Central facility location and environmental health

Environmental aspects of central facility location problems are considered. First, populations which are hypersusceptible to air pollutants are identified and then the relationships are outlined between central facility location and the quality of the environment in the context of the users’ susceptibility to the pollutants. Three segments of the population are identified as highly sensitive to the adverse effects of air pollution: children, the aged, and sufferers from respiratory and circulatory conditions. Accordingly, some central facilities, such as crèches, kindergartens, elementary schools, homes for the aged, and hospitals are recognized as hyper-susceptible to environmental pollution. An illustration of an environmental approach to central facility location is presented. A multicriteria optimization model is developed and applied to the location of pediatric hospitals in the Warsaw region. The trade-off between two criteria-accessibility to hospitals and environmental quality of the sites for hospital locations-is examined.