Designing New Electoral Districts for the City of Edmonton

Burcin Bozkaya (), Erhan Erkut (), Dan Haight () and Gilbert Laporte ()
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Burcin Bozkaya: Sabanci School of Management, Sabanci University, Orhanlı-Tuzla, 34956 Istanbul, Turkey
Erhan Erkut: Ozyegin University, 34662 Istanbul, Turkey
Dan Haight: Centre for Excellence in Operations, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2R3, Canada
Gilbert Laporte: HEC Montreal, CIRRELT, Montreal, Quebec H3T 2A7, Canada

Interfaces, 2011, vol. 41, issue 6, 534-547

Abstract: Every few years, the city of Edmonton, Canada must review and evaluate changes to its electoral district boundaries. The review process that was completed in 2009 resulted in modifying the district plan from a six-ward system with two council members in each to a single-member 12-ward system. The authors of this paper designed the redistricting plan. This paper describes the algorithm we applied to solve the problem and the decision support system we used. The algorithm is based on a multicriteria mathematical model, which is solved by a tabu search heuristic embedded within a geographic information system (GIS)-based decision support system. The resulting district plan meets districting criteria, including population balance, contiguity, compactness, respect for natural boundaries, growth areas, and integrity of communities of interest. This plan was formally approved as a city bylaw and used in the municipal elections in 2010.

Keywords: political districting; decision support system; GIS (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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