Descriptions of the Optimization Problem:
The redistricting problem, also known as zone design problem, involving the aggregation of several areal units to form districts (or zones) such that some value function is optimized, subject to constraints on the topology of the districts (e.g., internal connectivity). The most well known instance of the redistricting problem is Gerrymandering. Geographic districting consists of the partitioning of areal units, generally administrative units, into a predetermined number of electoral districts such that the units in each district are contiguous, each district is geographically compact and the sum of the populations of the areal units in any district are as similar as possible or lies within a predetermined range. This page contains an educational module for teaching spatial optimization using geographic districting as an example.
Lab Module Download:
Click here to access the lab module and data online.