Location-spatial interaction models: 1. Benefit-maximizing configurations of services

In three related papers the economic and spatial characteristics of a set of retail stores locating under welfare-maximizing and profit-maximizing criteria are explored. In this first paper, a set of location-spatial interaction models is formulated and the locations and sizes of stores which maximize the accessibility benefits to consumers are determined. An algorithm for computing such configurations is proposed and a set of numerical examples is used to explore the variation of these configurations under changes in the number of stores and the parameters which govern the spatial behaviour of consumers.