GIS-based responsibility area subdivision for metropolitan emergency shelters - Case study of Wuchang district, Wuhan city

Planning of urban emergency shelters, especially metropolitan shelters, is an important method to mitigate disasters , for example, earthquakes, fires, floods and other disasters. In this paper, Ordinary Voronoi Diagram (OVD) and Weighted Voronoi Diagram (WVD) are used to determine the responsibility areas of existing emergency shelters in GIS. Firstly, we analyze and select the factors affecting responsibility area; secondly, we determine their weights; then we generate the Weighted Voronoi diagram in ArcGIS. The data include locations and areas of existing emergency shelters, district boundary, road network, geological data, terrain data etc. The method is introduced in detail in this paper as well as a case study of using the method for earthquake emergency shelters in Wuchang district, Wuhan, China. The results test the effectiveness of the method in urban emergency shelters planning.