Optimising shelter location and evacuation routing operations: The critical issues

Shelter opening and evacuation of vulnerable populations are operations crucial to disaster response, which is one of the four phases of Disaster Operations Management (DOM). Optimisation has tried to capture some of the different issues related to shelter location and evacuation routing: several models have been developed over the years. However, they are still far from being fully comprehensive. The aim of this paper is to identify the current challenges in devising realistic and applicable optimisation models in the shelter location and evacuation routing context, with the ultimate goal of outlining a roadmap for future research in this topical area. A critical analysis of the most recent combined models is provided, including insights from the authors of the existing papers. The analysis highlights numerous gaps and research opportunities, such as the need for future optimisation models to involve stakeholders, include evacuee as well as system behaviour, be application-oriented rather than theoretical or model-driven, and interdisciplinary.