A geo-informatics support system for location decisions of firms

The objective of this research project is to develop a GIS-based decision support tool to help (urban) planners and decision makers regarding site selection for the office sector in selecting locations that best meet particular requirements. Expert knowledge about location decisions of firms/organizations regarding office accommodation stored in decision tables constitutes the core of the model. It relies on the idea of first analyzing both firms’ characteristics (demand) and environmental conditions (supply) separately and, then, matching demand and supply. Subsequently, several types of evaluations may be carried out by applying some value judgment to the overall match of firm and location. Based on this concept, a computational tool combining several geographic databases was developed. The results obtained from illustrative cases show that the tool displays plausible behavior when tested within distinct scenarios. Results also highlight the flexibility of the tool reflecting the modular approach of the conceptual framework. Three applications are suggested for this tool, which are potentially useful in urban planning. First, finding firms that meet the environmental characteristics of a given location. Second, selecting a particular location that meets the requirement of a firm seeking a location. Finally, allocating firms seeking a location to a set of available locations in a study area.