Applying genetic algorithms to land use planning

Abstract. This paper explores the potential of applying Genetic Algorithms to land use planning, a spatial allocation problem. Two genotype representations are proposed: a fixed-length genotype composed of genes that map directly to a land parcel’s use, and a variable-length, order-dependent representation making allocations indirectly via a greedy algorithm. The fixed-length genotype is used within a standard genetic algorithm framework but the variable-length genotype requires novel breeding operators to be defined and post-processing of the genotype structure to identify and remove duplicate genotypes. The two approaches are compared on a real land use planning problem and the strengths and weaknesses of each approach are identified. Key Words: representation, messy GAs, non-fitness information, land use plannin