The ability of nature inspired search algorithms to efficiently handle combinatorial problems and their successful implementation in many fields of engineering and applied sciences has led to the development of new, improved algorithms. In this paper, an improved harmony search algorithm (IHS) is presented, while a holistic approach in solving the problem of post-disaster infrastructure managem...

This paper addresses a commercial districting problem arising in the bottled beverage distribution industry. The problem consists of grouping a set of city blocks into territories so as to maximize territory compactness. As planning requirements, the grouping seeks to balance both number of customers and product demand across territories, maintain connectivity of territories, and limit the tota...

Search and rescue operations following natural disasters have become the cornerstone for minimizing the adverse social effects and the impact of these hazards. Despite their importance, the literature has not adequately dealt with post disaster operations at least in part because of the difficulty in rapidly solving the mathematically complex problems involved. In this paper we consider two imp...

Automated political districting shares with electronic voting the aim of preventing electoral manipulation and pursuing an impartial electoral mechanism. Political districting can be modelled as multiobjective partitioning of a graph into connected components, where population equality and compactness must hold if a majority voting rule is adopted. This leads to the formulation of combinatorial...