Optimal location of undesirable facilities: A selective overview

Traditionally most models in location theory describe situations where nearness to a facility is valued. However many types of facilities have, at least partly, an undesirable effect on the environment, calling for new models with corresponding solution methods, in particular in public locational decision making. Such models have started to be studied by researches in the location field since the early eighties. One important feature is that undesirable effects are usually felt continuously over space, leading to consideration of continuous type distances. We give here a critical overview of the research in the location of (semi-)undesirable facility location in a continuous space. This field may be considered to still be in its infancy and, although rapidly expanding, offers many opportunities for important, often interdisciplinary research and application.