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Gravity Modeling and its Impacts on Location Analysis

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Book cover Foundations of Location Analysis

Part of the book series: International Series in Operations Research & Management Science ((ISOR,volume 155))

Abstract

Throughout the 20th century, geographers have developed a variety of models that assist public and private entities in locating facilities from factories to emergency services. In the area of retail location analysis, the early gravity models of geographers William J. Reilly and David L. Huff played a pioneering role in delineating retail trade areas and modeling many other kinds of spatial interaction. Their fundamental insight was that customers do not necessarily shop at the closest store, but patronize locations in proportion to the attractiveness of the retail centers and in inverse proportion to their distance. In this chapter, we elucidate the early history, structure, and significance of these models.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, Arizona State University, 85287-0104, Tempe, AZ, USA

    Lawrence Joseph & Michael Kuby

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  1. Lawrence Joseph
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  2. Michael Kuby
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Correspondence to Lawrence Joseph .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Business Administration, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton,, New Brunswick, Canada

    H. A. Eiselt

  2. Depto. Ingenieria Electrica, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Av. Vicuna Mackenna 4860, Macul, Santiago, Chile

    Vladimir Marianov

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Joseph, L., Kuby, M. (2011). Gravity Modeling and its Impacts on Location Analysis. In: Eiselt, H., Marianov, V. (eds) Foundations of Location Analysis. International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, vol 155. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7572-0_18

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