Multi-criteria decision model for the selection and location of temporary shelters in disaster management

Abstract

The occurrence of natural or anthropic disasters in Brazil and the world emphasizes the importance of humanitarian logistics. Scholars and practitioners have developed modeling approaches to support aid delivery planning, but little attention has been given to the selection of community or collective temporary shelters. Therefore, this paper proposes a novel multi-criteria decision model focused on the principles of humanitarian logistics for the selection and spatial location of community or collective temporary shelters. This model not only incorporates evaluation criteria from documents published by humanitarian aid organizations and related literature but also the expertise of 23 experienced humanitarian logisticians from the Brazilian Civil Defense. The results quantify the importance of each criterion and enable the development of a decision tool, the ShelterPro software, that can be used to support the decision-making process of selecting temporary shelters. The results also indicate that safety of the facility, cultural adequacy, and location accessibility are the most valuable criteria. With these insights and the decision supporting tool, better humanitarian decisions can be made by humanitarian logistics managers, local authorities, or designated officials in the selection and location of temporary shelters in emergency response.