Genetic Algorithm-based Site Selection Study For Emergency Logistics Centres

In recent years,natural disasters have been occurring around the world under the influence of climate warming,which have led to numerous safety risks and hazards,further testing our ability to respond in the face of emergencies.In the report of the 20 th Party Congress,it was once again proposed that we should continue to improve our capacity for disaster prevention,mitigation and relief,as well as our ability to handle and safeguard public emergencies.In the event of an emergency,an efficient emergency logistics system will play a role in emergency response,while helping to fulfil the need to provide large quantities of emergency supplies at a short period.In the emergency management system,the emergency logistics centre is a very crucial part of the system.A reasonably designed location and distribution plan for it can effectively improve the rescue efficiency and reduce the resource occupation rate,which also plays a great role in enhancing and optimising the city’s emergency management capacity.This article introduces the functions,characteristics of emergency logistics centres and other related concepts.Taking Shaanxi Province as an example,the necessity of establishing an emergency logistics centre in Shaanxi Province is demonstrated by analysing the province’s geographical environment,economic development and the current situation of emergency management.There are many factors that can influence the location of an emergency logistics centre,so the article addresses this issue through a two-stage site selection study.The first stage is to analyse the emergency logistics capacity of Shaanxi Province,eliminate some areas that are not suitable for site selection and obtain preliminary options.Firstly,the first level of indicators is identified from the five directions of emergency logistics capacity.There are 18 quantifiable secondary evaluation indicators under each level of indicators.Ten districts in Shaanxi Province are evaluated by constructing an evaluation system.Secondly,the combined assessment value of each city is classified by using Ward’s Cluster Analysis.The initial selection process of all alternative cities is carried out by analysing the specific situation and emergency response capacity of each category.It is eventually determined that the fourth category of areas would be removed to make way for subsequent site selection.In the second stage,the final siting plan is determined by building a siting-allocation model with time window constraints.For the model design constraints,the eight alternative locations identified are set with the corresponding maximum number of reserves and with different restrictions on their rescue times depending on the population size of each demand point.With the above constraints met,the optimal objective function value of the model is calculated to reflect the efficiency of the rescue at this point in time.The alternative points for site selection are the 8 regions identified in the first phase,and the demand points are the districts(counties)in Shaanxi Province,with a total of 108 nodes.The final result is a more ideal site: the Shaanxi emergency logistics centre should be located in six areas: Xi’an,Yulin,Weinan,Baoji,Ankang and Yan’an.The method devised in the article can provide assistance in the siting of emergency logistics centres in Shaanxi Province,and also provide a feasible and easy-to-use method for other cities with related siting problems.