Division of responsibility areas for urban emergency shelters based on a GIS location-allocation analysis

The locations of urban emergency shelters are important for improving the evacuation efficiency and safety of the local population. This paper considered various factors such as the road network accessibility, shelter construction costs, and carrying population capacity on the emergency shelter utilization with the shelter locations determined based on the minimization facility model and the maximization coverage model with capacity constraints in a geographic information system (GIS) location-allocation model. The model was used to divide up the central area of Kunming as an example for empirical analyses. The results give an optimal number of 9 emergency shelters in the study area based on the minimum construction cost and the highest utilization rate of the emergency shelters. The results also show that the government needs to expand the capacity of Zhuantang Park and open both Wuhua Square and Victory Square as emergency shelters to create the best evacuation service for this study area. The total evacuation responsibility area can then be divided into 8 regions. These results provide support for emergency decision-making and rescue programs during urban emergencies.