Allocation and Distribution Path Planning of Emergency Food Materials Under Flood Scenarios: A Case Study in Fengxian District, Shanghai, China

Abstract Supply–demand allocation is important for supporting emergency food material management and decision making. This study proposed a supply–demand allocation method for market-supplied materials. The method considers the constraint that market supply reserve depots (MSDs) need to preferentially supply emergency food materials to original demand points, which is mostly neglected in traditional methods. The constraint enables the method to provide a more rational allocation scheme of MSDs. Based on the supply–demand allocation method, an emergency material distribution path planning method under flood scenarios was further developed. Unlike the traditional methods, which mostly neglect simultaneous consideration of the travel time and path reliability factors, this method comprehensively achieves two critical objectives: the shortest path travel time and highest path reliability. The heuristic algorithms are used to solve the optimal path. It can enhance the safety and reliability of food material distributions. Three criteria—degree, squares clustering coefficient, and road design daily traffic volume—are integrated to evaluate the reliability of each road section based on the real road networks, and the impact of the flood on travel time is fully considered. A case study in Fengxian District, Shanghai, China, was conducted to demonstrate the feasibility of the method. Three categories of supplies—rice, drinking water, and infant milk—were chosen to represent the food supplies. The results of the case study can support decision making for emergency rescue and relief efforts of relevant government departments. The methods proposed provide methodological references for related studies in other similar regions.