Selection of appropriate location for civil defense shelters using genetic algorithm and network analysis

Various studies have been conducted to analyze the location appropriateness and capacity of shelters. However, research on how to select new shelters is relatively insufficient. Since the shelter is designated in case of emergency, it is also necessary to efficiently select the location of the shelter. Therefore, this study presented a method for selecting the location of the shelter using network analysis that has been used to analyze the location appropriateness of shelters and genetic algorithm which is a representative heuristic algorithm. First, the network analysis using the existing civil defense evacuation facility data was performed and the result showed that the vulnerability of evacuation has a high deviation by region in the study area. In order to minimize the evacuation vulnerable area, the genetic algorithm was designed then the location of new shelters was determined. The initial solution consisting of candidate locations of new shelters was randomly generated and the optimal solution was found through the process of selection, crossover, and mutation. As a result of the experiment, the area with a high percentage of the evacuation vulnerable areas was prioritized and the effectiveness of the proposed method could be confirmed. The results of this study is expected to contribute to the positioning of new shelters and the establishment of an efficient evacuation plan in the future.