrease the distance of shopping trip. With survey data of Dalian city we calibrated the two models and verified their validity. After that, genetic algorithm with dynamic parameters is designed in order to solve this nonlinear programming problem. Numerical test is conducted using the data for Dalian of China. 1. BACKGROUND Studies on the distribution of shopping centers involve the location choice behavior of owners and the destination choice behavior of consumers. Location models considering the consumer behaviors were studied and the corresponding algorithms to solve them were also developed (Daniel 2001, Tammy 2002 and Stefno 2002). Concerning the destination choice behavior of the consumers, as early as 1929 Reilly explained it with gravity theory and then Casey and Huff simulated the behavior with stochastic gravity model (David 1981). Afterwards, Nakanishi and Cooper analyzed the behavior with the MCI (multiplicative competitive interaction) model (Cooper, et al. 1988). In China, most studies on the distribution of the shopping centers are qualitative rather than quantities. Recently, as the advance of the GIS and optimal algorithm, the distribution of the shopping centers was studied with the optimizing model and the corresponding algorithm. Nobuaki (1998) forecasted the scales of the shopping center in the zones level with Huff and regression models, but he could not give the detailed locations. Yang (2002a) analyzed the supplied quality of each house and the environment sustainability of each store, and further selected the optimal distribution among the candidate alternatives with AHP. Yang (2002b) studied the optimal distribution of shopping centers aiming to minimize the total car trip distance. Among the existing literatures, few studies integrated the urban traffic demand and the distribution of the shopping centers, thus it is necessary to develop a method to optimize the distribution of the shopping centers in China’s cities.