An economic–geographic assessment of the potential for a new air transport hub in post-Gaddafi Libya

Post-war Libya is faced with the challenge of adopting an air transport strategy for the future. One issue is how to address projects inaugurated under the Gaddafi government, such as the terminal extension at Tripoli International Airport. Additionally, the state-owned Afriqiyah Airlines had been establishing a niche hub in Tripoli before the 2011 war, but this development has subsequently been stalled.Against this background, we analyse the prospects of an air transport hub operation in Libya, focusing on traffic between Africa and Europe, from a bird’s-eye economic–geographic view. First, a literature review is undertaken to identify general success factors for air transport hubs. Second, a weighted average distance penalty (WADP) indicator is developed and applied to Tripoli as a potential hub location. This indicator considers all 4755 O&Ds between Europe and Africa with more than 100 passengers in 2012. For sensitivity reasons, alternative WADPs are estimated for the 3209 traffic flows not including North Africa and for (forecasted) future air traffic demand in 2020. The results for Tripoli International Airport are benchmarked against competing hub locations, such as Algiers, Cairo, and the major European airports. We conclude by discussing the implications of the current and anticipated future security and economic situation in the country.     

中国城市宏观级差地租的形成机制

城市宏观级差地租是我国特殊国情下的创新理论。先梳理了城市宏观级差地租理论的发展和最新成果,在前人研究的基础上,提出一些新的理论观点。之后对城市宏观级差地租的概念进行了新的诠释,然后重点论述了城市宏观级差地租的形成机制,并结合我国实际情况,分别从城市区位级差地租、城市规模级差地租和城市功能级差地租三方面进行深入分析和论述,阐明了城市宏观级差地租形成的原因。最后总结了我国城市宏观级差地租理论创新的意义,指出中央政府对宏观级差地租理论的运用是缩小我国区域经济差距一个新的政策思路。     

Sustainable hub location under mixed uncertainty

This paper addresses a novel sustainable hub location problem (SHLP) in which two new environmental-based cost functions accounting for air and noise pollution of vehicles are incorporated. To cope with uncertain data incorporated in the model, a mixed possibilistic–stochastic programming approach is proposed to construct the crisp counterpart. A simulated annealing (SA) and an imperialist competitive algorithm (ICA) with a new solution representation are developed to solve real-sized instances whose performances are compared with a proposed lower bound. Finally, some computational experiments are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model and solution approaches.     

Locating a Biorefinery in Northern Spain: Decision Making and Economic Consequences

Biofuels are emerging as a prominent renewable and sustainable energy sources in developed countries. In this sense, this paper presents a case study in which a biorefinery has to be sited in Northern Spain. Thus, the strategic decision of locating such a facility is deeply investigated through strategic policy evaluation. Then, tactical decisions ranging from purchasing and transportation policies to storage protocols are carried out. Only local and limited biomass can be harvested for supplying the biorefinery through a heterogeneous vehicle fleet. Moreover two different and mutually exclusive storage strategies are evaluated: direct supply from crops to biorefinery and using intermediate-collectors. Additionally, crop exploitation factors and biorefinery sizes are used to generate several scenarios in which the strategic decision of location as well as all the tactic decisions are made. Some mixed integer linear programming models are proposed to figure out all relevant decision problems.The results suggest that the Northwest study area as the best option to locate the biorefinery and recommend the intermediate-collector storage strategy. Moreover, the key information about critical biomass, crops and times are also provided.     

交叉中值模型在物流设施选址中的应用研究

城镇化目前已经成为扩大改革开放的一项重要举措,但随着而来的就是相关基础服务设施不完善,严重影响了新城镇广大居民的生活质量和水平。因此,对于新建城镇相关物流服务设施的选址问题就变得尤为重要,交叉中值模型则是一个城镇区域内单一设施连续点选址的非常适合的方法。     

High-speed rail and regional development: the case of intermediate stations

High-speed rail has developed both nationally and internationally in Europe as a successful alternative to both air and road over distances of 400–600 km. Inter-city traffic, especially between the major metropolitan areas in North-west Europe has benefitted greatly from the investment in this network. This paper explores two issues: the impact on the intermediate areas between these major metropolitan areas and the creation of potential cross-border inter-regional services. The evidence shows how both levels of service and potential economic impacts have been much less pronounced in these intermediate areas. Such areas have been affected both by a failure to see greatly improved direct access to major cities other than within their own countries and a lack of new cross-border inter-regional services. The paper argues that the creation of the high-speed rail TEN-T has not met the primary objectives of reducing regional disparities in accessibility or reducing the effect of national borders on regional integration. To achieve this requires not just infrastructure provision but an appropriate regulatory framework for service provision and accompanying measures at the local level.     

A model for planning locations of temporary distribution facilities for emergency response

We propose a network flow model for dynamic selection of temporary distribution facilities and allocation of resources for emergency response planning. The model analyzes the transfer of excess resources between temporary facilities operating in different time periods in order to reduce deprivation. Numerical analysis shows that the location of temporary facilities is determined by the demand and supply points. This work contributes to the emergency response planning that requires a quick response for the supply of relief materials immediately after a disaster hits a particular area.     

Theoretical,empirical, and operational models in hotel location research

This paper aims to review past literature on hotel location models and evaluate the state of the art, as well as set out future directions. This study divides hotel location models into three major categories: theoretical models, empirical models, and operational models. Four theoretical hotel location models are reviewed and discussed, including the tourist-historic city model, the mono-centric model, the agglomeration model, and the multi-dimensional model. Based on previous literature, six empirical models and three operational models of hotel location are elaborated. Furthermore, some challenges related to hotel location studies are discussed, and future research directions are provided. In particular, we advocate the development of more sophisticated hotel location models and the use of Geographic Information System (GIS) in hotel location analysis.     

Are the BRIC countries overtaking intermediate countries in the race for international R&D? The case of Spain

The emergence of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) as international locations for foreign direct investment in R&D is a sign that multinationals are relocating their technological activities to new territories. This trend may weaken the supremacy of the developed countries until now considered leaders in innovation, and may mean the loss of the competitive advantages enjoyed by the countries considered intermediate innovators. This paper examines the situation of Spain as a typical intermediate economy and compares it to its main competitors among the BRICs. Based on eight case studies of subsidiaries with R&D centres in Spain, we conclude that the policies adopted by certain emerging economies to develop their national innovation systems are proving effective and that these countries now pose a threat to intermediate economies. However, the BRICs still lag behind in terms of the security of their institutional framework; this situation leaves intermediate countries in an advantageous position.     

Promoting cost efficiency and uniformity in parcel delivery centre locations and service areas: a GIS-based analysis

This paper provides a systematic framework to determine local delivery centre (LDC) locations and service areas to reduce delivery costs and balance the allocation of parcel delivery loads to promote sustainable LDC development. Based on a case study of a parcel distribution company in Korea, this study proposes two strategies for LDC service area delineation within each terminal service boundary that either minimises the total delivery time or balances the allocation of delivery loads. This research contributes to improving cost efficiency and balancing delivery load allocations in planning LDC locations and service areas that can potentially promote the long-term mutual sustainable development of parcel distribution companies and their local delivery counterparts.