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Abstract
Location theory plays a key role in the design of city layouts and constructions sites. Two important location problems in construction include the facility layout problem (FLAP) and facility location problem (FLP), which aim to optimise the location of facilities within a department and an expansive area, respectively. The FLAP is studied in the context of the construction site layout planning problem (SLPP), while the FLP is studied in the context of city construction and design. Both problems have been investigated widely in the literature, with little emphasis on addressing associated sustainability factors. According to the World Health Organisation, noise pollution in urban environments is responsible for a variety of ailments in human beings, including arterial myocardial infarctions, hypertension and elevated stress levels. Studies carried out in this thesis contribute to the body of knowledge by incorporating noise minimisation as an additional sustainability objective within a multi-objective optimisation framework, comprised of conventional objectives considered in the literature, to solve the SLPP and the urban FLP. Noise is evaluated at noise-sensitive receivers, such as hospitals and schools, adhering to appropriate measures highlighted in Australian and International noise control regulations. Furthermore, major improvements to SLPP optimisation models are proposed to enhance the precision of the solutions obtained. These include: i) improving the accuracy of model parameters, through integration of Building Information Models with optimisation and scheduling units, and ii) improving the travel distance estimates through use of motion planning. The models are then extended to cover large scale problems encountered in urban FLP, to locate semi-obnoxious facilities, such as airports and industrial zones, along with noise-sensitive facilities, including hospitals and schools. For these urban models, a bi-level structure is adopted to account for planners and transport network users’ decisions. Facilities to be positioned are assumed to be traffic demand-inducing. Effective solution procedures are also developed for both the SLPP and FLP, which rely on specific problem decomposition properties. For the SLPP, a cutting plane algorithm is proposed to solve large instances, whereas for the urban FLP, a Benders Decomposition algorithm is adopted.