Title: Optimal location of flow intercepting facilities to improve security in urban areas

Authors: Francesca De Cillis; Antonio Sforza; Claudio Sterle

Addresses: Complex Systems and Security Lab., University Campus Bio-Medico of Rome, Via Alvaro del Portillo, 21, 00128 Rome, Italy ' Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, University 'Federico II' of Naples, Via Claudio 21, 80125 Naples, Italy ' Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, University 'Federico II' of Naples, Via Claudio 21, 80125 Naples, Italy

Abstract: The problem of the optimal location of control facilities in an urban area for improving security in case of large events or critical situations is presented. The paper focuses on the prevention of threats by the control and/or the interdiction of people and vehicle flows entering an area (restricted zone). In general, limited available resources do not allow monitoring all the access points of the area. So it is fundamental to identify the most suitable points where control facilities should be located. Two flow intercepting facility location models will be presented: the first one is devoted to identify the best location of a limited number of control facilities to maximise the security level; the second one is aimed at computing the minimum number of control facilities able to guarantee a prescribed level of security. Results obtained on test cases representative of different urban structures are presented.

Keywords: urban security; flow interception; optimal facility location; restricted area; access control; control facilities; threats; security levels; people flows; vehicle flows; restricted zones; urban areas.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSSE.2013.057656

International Journal of System of Systems Engineering, 2013 Vol.4 No.3/4, pp.222 - 242

Received: 23 May 2013
Accepted: 03 Jul 2013
Published online: 28 Apr 2014 *

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