A location model for urban hierarchy planning with population dynamics

Spatial development plans often aim at defining the level of hierarchy to assign to the urban centers of a region, each level being characterized by a class of facilities. The services provided at the facilities typically include education, health care, public safety, and justice. In this paper we present a multiperiod, multilevel location model for urban hierarchy planning. The objective of the model is to maximize the aggregate accessibility Of Population to the different classes of facilities, taking explicitly into account the fact that location decisions influence the spatial distribution of population growth. The model was applied to a problem dealt with in Portugal during the preparation of the Centro Region Development Plan 1994: the redefinition of the regions' urban hierarchy. The results obtained through the model demonstrate its potential usefulness in real-world applications.