See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/265468295

A metaheuristic approach for location of gas stations in a metropolitan area

Article in International Journal of Operational Research · January 2014

DOI: 10.1504/IJOR.2014.064543

CITATIONS READS
2 2,762

5 authors, including:

Esra E. Aleisa Mehmet Savsar

Kuwait University Kuwait University
53 PUBLICATIONS 563 CITATIONS 88 PUBLICATIONS 920 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Sarah Al-Sabah
Kuwait University
3 PUBLICATIONS 7 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Esra E. Aleisa on 10 September 2014.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

Int. J. Operational Research, Vol. X, No. Y, xxxx 1

A metaheuristic approach for location of gas stations

in a metropolitan area

Esra Aleisa, Mehmet Savsar*,

Mohammed M. Al-Mashaan,
Abrar Al-Jadi and Sarah A. Al-Sabah
Industrial and Management Systems Engineering Department,
College of Engineering and Petroleum,
Kuwait University,
P.O. Box 5969, Safat, 13060, Kuwait
E-mail: aleisae@gmail.com
E-mail: msavsar@gmail.com
E-mail: eng.almash3an@gmail.com
E-mail: ajadi@kockw.com
E-mail: sarah.alsabah@hotmail.com
*Corresponding author
Abstract: The paper presents a metaheuristic model, which is developed to
determine the location of gas stations in the state of Kuwait. The variables of
this study cover requirements to high demand areas such as commercial areas,
businesses as well as safety and environmental factors translated into minimum
distances to sensitive entities and receptors. The developed methodology
combines GIS with analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to weigh and overlay
layers of interest on the base map of urban and suburban areas in Kuwait. The
output on this process is a suitability map that contains feasible locations for
future gas stations sites. Feasible locations are then fed into an optimisation
routine to obtain the optimal sites. The methodology includes international
and national standards and regulation including minimum allowable distance
to existing gas stations, natural gas distributors, fire stations, educational
institutions, governmental agencies and ministries, airport, residential areas,
commercial areas, industrial areas, road network and others. 199 feasible
locations were obtained in the State of Kuwait that abide with all regulation
while satisfying demand of businesses and residents. The optimum was
obtained from these feasible solutions by using an optimisation routine.
Keywords: metaheuristics; facilities location; site selection; gas stations;
geographic information system; GIS; spatial analysis, optimisation; analytic
hierarchy process; AHP; obnoxious/ambivalent facilities; operational research.
Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Aleisa, E., Savsar, M.,
Al-Mashaan, M.M., Al-Jadi, A. and Al-Sabah, S.A. (xxxx) ‘A metaheuristic
approach for location of gas stations in a metropolitan area’, Int. J. Operational
Research, Vol. X, No. Y, pp.000–000.
Biographical notes: Esra Aleisa is an Assistant Professor of Industrial and
Management Systems Engineering (IMSE) at Kuwait University. She received
her Master and PhD in Industrial Engineering at the State University of New
York in 2001 and 2005, respectively. Her research interests include systems
simulations and life cycle assessment (LCA) for large-scale facilities and GIS.
Her research applications have focused on residential wastewater and
municipal solid waste treatment facilities. She is a member of Omega Rho,
IEEE and IIE.

Copyright © 200x Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

2 E. Aleisa et al.

Mehmet Savsar is a Professor of Industrial Engineering at Kuwait University.

He received his Master and PhD degrees from the Pennsylvania State
University, USA in 1978 and 1982 respectively in Industrial Engineering. He
has worked as a Researcher and faculty member in various universities in USA,
Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. He also served as the Chairman of the
Industrial Engineering Department at Kuwait University during 2006–2010.
His research interests include modelling of production systems, flexible
manufacturing, facility location, reliability and maintenance. He has over 150
publications in international journals and conference proceedings. He is a
senior member of IIE, INFORMS and NYAS.
Mohammed M. Al-Mashaan is an Industrial Engineer. He received his
BSc degree from the Department of Industrial Management and Systems
Engineering at Kuwait University in 2011. He was the leader of the senior
project design in Fall, 2011. His research interests include spatial analysis of
new facility locations using geographic information system (GIS). He is a
member of the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE). He was the leader of the
Institute of Industrial Engineers, Kuwait Students Chapter, in 2010–2011. He is
working at the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET)
since 2012.
Abrar Al-Jadi is a Planning Engineer in South and East Kuwait Directorate,
Kuwait Oil Company (KOC). As a Planner, she specialised in strategic plan
development, performance management and financial models. She earned
her Industrial Engineering BSc degree from Kuwait University. She has done
advanced simulation models for waste water networks and location analysis
using GIS. She is a member of Kuwait Society of Engineers and Kuwait Oil
Company Union.
Sarah A. Al-Sabah earned her Industrial Engineering BS degree from Kuwait
University in 2011. Her research interests include optimisation modelling
and location analysis based on GIS and advanced simulation modelling for
wastewater treatment. She is currently responsible for the monitoring process
of the accreditation board (ABET) of the College of Engineering and
Petroleum.

1 Introduction

The problem of locating gas stations is grouped into a class of problems referred to as
semi-obnoxious/ambivalent facilities location problem. It is the problem of choosing
suitable sites for facilities containing both desirable and undesirable influence on the
surrounding environment, especially when the surrounding environment contains
receptors sensitive to their undesirable effects (Welch and Salhi, 1997; Comley, 1995).
Gas stations are desirable due to the services they provide in vehicle fuel refill, diesel fuel
refill, basic vehicle maintenance, technical checkup, tire pressure check, car wash, etc.
(Oula Local Fuel Marketing Co. Kuwait, 2009). However, they contain hazardous and
flammable materials and therefore are undesirable to locate close to sensitive areas.
Governmental agencies and international standards regulate the minimum distances gas
stations should have to various sensitive areas such as schools, hospitals, infrastructure
cables, ground water, reservoirs, etc. In addition, road network maps and infrastructure
need to be considered while searching for a suitable location for such facilities.
Facilities location problem under different conditions has been extensively studied in
the literature. Snyder (2006) and Sahin and Sural (2007) presented detailed literature
 A metaheuristic approach for location of gas stations in a metropolitan area 3

review of facility location under uncertainty and for hierarchical models. Murray (2010)
studied the advances in location modelling with GIS linkages. Dias et al. (2007)
developed an efficient heuristic for dynamic location problem. Revelle at al. (2008)
presented a bibliography of fundamental problem categories in discrete location sciences.
Classical mathematical models for semi-obnoxious/ambivalent facilities also exist in the
literature classified as: maximin models (Or and Akgul, 1994; Shamos, 1978), minimax
models (Melachrinoudis and Cullinane, 1986), maxisum models (Church and Garfinkel,
1974) and minisum models (Karkazis et al., 1992; Karkazis and Papadimitriou, 1992).
Although mathematically elegant, these algorithms are far from meeting the requirements
and constraints associated with gas stations facilities national and international standards.
A paradigm shift towards using spatial databases known as geographic information
systems (GISs) can accommodate these requirements. Different variables and constraints
are modelled as a separate map, which are then combined and overlaid over Kuwait base
maps of road networks and parcels. The resultant map is a suitability map of sites that are
feasible for gas stations with respect to local and international standards. All feasible
locations are then fed into optimisation software to find the optimal location. The
optimisation model is multi-criteria, where the weights of the criteria are assigned using
the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) of Saaty (1980). There are several applications of
AHP, which prove its efficiency in solving real world problems. Ramanathan and
Ramanathan (2011) investigated rank reversal properties of multiplicative AHP. Nagar
and Raj (2012) also presented an AHP-based approach for a selection process, which
proved its usefulness in such applications. The efficiency of the methodology developed
in this paper is demonstrated in Al-Ahmadi governorate of the State of Kuwait. The
scope of this study covers the urban and suburban areas of the state of Kuwait and
excludes distant terrestrial areas and islands. Figure 1 shows a map of the urban and
suburban areas of the state of Kuwait.

Figure 1 Kuwait urban and suburban areas included in scope of work (see online version
for colours)
4 E. Aleisa et al.

2 Background

According to the latest census conducted in 2010, the population of Kuwait is 3,560,749,
where 60% of this population consists of foreigners. The number of vehicles in Kuwait
has been rapidly increasing over the past years. Analysis of the number of vehicles over
the past nine years shows that a staggering average of 6.6% increase takes place per year.
Figure 2 shows the increase in number of vehicles over the time period 2002 to 2010.

Figure 2 Vehicles growth during the years (2002–2010) in Kuwait (see online version
for colours)

Figure 3 shows the customer loads on various gas stations in each area in Kuwait. As it
can be seen from Figure 3, Kuwait consists of six governorates and the load per gas
station is highest at the Capital and Hawalli areas, where most work offices and business
centres are located. In 2000, the total consumption of oil in the state of Kuwait was
around 18 million barrels per year compared to 16 million in 1995, most of which is in a
form of gasoline. Gasoline consumption alone has increased from 13 million barrels in
1995 to 15 million in 2000. It is worth noting that the transportation sector occupies the
largest share in local consumption of gasoline, which alone sums up to approximately
17% of the total gasoline consumption. Population increase and change in life style have
both contributed to the increased consumption.

Figure 3 Vehicles per governorate as of 2010 (see online version for colours)
 A metaheuristic approach for location of gas stations in a metropolitan area 5

Figure 4 compares Kuwait with some other developed countries with respect to the
amount of gasoline sold per gas station in million litres per station per year. It can be seen
from Figure 4 that in Kuwait, around 30 million litres of gasoline is sold per station per
year, while in some other countries, such as in the UK, a maximum of 4 million litres is
sold per station per year. Similar market analysis shows that Kuwait definitely needs to
establish new gas stations to reduce the load per gas station.

Figure 4 Average litres sold/station/year compared to other countries (see online version
for colours)

Table 1 Number of gas stations in Kuwait over the years

Year Number of stations

2002 94
2003 104
2004 110
2005 117
2006 119
2007 119
2008 119
2009 120
2010 121

Prior the commencement of Kuwait Oil Company Ltd (KOC), Kuwait imported its need
of gasoline and kerosene. Later, KOC established a special unit to fulfil the local demand
of gasoline and kerosene, and commenced a gas station in Al-Ahmadi area to supply
vehicles and machines which were used to build the oil plants of Kuwait. Al-Ahmadi
station occupied a space of 6,940 m2 and contained six fuel pumps. Today, the
Local Marketing Department of the Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) – a
semi-governmental petroleum company – has recommended privatising gas stations, with
the aim of improving the efficiency, productivity and quality of services of gas stations
(Kuwait Ministry of Oil Report, 2011). This has resulted in an increase in the number of
gas stations over the years. The number of gas stations from years 2002–2012 is provided
in Table1. As it can be seen from Table 1, there is not much change in the number of gas
stations over the past ten years, with an increase of about 25%, while the number of
6 E. Aleisa et al.

vehicles during the same period has almost doubled. This shows that the load on each gas
station has increased much more and that there is a need to establish more gas stations.

3 Site selection for new gas stations as a semi-obnoxious/ambivalent

location problem

Facility location problem involves the decision of where new facilities are to be located,
and which customer will be served by each new facility (Tompkins et al., 1996). It
determines the future of a business in vital areas of growth, expansion, and revenue.
Facility location, also known as location analysis, is a branch of operations research that
consists of mathematical modelling and solution of problems concerning optimal
placement of facilities in order to optimise various criteria such as minimisation of
transportation costs, cannibalisation of customers to outperform competitors, increase
safety and other factors depending on the context of facilities location problem.
Finding the best location for a gas station is not straightforward. This is because gas
stations have both desirable and adverse effects when located in a neighbourhood. The
anticipated advantages are due to the services a gas station provides such as vehicle fuel
refill, diesel fuel refill, basic vehicle maintenance, technical check-up, tire pressure check
and adjustments, oil and lube change as well as car wash (Oula Local Fuel Marketing Co.
Kuwait, 2009). On the other hand, according to Kuwait Environment Public Authority
(2009) the facility location problem is not simply a technical one; it is also an
environmental, social, economic and political matter. For example, the environment and
health risks of locating a facility in a certain location need to be considered. These
include factors like ground water pollution, air quality, and transportation materials. On
the other hand, economic issues such as effect on property, construction and operating
costs, impact on local industry, and compensation plans also need to be addressed when
choosing a proper site. Likewise, social issues like equity in site choices, effect on
community images, aesthetics, and alternative and future land issues, as well as political
issues like local elections, vested interests of community groups, responsibility of site
management, and local control should also be considered. For that reason, the site
selection of gas stations is classified as a semi-obnoxious facility location problem. This
class of problems is typically modelled mathematically as one of the following classical
models:
1 Maximin model: Maximise the minimum distance of the location to be selected to a
set of sensitive entities (Or and Akgul, 1994). This is referred to as the largest empty
circle problem (Shamos, 1978).
2 Minimax model: Minimising the maximum (worst) effect of the new facility with
respect to all other existing facilities (Melachrinoudis and Cullinane, 1986).
3 Maxisum model: Maximise the summation of weighted distance from an undesirable
facility to all existing facilities (Church and Garfinkel, 1974).
4 Minisum model: minimise the total pollution load L, over all protected areas
(Karkazis et al., 1992; Karkazis and Papadimitriou, 1992).
A comparison of these methods is provided in Table 2.
 A metaheuristic approach for location of gas stations in a metropolitan area 7

Table 2 Comparison of classical models for semi-obnoxious/ambivalent facilities location

Model

Multi-objective
Maxisum
Minimax
Maximin

Minisum
Author Approach

Other
Shamos (1978) x Largest empty circle problem. The problem was solved
efficiently through the construction of Voronoi diagram.
Church and x x Maxisum of weighted distance from an undesirable
Garfinkel (1974) facility to all existing facilities on a network using
shortest path
Dasarathy and x Method based on Kuhn-Tucker conditions for the
White (1980) un-weighted problem of locating a point in a given
convex polyhedron
Drezner and x Single, planer, drawing a circle around each point and
Wesolowski taking the area outside their union whilst satisfying
(1980) some upper bound constraints. Used bisection method.
Transportation cost and environmental impact are
assumed linear
Melachrinoudis x x Proposed two solution procedures: a geometrical
(1985) approach and an algorithmic approach
Melachrinoudis x x The formulation is based on the physical law of
and Cullinane transfer. Undesirable emissions from a source of
(1986) pollution assumed inversely proportional to the squared
distance of the source. Used Kuhn-Tucker conditions.
Applies to noise/radiation
Karkazis and x x Modelled regions containing a set of areas defined as
Karagiorgis either protected or forbidden and not necessarily circular
(1987) in nature
Erkut and x x Environmental cost was modelled as a non-decreasing
Neuman (1989) function of the distances, while transportation cost was
modelled as a Lipschitz-continuous non-decreasing
function of distances.
Karkazis and x x Considered pollution dispersion subject to metrological
Papadimitriou conditions. Proposed an objective o minimisation of a
(1992) sum of weighted risk factors for each node summed
over all four wind directions. Used branch-and-bound
algorithm
Karkazis et al. x x Extended the above model to n-wind model using
(1992) interpolation scheme to estimate the data between
discrete wind directions
Or and Akgul x x Modelled hazardous wastes of hospitals in the Istanbul
(1994) metropolitan area. Used non-linear optimisation
procedure
Ramu and x Heuristic algorithm to locate solid-waste disposal site,
Kennedy (1994) minimise distance travelled based on road map.
8 E. Aleisa et al.

Table 2 Comparison of classical models for semi-obnoxious/ambivalent facilities location

(continued)

Model

Multi-objective
Maxisum
Minimax
Maximin

Minisum
Author Approach

Other
Comley (1995) x Modelled ambivalent facilities, modelled exclusion
zones. And is based on a quadratic zero-one
programming algorithm.
Welch and Salhi x Considered three heuristics. combined p-maximin and
(1997) the p-maxisum objectives in lexicographically, and
simulated annealing
Romero-Morales x Considered environmental and the transportation costs.
et al. (1997) Used big square small square (BSSS) method which is a
branch-and-bound method suitable for solving planer
problems.
Fernandez et al. x x Developed a mathematical model that minimises the
(2000) repulsion of the inhabitants while taking into account
the environmental concerns. Used interval analysis
tool/branch-and-bound to solve the non-convex
problem.
Lahdelma et al. x x Incorporating the opinion of the inhabitants and the
(2002) legislative requirements in the model of locating
treatment facility in Finland. characterised data using
stochastic multi-criteria acceptability analysis with
ordinal criteria (SMAA-O)

Due to the geographic constraints involved, the above classical models are combined to
what is called the constrained-object facility location problem. Unfortunately, even in its
best cases, the constrained-object facility location problem cannot accommodate basic
realistic spatial constraints required to locate such facilities in a geographic location, such
as street networks, distance to sensitive facilities: schools, hospitals, paint shops, etc. As a
result, a new paradigm shift in site selection called GIS has emerged, which is a
particular form of information system that combines spatially referenced data (data with
coordinates) and non-spatial attribute data, unlike other information systems that process
and manage only attribute data.

4 The GIS

GIS is hardware, software, and procedures that support decision making through the
acquisition, management, manipulation, analysis, and display of spatially referenced
information (Church and Murray, 2009). There are alternative names to GIS like spatial
information system, land information system, environmental information system,
industrial information system, automated mapping/facilities management, geographical
information sciences, spatial analysis and desktop mapping (Al-Khuzami, 2011). The
integration of location modelling with GIS allows for the accommodation of almost all
 A metaheuristic approach for location of gas stations in a metropolitan area 9

geographic constraints, international regulations, and allow for better visualisation of

location alternatives. Many real life location problems can be supported through the use
of this integration (Church and Murray, 2009). Moreover, GIS provides a consistent
analysis framework for geographically referenced data (data with coordinates)
(Al-Khuzami, 2011). GIS maps are formed by combining several layers; each layer
represents a certain dataset. These datasets can consist of point of landmarks; such as gas
stations, schools, malls, parcels, etc., lines; such as streets and road networks, and
polygons; including but not limited to cities and neighbourhoods. Layers are all
registered to one another by means of a common coordinates system.

5 Using GIS for gas stations’ site selection

Site-location analysis has recently undergone rapid growth. Many theoretical and
optimisation methods were used in parallel with GIS software to support the output
solution. A variety of factors such as population census, land use and road network were
considered depending on the context of the formulated problem. These factors have been
transformed into layers that are related to one another by means of a common coordinate
system. Layers are combined and analysed to find optimal locations. Other approaches
for layer combination include spatial interaction techniques. These techniques are used to
model the interaction between demand points and target locations. Spatial interaction
models allocate flows of expenditure between origin and destination zones on the basis
that flows between an origin and destination will be proportional to the relative
attractiveness and accessibility of the destinations (Gay, 1995). Moore and Carpenter
(1999) used nearest neighbour index (NNI) analysis to assess the strength of clustering of
data points. It has, however, been criticised for its inability to distinguish between
homogenous and random patterns. Li et al. (2003) suggested an algorithm to calculate the
shortest path between two points in a network. Their formula is set to calculate the mean
of distances from all major demand density points to each potential location. Assuming
there were n demand areas, the equation takes the form given below.
Di = [Σ j xij ] n

It is based on the ant algorithm, which is inspired by nature, and is based on the
capability of ants to locate the shortest path between their nest and the food source while
searching for food. The ant algorithm is an adaptive construction heuristic combined with
a local search measure (Liu et al., 2006). Each target location has its demand points
that are covered by its coverage area. Market penetration is created to examine
location catchment area. The catchment area can be used as a descriptive method to
observe the degree of location coverage (Frics and Riba, 1988), to identify areas of
under-representation as obvious gaps in the map, and thus to spot potential new sites
(Jones and Simmons, 1991). Mendes and Themido (2004) used a Thiessen (Voronoi)
polygon analysis to determine the individual areas of influence around each location, or
each location’s trade area. This model assumes that customers choose a desired store
considering a trade-off between proximity and store attractiveness.
To evaluate the physical distribution of point events (demand points), point patterns
analysis has been applied by Cromley and McLafferty (2002). Point pattern analysis is an
investigation focused on finding patterns in the data, which is composed of points in a
10 E. Aleisa et al.

spatial region and allows for the measuring of the location of individuals relative to each
other (Robinson, 1998). Table 3 shows a comparison between the layers, methodology
and tools used in the analysis of several research papers with respect to gas stations
location and GIS.
Table 3 Literature review layers and methods

Maps and Social and

Distances to entities
networks sustainability

Sanitary and sewage

Research

Competitors entities
City street and road

Residential entities
Country boundary

Business entities

Existing entities

Environmental
Social factors
Methodology

(owned)
network

Census

factors
and tools
map

(author, year)
Cheng et al. 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 Dijkstra
(2007) algorithm
Gupta et al. 9 9 9 9
(2003)
Liu et al. 9 9 9 9 ANT algorithm
(2006)
Murad (2003) 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 Spatial
interaction,
market
penetration
Pearson 9 9 9 9 9 Thiessen
(2007) (Voronoi)
polygon analysis
gravity model
Samat et al. 9 9 9 9 9 9 NNI analysis
(2010)
Shokri et al. 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 Fuzzy set
(2005)
Suarez-Vega 9 9 9 9 Gravity model
et al. (2007) Net2ascii model
Trubint et al. 9 9 9 9 9 9
(2006)
Zeng and 9 9 9 9 9 Fuzzy set,
Zhou (2001) optimal spatial
decision making,
grid modelling,
huff model,
weighting
method
 A metaheuristic approach for location of gas stations in a metropolitan area 11

6 Methodology

The developed methodology provided in Figure 5 starts with spatial data collection
together with collection of local standards and regulations on locating gas stations. The
details of the methodology are provided below.

Figure 5 Methodology for integrating GIS with AHP and multi-criteria optimisation to obtain
optimal location for gas stations

6.1 Data collection

Sources of data collection include: base maps, field work, global positioning system
(GPS), satellite images, and ministries and authorities. Base maps cover the urban and
suburban areas of the state of Kuwait which are the scope of work of this study. Figure 1
shows a map of the urban and suburban areas covered in the study.
12 E. Aleisa et al.

6.2 Base map

The construction of a base map is the first step in the development of a suitability map.
Kuwait governorates, neighbourhoods, parcels, and blocks are the basic components of
the base map. All Kuwait governorates (Capital, Hawalli, Ahmadi, Jahra, Mubarak
Alkabeer and Farwaniya) and all neighbourhoods located in urban areas, as well as
parcels, which are lots of previously built entities, were taken into consideration in
building up the GIS base map.

6.3 Identification of suitable criteria for gas station site selection

Criteria for gas stations site selection can consist of regulatory, environmental, social and
safety factors. These criteria are subject to national and international standards. This
study covers the standards of Redondo Beach (California, USA), Athens (Georgia, USA),
San Mateo (USA), Clackamas (USA), Sacramento (USA), Fort Erie (Canada), and the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. These are depicted in Table 4.
In Kuwait, the government has issued regulations regarding gas stations site selection.
For instance, the Traffic Engineering Department at the Ministry of Internal Affairs
mandates the following:
1 The gas station should be located 20 to 50 metres away from sidewalks.
2 Entrance and exit of the gas station should be 5 to 10 metres wide. The slow and
accelerated lanes must be between 250 to 280 metres long or in worst cases not less
than 100 m.
3 Gas stations must be located away from military facilities and airstrips with a
minimum distance of 1,000 metres.
4 The distance between two gas stations located on the same road or located on
opposite roads without an island separating the two roads must be 500 metres.
Otherwise, in the case of the existence of an island separating the two roads the
distance should be at least 100 metres.
5 The gas station must not be located near the entrance or exit of bridges and
underground (tunnels), a minimum distance of 500 metres should be maintained.
6 There must be at least a 100 metre distance between the gas station and the road
intersections and roundabouts.
In addition to the aforementioned safety regulations, the Environment Public Authority
(EPA) mandates the following:
1 Gas station must be located away from houses, schools and hospitals, with a distance
of at least 20 metres and also to any subsidiary street or empty land.
2 The gas station must be 30 metres away from facilities that use flammable materials
such as bakeries, cafes and restaurants. This is to comply with Kuwait Fire Services
Directorate.
3 The distance between gas stations and gas distribution facilities should be at least
100 metres. The distance must be measured from the outer boundaries of the gas
station to the outer borders of the gas distributors’ facilities.
 A metaheuristic approach for location of gas stations in a metropolitan area 13

The Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW) requires the following:

1 there must be at least 20 metre horizontal distance between a gas station and electric
high voltage lines
2 gas stations must be far from water resources distances though are not specified.
The Public Authority for Agriculture Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAF) regulates the
following:
1 the prohibition of the construction of gas stations on agricultural land
2 the approval of PAAF on the layout and location of a new gas stations prior
construction is required
3 newly constructed gas stations cannot go into operation without a written approval
from PAAF.

6.4 Comparison between local and international standards

Here, we compare the requirements for selecting gas station location in Kuwait with
those of other countries. This comparison is depicted in Table 4. These criteria include
items such as minimum lot area of the gas station. For instance, Kuwait has the largest
minimum lot area compared to other countries. This is perhaps due to the relatively low
cost that the gas stations owners are obliged to pay for the government. The rent per
square metre in Kuwait ranges between two to three Kuwait dinars (7–11 USD) per
square metre. Minimum lot depth of the fuel storage is another criterion that is important
in locating gas stations. Lot depth at gas stations is used to store fuel underground.
Consideration of underground water, phone line cables, and underground pipe work need
to be incorporated. The fuel storage must not be located near any of these entities for
safety and environmental issues. Table 4 depicts common standards applied in the USA,
Canada, KSA and Kuwait. These standards collectively cover distances from gas stations
to other facilities, including other existing gas stations, highways, airports, natural gas
distributers, residential properties, fire stations, police stations, hospitals and clinics,
parks, libraries, parking lots, mosques, zoos, post offices, educational institutions,
governmental agencies and ministries, utilities, recreational areas, commercial centres,
industrial areas, hotels, cemeteries, and wedding halls.

6.5 Model variables, factors and constraints

The model variables are classified into constraints and factors. The constraints are used to
determine the areas restricted for future gas station sites or unacceptable areas for gas
station site selection. These include, as mentioned earlier, existing gas stations, fire
stations, police stations, airport, hospitals and clinics, parks, libraries, parking lots,
mosques, zoos, post offices, natural gas distributors, educational institutions,
governments, residential areas, utilities, recreational areas, commercial areas, industrial
areas, hotels, cemeteries, and wedding halls. On the other hands, the factors are used in
the objective function to rank sites according to suitability and eventually to find the
best location. Table 5 summarises the factors and constraints that were taken into
consideration in determining the best location.
 14

Table 4

Country KSA

USA
USA
USA
USA
USA

Beach)
Kuwait

Canada

(Athens,
Georgia)

(Redondo
(Fort Erie)

(San Mateo)
(Clackamas)
(Sacramento)
E. Aleisa et al.

Minimum lot area (sq m) 1,860 1,115 1,860 1,115 1,200 3,500
Minimum lot frontage (m) 40 m 37 m 37 m 30 m 40 m 40 m 30 m 20 m
Minimum lot depth 20 m 30 m 25 m
Gas stations standards

Minimum front yard 12 m

Minimum interior side yard 5m
Minimum exterior side yard 6m
Minimum rear yard 10 m
Maximum lot coverage 20% 10%
Maximum building height 5m 7.5 m Max 1 floor Max 1 floor
Minimum landscaped space Shall be installed 10% 20% 10%
Minimum building setback 8m 12 m 5m
Minimum canopy setback 5m 5m 0.61 m 6m
Minimum P island setback 5m 5m 5m 5m 6.5 m 6m
Minimum pump setback 5m 5m 5m 6.5 m 6m
Minimum off-street parking 2
Minimum curb height 0.15 m 0.15 m
Wall height 1.8 m 1.8 m 1.8 m
Minimum distance from school 50 m 60 m 25 m 20 m
Minimum distance from public library 50 m 60 m 25 m 20 m
 Table 4

Country

KSA

USA
USA
USA
USA
USA

Beach)
Kuwait

Canada

(Athens,
Georgia)

(Redondo
(Fort Erie)

(San Mateo)
(Clackamas)
(Sacramento)
Maximum driveway width 11 m 12 m 11 m 8m 5–10 m
Maximum number of driveways in one street 2 2
Minimum distance between two driveways 8m 6m
Exterior lighting Deflects away Deflects away Deflects away
Signs within P right-of-way Not allowed
Aboveground tanks Prohibited Prohibited
Maximum time for disabled vehicles 48 hours One week
Trash enclosures Shall be provided Shall be provided
Gas stations standards (continued)

Minimum driveway length 61 m 100 m 250–280 m

Minimum distance from airstrips 1,000 m
Minimum distance from military facilities 1,000 m
Minimum distance between two gas stations 300 m
Minimum distance from inflammable facilities 30 m 30 m
Minimum distance from gas distributors 120 m
Minimum distance from high voltage lines 20 m 20 m
Minimum distance from traffic signal 61 m 37 m 50 m
Minimum distance from intersection of a highway 61 m 60 m
Minimum distance between driveway and street/property 8m 6m
Portable structure Not allowed
Vehicle painting Not allowed
Body and fender repair Not allowed
Maximum number of stations in one street 2
A metaheuristic approach for location of gas stations in a metropolitan area 15
16 E. Aleisa et al.

Table 5 Contributing factors and constraints

Component Layers
Basemap Kuwait governorates, Kuwait neighbourhoods, Kuwait parcels
Built-up and developed areas Existing gas stations, fire stations, police stations,
airport, hospitals and clinics, parks, libraries, parking lots,
mosques, zoo, post offices, natural gas distributors,
educational institutions, governments, residential areas,
utilities, recreational areas, commercial areas,
industrial areas, hotels, cemeteries, wedding halls.
Major lines of infrastructure Highways
Census Population and Vehicles

6.6 GIS geo-processes and layers

After collecting the needed data, some of it was represented on a map in the form of
layers, called GIS layers, which include: country boundary map, census track, population,
median family income, employment percentage, city street and road network, positions of
residential objects, positions of business objects, locations of existing studied facilities,
location of existing competitor facilities, potential sites, social factors, shops and
shopping malls, railway stations, schools, hospitals, theatres, bus stops, railways,
power-lines, airport noise, environmental factors, slope and aspect, vegetation, parks and
natural reserves, rivers and beaches, floodplain, dumpsites/hazardous sites and other
pollution, and drainage network map.
Variables, factors and constraints are converted into layers in the GIS methodology.
Feature datasets contain all tabulated data that will convert to layers. Kuwait urban and
suburban areas are used as a base map and bases to be the coordinate system feature
datasets. GIS separation processes are used to classify areas and parcels according to land
use. Note that highways, major roads and smaller streets are all modelled as line layers.
Whereas gas stations, natural gas distributers, high voltage electrical generators, military
camps etc. are modelled as point (landmark) layers. Constraints create the constraints
map which alone consists of 21 layers. Constraints associated with those layers are
translated into minimum distances or buffers. Buffers and other used geo-processes are
explained later. Areas outside the urban side are removed from the GIS map using the
GIS clipping tool.

6.7 Buffering
Buffers are defined as zones of a given distance around a physical entity such as a point,
line, or polygon. International standards and local regulations dictate a minimum distance
between gas stations and other facilities according to the type of facilities or land use. In
GIS, distances are modelled in buffers as explained earlier. Hence, buffering basically
constitutes a belt around streets and highways and a circle around point facilities. In GIS,
buffering a point layer converts it to a polygon layer. Created buffers are provided in
Table 6.
 A metaheuristic approach for location of gas stations in a metropolitan area 17

Table 6 Buffer zones of entities as of regulations established by the local government

Layers Buffer Layers Buffer

Existing gas stations 300 m Natural gas distributor 120 m
Fire stations 30 m Education institutions 20 m
Police stations 30 m Governmental agencies and ministries 20 m
Airport 1,000 m Residential areas 20 m
Hospitals and clinics 25 m Utilities 20 m
Parks 20 m Recreational areas 20 m
Libraries 20 m Commercial areas 30 m
Parking lots 20 m Industrial areas 30 m
Mosques 20 m Hotels 20 m
Zoo 20 m Cemeteries 20 m
Highways 60 m Wedding halls 30 m
Post Offices 20 m

6.8 Union and indexing

Unionising and indexing is used to combine buffered layers with the urban and suburban
areas of the base map. All layers will be combined into a single one. A value between
1 and 5 is assigned to locations to rank according to layer sensitivity. The output is shown
in Figure 6.

Figure 6 Output of unionised and indexed map (see online version for colours)
18 E. Aleisa et al.

6.9 Map rasterisation

Here, we apply the weighted overlay process of the spatial analyst tool to create the final
suitability map. However, current vector layers of points, lines and polygons need to be
rasterised in order to be able to conduct the weighted overlay process. The model for the
weighted overlay process is provided in Figure 7. The output of the weighted overlay
model is a suitability map that ranks each specific parcel with respect to its suitability to
be used as gas stations. The suitability has been evaluated by conducting the following
steps. First, the parcels layer was overlaid on the suitability map in order to exclude areas
with no parcels such as military camps, deserts and yards since gas stations must be
located on a valid parcel. Second, acceptable areas from the suitability map were checked
to see if they are owned by the government or by citizens. Finally, the acceptable areas
that are located on a parcel and owned by the government and planned to be a utility land
were obtained as a potential gas station.

Figure 7 Suitability map that has resulted from the weighted overlay model (see online version
for colours)

6.10 Layer weights

GIS suitability map assigns a rank of the degree of suitability of feasible parcel to be used
as a site for a future gas station. The first step in this process is to assign weights to the
layers of the GIS model. In order to avoid conflict in weight assignment, we use the AHP
method. The weight assignment using this method is explained next.
 A metaheuristic approach for location of gas stations in a metropolitan area 19

6.11 Analytical hierarchy process

Developed by Saaty (1980), the AHP is a systematic multi-criteria decision analysis
method for rearranging factors of a complex problem into a hierarchical structure (Saaty,
1987, 2000). AHP has been applied in a wide spectrum of applications in multi-criteria
decision making, planning and resource allocation and conflict resolution (Saaty, 1987;
Forman, 1983; Saaty and Vargas, 1985; Albayrakoglu, 1996). It includes a general theory
of measurements (Saaty, 2000) that uses ratio comparisons among attributes and among
alternatives (Saaty, 1982). In the AHP model, pairwise comparisons are conducted to
establish relations within the hierarchical structure (Saaty, 1987).
The following steps were conducted in order to apply AHP to our problem:
1 assign weights to criteria according to its criticality with respect to safety regulations
and demand
2 conduct pairwise comparisons between relative importance among all layers
3 rank criteria according to all pairwise comparisons collectively.
The layers comparison via weight assignment was collected by interviews with experts in
the field. A value between three and nine were assigned to indicate difference in layer
importance, nine being the highest. Reciprocal values indicate the contrary. The value of
one indicates no important difference between the layers compared. As shown in Table 7,
the distance to highway criterion seems to be the most important (13.25% of the total
weight). Next comes the distance to existing gas stations (12.34% of total weight). After
that comes in the distance to residential facilities (8.8% of total weight). Distance to
commercial areas (7.75%), educational facilities (7.4%) and fire stations (7.2%) come in
next in importance. The GIS layers for these facilities will be those weights.
Table 7 Criteria importance weights

Relative Relative
Criteria Criteria
weight (%) weight (%)
Highway 13.25 Parking lots 1.45
Fire stations 7.16 Mosques 2.41
Commercial areas 7.75 Zoo 2.43
Hotels 4.52 Post offices 2.69
Police stations 0.437 NG distributors 3.26
Educational institutions 7.41 Governmental agencies and ministries 3.61
Hospitals 2.37 Residential 8.81
Existing FS 12.34 Utilities 3.12
Airport 1.11 recreational areas 2.69
Parks 3.28 Ind. areas 2.65
Wedding halls 2.2 Cemetery 1.08
Libraries 3.89 Total 100
 20

Table 8

Criteria

Zoo
Sum

areas

Parks

Hotels
Airport
Utilities

Mosques

Highway
Libraries
Cemetery

Hospitals
Ind. areas

Residential

Com. areas
Post offices

Existing FS

Educational
Parking lots
Government

Fire stations
Recreational
Wedding halls

Police stations
NG distributors
Highway - 3 9 9 9 1 9 1 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 3 3 1 3 3 9 9 9 145
Fire stations - 1/3 3 9 1/3 3 1/3 3 3 3 9 3 3 9 3 3 1 3 3 3 9 3 78.33
Com. areas - 1 9 1/3 3 1/3 9 3 3 9 3 3 9 3 3 1 3 3 9 3 3 84.78
E. Aleisa et al.

Hotels - 9 1/3 3 1/3 3 1 1 3 3 3 3 1 1 1 1 3 1/3 9 1 49.44

Police stations - 1/9 1/3 1/9 1/3 1/9 1/9 1/3 1/9 1/9 1/9 1/9 1/9 1/9 1/9 1/9 1/3 1/3 1/3 4.78
Educational - 3 1 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 1 1 1 3 3 9 9 9 81
Hospitals - 1/3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1/9 1 1 3 3 3 25.8
Pairwise comparison matrix

Existing FS - 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 3 9 3 3 9 3 9 9 135
Airport - 1/3 1/3 1 1/3 1/3 1/3 1/3 1/3 1/9 1/3 1/3 1/3 1 1/3 12.11
Parks - 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1/3 1/3 1 1 9 1 35.89
Libraries - 1 1 1 1 1 1 1/3 1 3 3 9 3 42.56
Parking lots - 1 1 1 1/3 1/3 1/9 1/3 1 1/3 1 1/3 15.89
Mosques - 1 1 1 1/3 1/9 1 1 1/3 1 1 26.33
Zoo - 1 1/3 1/3 1/3 1 1 1 1 1 26.56
Post offices - 1 1 1/3 1 1 1 3 1 29.44
NG distributors - 1 1/3 1 1 1 3 1 35.67
Government - 1/3 1 1 1 3 3 39.44
Residential - 3 3 3 9 9 96.33
Utilities - 1 1 3 1 35
Recreational areas - 1 3 1 29.44
Industrial areas - 3 1 29
Cemetery - 1/3 11.89
Wedding halls - 24.11
Total 1,093.89
 A metaheuristic approach for location of gas stations in a metropolitan area 21

6.12 Modelling AHP weights into GIS

Combining layers and buffered layers through unionisation while using AHP values, and
clipping into the base map creates what is called the weighted overlay model. The
resultant map is shown in Figure 7. Zooming into the map reveals feasible parcels; some
of which are depicted in Figure 8. The obtained acceptable areas in the urban and
suburban base map totals to 199 parcels distributed among Kuwait neighbourhood. The
Capital governorate has the highest number of potential gas station locations compared to
other governorates. In the Capital governorate, Qibla neighbourhood has 30 potential
locations alone, whereas most of the remaining Capital governorate neighbourhoods have
no feasible locations. This is simply due to the lack of unconstructed parcels in these
crowded neighbourhoods. Farwaniya governorate, on the other hand, has 39 potential
locations distributed among its neighbourhoods and mostly concentrated in Khaitan
neighbourhood. Moreover, Hawalli governorate has 23 potential locations concentrated
mainly in central Hawalli neighbourhood. In addition, Ahmadi governorate has
48 potential locations distributed in its neighbourhoods and mostly concentrated in
Minqaf neighbourhoods since it is a new established area that has a high percentage of
unconstructed parcel areas. Also, Jahra governorate has 20 potential locations
concentrated mainly in Jahra and Oyoun neighbourhoods. Finally, Mubarak Al-Kabeer
governorate has only three potential locations, which is the lowest number among all
Kuwait governorates since Mubarak Al-Kabeer contains only 11 neighbourhoods and all
of them contain high percentage of constructed areas.

Figure 8 Feasible parcels to locate gas stations (see online version for colours)
22 E. Aleisa et al.

7 Multi-objective optimisation model

Optimisation models have been used extensively to determine and select the best solution
to a given problem from a set of feasible solutions. In case of gas station location
problem considered, GIS has produced a set of feasible solution, among which an
optimum need to be determined. Therefore, a multi-objective optimisation model was
developed and applied to the problem for selecting the best solution from the set of
feasible locations. In particular, the objectives of the optimisation model are:
1 to increase the number of potential gas stations near areas with high number of
vehicles
2 to increase the number of potential gas stations in areas with no gas stations
3 to minimise the distances between potential gas stations and facilities with high
traffic, such as hotels, fire stations, hospitals and commercial areas.
The decision variables are:
⎧1 if fuel station i is located in area j
yi = ⎨
⎩0 otherwise
⎧1 if fuel station i is serving area j
xij = ⎨
⎩0 otherwise
⎧1 if fuel station i is serving commercial area c
xic = ⎨
⎩0 otherwise
⎧1 if fuel station i is serving fire station f
xif = ⎨
⎩0 otherwise
⎧1 if fuel station i is serving hospital h
xih = ⎨
⎩0 otherwise
⎧1 if fuel station i is serving hotel j
xit = ⎨
⎩0 otherwise
where
i feasible gas stations from GIS (i = 1, 2,…,n)
j areas under consideration (j = 1, 2,…,m)
c number of commercial facilities in the urban area (c = 1, 2,…,c)
f number of fire stations in the urban area (f = 1, 2,…,f)
h number of hospitals in the urban area (h = 1, 2,…,h)
t number of hotels in the urban area (t = 1, 2,…,t)
Vj vehicles density at area j
dij distance from gas station i to neighbourhood j
dic distance from gas station i to commercial facility c
 A metaheuristic approach for location of gas stations in a metropolitan area 23

dif distance from gas station i to fire station f

dih distance from gas station i to hospital h
dit distance from gas station i to hotel t
Kj coefficient to attract the objective function to locate new gas stations in
neighbourhoods with no existing gas stations.

Objective function
Max z, where

∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑
n m n m n cj
z= w1V j X ij + w2 k j X ij − w3 yi dic
i =1 j =1 i =1 j =1 i =1 c =1

−∑ ∑ −∑ ∑ −∑ ∑
n fj n hj n tj
w4 yi dif w5 yi dih w6 yi dit
i =1 f =1 i =1 h =1 i =1 t =1

where
n the number of feasible gas station locations
m number of neighbourhoods in urban areas
cj number of commercial facilities in area j
fj number of fire stations in area j
hj number of hospitals in area j
tj number of hotels in area j
w1 assigned weight to vehicles density
w2 assigned weight to existing gas stations
w3 assigned weight to commercial facilities
w4 assigned weight to fire stations
w5 assigned weight to hospitals
w6 = assigned weight to hotels.
Subject to

∑
m
V j X ji ≤ 10, 000 yi , for every i (capacity constraint)
j =1

dij xij ≤ 5, 000, for every i and j (coverage constraint)

dic xic ≤ 5, 000, for every i and c
dif xif ≤ 5, 000, for every i and f
dih xih ≤ 5, 000, for every i and h
dit xit ≤ 5, 000, for every i and t

∑
n
yi ≤ P, where P = desired number of gas stations.
i =1
24 E. Aleisa et al.

7.1 Running the optimisation model on Al-Ahmadi governorate

The developed methodology is applied on Al-Ahmadi governorate as an example.
Ahmadi GIS suitability map is shown in Figure 9. The optimisation model was run on
GAMS optimisation software. The distances to be entered to the optimisation model were
calculated using GIS software using the measure tool. The AHP (Saaty, 1980) is used to
assign weights to the criteria of our multi-objective optimisation model through pairwise
comparison. The results are shown in Table 9. The vehicle density is the most important
criteria among the others with a relative weight of 35%. Distance to existing gas stations
comes next with a 27% of relative weight. Fire stations come after that, followed by
commercial areas.

Figure 9 Al-Ahmadi governorate suitability map generated from GIS (see online version
for colours)

Table 9 Relative weight for each criterion

Criteria Vehicles Commercial Fire stations Hotels Hospitals

Vehicles 1 3 3 5 5
Commercial 1/3 1 1 1 1
Fire stations 1/3 1 1 3 1
Hotels 1/5 1 1/3 1 1
Hospitals 1/5 1 1 1 1
Existing gas stations 1 3 3 3 3
 A metaheuristic approach for location of gas stations in a metropolitan area 25

Table 9 Relative weight for each criterion (continued)

Criteria Existing gas stations Sum Weight Percentage

Vehicles 1 18 0.347 34.7%
Commercial 1/3 4.67 0.09 9%
Fire stations 1/3 6.67 0.128 12.8%
Hotels 1/3 3.867 0.0747 7.47%
Hospitals 1/3 4.53 0.0876 8.76%
Existing gas stations 1 14 0.27 27%

The current expansion plan based on forecasted demand suggests establishing two new
gas stations in Ahmadi governorate. Adding this constraint together with AHP weights
specifically to Ahmadi governorate results in the following model:

∑ ∑ 0.35V X + ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ 0.09 y d
48 19 48 19 48 8
z= j ij 0.27 × 10, 000 X ij − i ic
i =1 j =1 i =1 j =1 i =1 c =1

− ∑ ∑ 0.13 y d − ∑ ∑ −∑ ∑ w y d
48 4 48 20 48 4
i if 0.088 yi dih 6 i
i =1 f =1 i =1 h =1 i =1 t =1

Max z, where

∑
19
V j X ji ≤ 10, 000 yi , for every i (capacity constraint)
j =1

dij xij ≤ 5, 000, for every i and j (coverage constraint)

dic xic ≤ 5, 000, for every i and c
dif xif ≤ 5, 000, for every i and f
dih xih ≤ 5, 000, for every i and h
dit xit ≤ 5, 000, for every i and t

∑
n
yi ≤ P, where P = desired number of gas stations.
i =1

7.2 Optimisation results for location of two gas stations in Al-Ahmadi

governorate
After applying the multi-objective optimisation model using GAMS software over
Ahmadi governorate, two optimal locations for potential fuels stations were obtained.
The first location was in Manqaf neighbourhood and the second was in the coastal strip.
Manqaf neighbourhood has one existing gas station owned by KNPC. The coastal strip,
on the other hand, has no functioning gas stations up to date. Nevertheless, the coastal
strip is considered an active area with high traffic flow. Opening gas stations in these two
sites will result in load reduction in Ahmadi governorate by 8.3%. This percentage was
calculated using the following equations:
Average current load over Ahmadi fuel stations
227, 465
= = 10,339.32 vehicles per year per station
22
26 E. Aleisa et al.

Improved average load over Ahmadi fuel stations after opening two new stations
227, 465
= = 9, 477.7 vehicles per year per station
24
10,339.32 − 9, 477.7
Ahmadi load reduction = = 8.3%
10,339.32
The two optimal gas station locations in Al-Ahmadi governorate are shown in Figure 10.
The models are similarly applied to other concerned areas in order to determine the
optimum locations for each area.

Figure 10 Optimal gas stations locations at Al-Ahmadi governorate (see online version
for colours)

8 Conclusions

This study develops a methodology for locating gas stations in Kuwait urban areas by
using GIS and multi-objective optimisation. The study starts by studying the Kuwait map
with respect to concentrated population areas, which are areas of high traffic and parcel
usage. Benchmarking Kuwait standards with other selected countries’ standards with
respect to gas stations location and design was conducted in order to create the
constraints. All model variables were modelled as layers on a GIS map. Thus, the GIS
model was built to create a suitability map for gas station sites by using the spatial
analysis tool. The GIS model found 199 suitable areas for locating potential gas stations
in Kuwait urban areas. In order to find the optimal location for potential gas stations from
the set of feasible locations resulted from GIS analysis, a multi-objective optimisation
model was built by applying AHP. The efficiency of the developed methodology
was demonstrated on locating gas stations in one of the governorates in Kuwait,
i.e., Al-Ahmadi governorate, where two optimal sites were identified in Manqaf
neighbourhood and the coastal strip. Having gas stations in these two sites will result in
reducing the load of overloaded gas stations in Al-Ahmadi governorate by 8.3%. The GIS
system was capable of incorporating many spatial constraints not possible otherwise in
 A metaheuristic approach for location of gas stations in a metropolitan area 27

classical analytical location models. The results obtained were realistic and were
validated by authorities in the oil sector.
The theoretical implications of the model presented in this paper is that the
meta-heuristic developed in this study, which combines GIS and optimisation in
analysing location problems, results in practical solutions, which could not be obtained
otherwise. While application of the model is specific to a case problem, the model
procedure is general in nature and the underlying method can be applied to other similar
problems. Managerial implications of the results are that, location analysts and managers
can easily use the concepts and procedures presented in this paper in analysing and
solving similar problems that may be faced in real life.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank to the anonymous reviewers for their constructive and
helpful comments, which have improved the presentation of this paper.

References
Albayrakoglu, M. (1996) ‘Justification of new manufacturing technology: a strategic approach
using the analytical hierarchy process’, Production and Inventory Management Journal,
Vol. 37, No. 1, pp.71–76.
Al-Khuzami, M.A. (2011) GIS Training Course Material, College of Engineering & Petroleum,
Kuwait University, Kuwait.
Cheng, E.W.L., Li, H. and Yu, L. (2007) ‘A GIS approach to shopping mall location selection’,
Building and Environment, Vol. 42, No. 2, pp.884–892.
Church, R. and Garfinkel, R. (1974) ‘Locating an obnoxious facility on a network’, Transportation
Science, Vol. 12, No. 2, pp.15–25.
Church, R.L. and Murray, A.T. (2009) Business Site Selection, Location Analysis, and GIS, John
Wiley & Sons, New York.
Comley, W. (1995) ‘Location of ambivalent facilities: use of a quadratic zero-one programming
algorithm’, Applied Mathematical Modelling, Vol. 19, No. 1, pp.26–29.
Cromley, E. and McLafferty, S. (2002) GIS and Public Health, The Guilford Press, New York.
Dasarathy, B. and White, L. (1980) ‘A maximin location problem’, Operations Research, Vol. 28,
No. 6, pp.1385–1401.
Dias, J., Captivo, M.E. and Climaco, J. (2007) ‘Efficient primal-dual heuristic for a dynamic
location problem’, Computers and Operations Research, Vol. 34, No. 6, pp.1800–1823.
Drezner, Z. and Wesolowski, G. (1980) ‘A maximin location problem with maximum distance
constraints’, AIIE Transporations, Vol. 12, No. 3, pp.23–33, Environment Public Authority
(EPA), Kuwait, Report 1990.
Erkut, S. and Neuman, A. (1989) ‘Analytical models for locating undesirable facilities’, European
Journal of Operational Research, Vol. 58, No. 1, pp.275–291.
Fernandez, J., Fernandez, P. and Pelegrin, B. (2000) ‘Continuous location model for siting a
non-noxious undesirable facility within a geographical region’, European Journal of
Operational Research, Vol. 121, No. 2, pp.259–274.
Forman, E.H. (1983) ‘The analytic hierarchy process as a decision support system’, Proceedings of
the 27th IEEE Computer Society International Conference, IEEE.
Frics, P. and Riba, A. (1988) Retail Development, Estates Gazette, London.
28 E. Aleisa et al.

Gay, C. (1991) ‘Spatial interaction modeling in retail planning practice: the need for robust
statistical methods’, Environmental Planning B: Planning & Design, Vol. 18, No. 1,
pp.191–203.
Gupta, R.D., Gupta, Y.K. and Asthana, R.V. (2003) ‘A spatial modelling approach for selection of
residential sites using GIS: a case study for Chail block of Kaushambi district’, Indian Journal
of Cartograppher, Vol. 23, No. 1, pp.48–58.
Jones, K. and Simmons, J. (1991) The Retail Environment, Rortledge, London.
Karkazis, J. and Karagiorgis, P. (1987) ‘The general problem of locating obnoxious facilities in the
plane’, Proc. of the 11th IFORS Conf., Buenos Aires, pp.703–717.
Karkazis, J. and Papadimitriou, C. (1992) ‘A branch-and-bound algorithm for the location of
facilities causing atmospheric pollution’, European Journal of Operational Research, Vol. 58,
No. 3, pp.363–373.
Karkazis, J., Boffey, T. and Malevris, N. (1992) ‘Location of facilities producing airborne
pollution’, Journal of the Operational Research Society, Vol. 43, No. 4, pp.313–320.
Kuwait Environment Public Authority (2009) Licensing Department Report, Kuwait.
Kuwait Ministry of Oil Report (2011) History of Petrol Stations in Kuwait, Kuwait.
Lahdelma, R., Salminen, P. and Hokkanen, J. (2002) ‘Locating a waste treatment facility by using
stochastic multicriteria acceptability analysis with ordinal criteria’, European Journal of
Operational Research, Vol. 142, No. 2, pp.345–356.
Li, H., Kong, C.W., Pang, Y.C., Shi, W.Z. and Yu, L. (2003) ‘Internet-based geographical
information systems system for e-commerce application in construction material
procurement’, Journal of Construction Engineering Management, Vol. 129, No. 6,
pp.689–697.
Liu, N., Huang, B. and Chandramouli, M. (2006) ‘Optimal siting of fire-stations using GIS and
ANT algorithm’, Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, Vol. 20, No. 5, pp.361–369.
Melachrinoudis, E. (1985) ‘Determining an optimum location for an undesirable facility in a
workroom environment’, Applied Mathematical Modelling, Vol. 9, No. 5, pp.365–369.
Melachrinoudis, E. and Cullinane, T. (1986) ‘Locating an undesirable facility with a minimax
criterion’, European Journal of Operational Research, Vol. 24, No. 2, pp.239–246.
Mendes, A.B. and Themido, I.H. (2004) ‘Multi-outlet retail site location assessment’, International
Transactions in Operational Research, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp.1–18.
Moore, D.A. and Carpenter, T.E. (1999) ‘Spatial analytical methods and geographic information
systems: use in health research and epidemiology’, Epidemiologic Review, Vol. 21, No. 2,
pp.143–161.
Murad, A.A. (2003) ‘Creating a GIS application for retail centers in Jeddah city’, International
Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp.329–338.
Murray, A.T. (2010) ‘Advances in location modeling: GIS linkages and contributions’, Journal of
Geographical Systems, Vol. 12, No. 3, pp.335–354.
Nagar, B. and Raj, T. (2012) ‘An AHP-based approach for the selection of HFMS: an Indian
perspective’, International Journal of Operational Research, Vol. 13, No. 3, pp.338–358.
Or, I. and Akgul, M. (1994) ‘Optimization approach for locating a hazardous waste disposal facility
in Istanbul province’, Waste Management and Research, Vol. 12, No. 6, pp.495–506.
Oula Local Fuel Marketing Co. Kuwait (2009) Annual Report, Kuwait.
Pearson, J.K. (2007) A Comparative Business Site-Location Feasibility Analysis Using Geographic
Information Systems and the Gravity Model, Department of Resource Analysis, Saint Mary’s
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Ramanathan, U. and Ramanathan, R. (2011) ‘An investigation into rank reversal properties
of the multiplicative AHP’, International Journal of Operational Research, Vol. 11, No. 1,
pp.54–77.
Ramu, N. and Kennedy, W. (1994) ‘Heuristic algorithm to locate solid-waste disposal site’, Journal
of Urban Planning and Development-ASCE, Vol. 120, No. 1, pp.14–21.
 A metaheuristic approach for location of gas stations in a metropolitan area 29

Revelle, C.S., Eiselt, H.A. and Daskin, M.S. (2008) ‘Bibliography for some fundamental problem
categories in discrete location sciences’, European Journal of Operational Research,
Vol. 184, No. 3, pp.817–848.
Robinson, G.M. (1998) Methods and Techniques in Human Geography, John Wiley & Sons,
Chichester.
Romero-Morales, D., Carrizosa, E. and Conde, E. (1997) ‘Semi-obnoxious location models: a
global optimization approach’, European Journal of Operational Research, Vol. 102, No. 2,
pp.295–301.
Saaty, R.W. (1987) ‘The analytic hierarchy process – what it is and how it is used’, Mathematical
Modeling, Vol. 9, Nos. 3–5, pp.161–176.
Saaty, T. (1982) ‘How to structure and make choices in complex problems’, Human Systems
Management, Vol. 3, No. 4, pp.255–261.
Saaty, T. (2000) Analytic Hierarchy, AccessScience, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Saaty, T.L. (1980) The Analytic Hierarchy Process: Planning, Priority Setting, Resource
Allocation, McGraw-Hill International Book Co., New York, London.
Saaty, T.L. and Vargas, L.G. (1985) ‘Modeling of behavior in competition: the analytic hierarchy
process’, Applied Mathematics and Computation, Vol. 16, No. 1, pp.49–92.
Sahin, G. and Sural, H. (2007) ‘A review of hierarchical facility location models’, Computers and
Operations Research, Vol. 34, No. 8, pp.2310–2331.
Samat, N., Jambi, D., Musa, N.S., Shatar, A.K., Manan, A. and Sulaiman, Y. (2010) ‘Using a
geographic information system (GIS) in evaluating the accessability of health facilities
for breast cancer patients in Penang State, Malaysia’, Kajian Malaysia, Vol. 28, No. 1,
pp.103–122.
Shamos, M.I. (1978) Computational Geometry, PhD thesis, Yale University.
Shokri, T., Reza, M., Delavar, T., Silavi, T. and Amini, J. (2005) ‘Optimal locating of residential
towers using GIS-based fuzzy approach’, Map Asia Conference, 22–25 August 2005, Jakarta,
Indonesia.
Snyder, L.V. (2006) ‘Facility location under uncertainty: a review’, IIE Transactions, Vol. 38,
No. 7, pp.537–554.
Suarez-Vega, R., Santos-Penate, D.R. and Dorta-Gonzalez, P. (2007) ‘The follower location
problem with allocation thresholds’, Papers in Regional Science, Vol. 86, No. 1.
Tompkins, J.A., White, J.A., Bozer, Y.A., Fazelle, E.H., Tanchoco, J.M.A. and Trevino, J. (1996)
Facilities Planning, 2nd ed., John Wiley & Sons, New York.
Trubint, N., Ostojic, L. and Bojovic, N. (2006) ‘Determining an optimal retail location by using
GIS’, Yugoslav Journal of Operations Research, Vol. 16, No. 2, pp.253–264.
Welch, S. and Salhi, S. (1997) ‘Obnoxious p facility network location problem with facility
interaction’, European Journal of Operational Research, Vol. 102, No. 2, pp.302–319.
Zeng, T.Q. and Zhou, Q. (2001) ‘Optimal spatial decision making using GIS: a prototype of a real
estate geographical information system (REGIS)’, International Journal of Geographical
Information System, Vol. 15, No. 4, pp.307–321.

View publication stats