Spatial location-allocation model for multiple center villages

The spatial location-allocation model of center villages (SLAMCV) was devel oped to locate multiple centers and allocate their demand area simultaneous ly on a network space of nodes and lines. A disutility index (DUI) calculat ed using the population of the demand node and the weighing shortest path o f road between the center and its demand node was developed to quantify res idents' accessibility. PDUI, the summation of multiple centers' DUI, was mi nimized to seek the multiple centers. A minimum threshold constraint and a minimum distance constraint were formulated to decrease the computing time. To test the computing algorithm and performance, SLAMCV simulated multiple centers from one to 10 on the homogeneous hexagonal network having 61 node s and 157 lines. The simulated results agreed well with the theoretical cen ters and subregions, and the computing time was reduced from thousands of h ours to tens of seconds using the two constraints. To evaluate the applicab ility of SLAMCV in practical problems, the simulated results were compared with the observed results of a case study area. Both the single center and the two centers-subregions simulated coincided with the observed data.