Location Theory

Location theory has been studied for roughly nine decades, yet researchers have tended to tackle individual placement problems one at a time rather than building a shared framework. This monograph sets out to fill that gap by proposing a unified theory that still preserves the core features of classic location models. At its center is the Ordered Median Problem (OMP), a versatile model designed to cover many location questions under one roof.

The book examines the OMP across the three principal branches of the field: continuous, network, and discrete location. For each, it describes the model's structural properties and offers solution methods. Plenty of worked examples and diagrams guide readers as they get comfortable with the approach. The author shows how well-known results from location theory can be derived again through the OMP, often in a broader and occasionally more straightforward manner.

The text also covers algorithms that let readers handle a wide range of flexible location models using a single implementation. Code for some of these algorithms is available for download.