This course is about both Business Geography and Business GIS. It is about applying GIS techniques in business location decisions.
There are two major types of business location issues which will be addressed in this course: market area analysis and spatial optimization. In each area of analysis, there are some specific subjects to consider.
A market area is the geographical extent where a business or an economic center has its bulk of customers or the source of revenue. The following models help delineate the market area through various approaches. These models, one way or another, relate to the spatial intertaction model.
While market area analysis relies on market mechanism (price, supply, demand, etc.), soio-demographic characteristics, and statistical analysis for calibrition and calculation, spatial optimization approaches determine business locations and/or business catchment areas through mathematical programming. This is to achieve the optimal location decision (minimize cost, minimize total distance, or maximize profits) subject to constraints such as consumer demand, facility supply, or storage capacities. There are following topics to address in this course.