Hub Location Problems

TLDR: This chapter overviews the key distinguishing features, assumptions and properties commonly considered in HLPs, and highlights the role location and network design decisions play in the formulation and solution of HLPs.

Abstract: Hub Location Problems (HLPs) lie at the heart of network design planning in transportation and telecommunication systems. They are a challenging class of optimization problems that focus on the location of hub facilities and on the design of hub networks. This chapter overviews the key distinguishing features, assumptions and properties commonly considered in HLPs. We highlight the role location and network design decisions play in the formulation and solution of HLPs. We also provide a concise overview of the main developments and most recent trends in hub location research. We cover various topics such as hub network topologies, flow dependent discounted costs, capacitated models, uncertainty, dynamic and multi-modal models, and competition and collaboration. We also include a summary of the most successful integer programming formulations and efficient algorithms that have been recently developed for the solution of HLPs.