Locating Post Offices Using Fuzzy Goal Programming and Geographical Information System (GIS)

This paper deals with the problem of locating new post offices in a megacity. To do so, a combination of geographical information system (GIS) and fuzzy goal programming (FGP) is used. In order to locate new offices, first six types of service facilities with high levels of interactions with post offices are defined. Then, aspiration level of proximity for each service facility is determined. Based on these values, a fuzzy goal programming model is constructed to find potential locations of facilities. In order to determine the optimal locations among potential facilities, a maximal covering location problem (MCLP) is solved and results are reported. Results show that although the current state is near-optimal, for future expansions of the network, the government should spend money on central and southern parts of this megacity.