Review of Transportation Networks and the Optimal Location of Human Activities: A Numerical Geography Approach by Isabelle Thomas

Abstract

Book Review for Economic Geography Transportation Networks and the Optimal Location of Human Activities: A Numerical Geography Approach. By I. Thomas. Northampton, Massachusetts: Edward Elgar, 2002. Transportation Networks and the Optimal Location of Human Activities is based on previous work by Thomas and her colleagues located in various journals and what she identifies as the equivalent to a second doctoral dissertation. Therefore, the book is in essence a series of related papers, which extend each other by relaxing one constraint or another. Though not really written for the beginner, tacit knowledge required includes optimization and basic network analysis, the book may be suitable as a text used (with others) for advanced graduate students. The intended audience is clearly researchers and students of the location-allocation problem – where facilities should be sited on networks, and how many facilities are required.