General network design: A unified view of combined location and network design problems

This paper presents a unified framework for the general network design problem which encompasses several classical problems involving combined location and network design decisions. In some of these problems the service demand relates users and facilities, whereas in other cases the service demand relates pairs of users between them, and facilities are used to consolidate and re‐route flows between users. Problems of this type arise in the design of transportation and telecommunication systems and include well‐known problems such as location‐network design problems, hub location problems, extensive facility location problems, tree‐star location problems and cycle‐star location problems, among others. Relevant modeling aspects, alternative formulations and possible algorithmic strategies are presented and analyzed.