Community-Based Operations Research

This edited volume is an introduction to diverse methods and applications in operations research focused on local populations and community-based organizations that have the potential to improve the lives of individuals and communities in tangible ways. The book's themes include: space, place and community; disadvantaged, underrepresented or underserved populations; international and transnational applications; multimethod, cross-disciplinary and comparative approaches and appropriate technology; and analytics. The book is comprised of eleven original submissions, a re-print of a 2007 article by Johnson and Smilowitz that introduces CBOR, and an introductory chapter that provides policy motivation, antecedents to CBOR in OR/MS, a theory of CBOR and a comprehensive review of the chapters. It is hoped that this book will provide a resource to academics and practitioners who seek to develop methods and applications that bridge the divide between traditional OR/MS rooted in mathematical models and newer streams in 'soft OR' that emphasize problem structuring methods, critical approaches to OR/MS and community engagement and capacity-building.

Professor Michael Johnson currently serves as Graduate Program Director of the PhD Program in Public Policy and Chair of the Department of Public Policy and Public Affairs. Dr. Johnson received his Ph.D. in operations research from Northwestern University, M.S. in operations research from University of California, Berkeley, M.S. in electrical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1987 and B.S. from Morehouse College. Dr. Johnson’s research interests lie primarily in operations research/management science planning models for public-sector facility location and service delivery, with applications to subsidized/affordable housing, senior services and community corrections. Dr. Johnson also uses cost-benefit analysis to estimate impacts of public policies and information technology to design decision support systems. His primary mission is to develop quantitative methods that enable public organizations serving disadvantaged and vulnerable populations to jointly optimize economic efficiency, beneficial population outcomes and social equity. His work has appeared in a variety of journals, including Annals of Operations Research, Decision Support Systems, Environment and Planning A, Environment and Planning B, Housing Studies, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Journal of Geographic Systems, Journal of Housing Research, Location Science, Management Science, Papers of the Regional Science Association, and Socioeconomic Planning Sciences. Dr. Johnson has served as a National Science Foundation CAREER Postdoctoral fellow, and has previously received postdoctoral fellowships from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Urban Scholars program and the National Consortium on Violence Research. He is currently principal investigator on a Joseph P. Healey grant to develop decision models for foreclosed housing acquisition and redevelopment, and is investigator on a Centers for Disease Control grant to investigate neighborhood crime impacts of subsidized housing redevelopment.