An integrated GIS and location-allocation approach to public facilities planning - An example of open space planning

Abstract

Public facilities planning normally applies a planning standard, such as how many hectares of open space are required for a certain number of people in a district. But planning standards only specify the area required and seldom specify where the public facility should be located. A location-allocation model that attempts to find the best sites for facilities is a more useful tool for public facilities planning. Although its application has been limited by the availability of data, even this has changed with the availability of land information systems in many cities. Accordingly, this paper discusses the integration of GIS and a location-allocation model for public facilities planning, using open space planning in Hong Kong as an example. It demonstrates how such a spatial decision support system can provide a set of solution spaces on which decision makers can focus their discussions and make collective choices. It can also enable decision makers to have a better view of the problem and to test different scenarios by varying the objectives, constraints, and parameters of the models. © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.