Introduction: To meet ever-increasing demands
for health-care services, it is necessary to
determine optimal locations for new health-care
facilities.
Method: A multi-objective model based on the
genetic algorithm (GA) has been applied to
evaluate site suitability for new clinics in part of
Tehran urban areas. A multi-objective GA has
been combined with a single GA to solve the
location-allocation problem composed of the
three objective functions. Geo-spatial Information
System (GIS) has been used to prepare, analyze
and visualize spatial data.
Results: The results showed that optimizing of a
single objective may result in unacceptable
solutions with respect to other objectives. For
example, the best solution resulting from
optimization of the second objective function
(proximity of the sites to the streets), was the
worst one according to the first (travel cost) and
third (land-use compatibility) objective functions.
Therefore, 10 alternative solutions as the Pareto
front in the objective area were indentified and
investigated.
Conclusion: Visualization of the best solutions for each objective and compromise between different
objectives provide valuable possibilities for
selection of the best alternative for decision
makers.