Shopping center design using a facility layout assignment approach

In this paper, a study of the problem of shopping center layout design is presented. Assignment of shops to locations in a shopping center should be performed in a way that ensures balance in the distribution of flow across all shopping center areas. This can lead to the success of the shopping center, and consequently raise its rent return. This study proposes a facility layout assignment model for shopping centers with the objective of maximizing flow capturing in each location and balancing it across all shopping center areas. Flow capturing by a given location is controlled by the power of attraction (weight) of the shop assigned to it, and is affected by the flow at nearby locations more than flow at more distant locations. The model also calculates the flow in each area in the center as a combination of the flows at locations that belong to that area. The model is tested on a number of randomly generated problems, and the optimum layout is found for each generated example.