Designing a Framework to Support Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis for Sustainable Public Facility Location: Insights from Centro Hospitalar Oeste, Portugal

Finding the optimal location for regional public facilities has historically been a challenge. Numerous studies have sought to find the best solutions, yet few of them provided a framework to incorporate criteria and indicators that look beyond spatial dimensions, aiming at a more sustainable solution fostering economic development, territorial efficiency, environmental sensitivity and, of course, social justice. This research is based on the issues raised by the implementation of the new Centro Hospitalar Oeste (CHO) in Portugal, which has been extensively evaluated in the decision-making process for many years. Recognising that location decisions involve more than spatial concerns, this article proposes the identification of criteria and indicators that integrate social, economic and territorial perspectives to support the construction of a decision-making model based on sustainability principles. A four-phase, sixteen-stage multiple-criteria methodology is proposed to build a technical instrument for overcoming political conflicts and ensuring efficient, rational and participatory processes for public investment allocation. This article offers evidence from a real spatial planning issue to provide a useful framework to promote a more significant and comprehensive social and economic impact of the public investment made in a regional-level facility. This framework helps to determine the fundamental criteria of evaluation and operationalise sustainable and balanced models for the location of public facilities that take into consideration an integrated territorial approach. The methodology presented is open and flexible so that it can be applied and adapted to different contexts and facilities.