Wouldn't it be nice to have a book on location analysis which - contains most of the main stream topics, - could be used for teaching purposes, - could be used for self study or reference, - would motivate the material not only by reviewing the theoretical results, but also by giving some of the practieal success stories using location theory as model for problems in industry and management science? As the reader may guess, this question is a rhetoric one - sure it would be niee to have such a book, and many who want to leam about the subject or teach corresponding courses in university departments of mathematics, man­ agement science, computer science, geography, civil engineering, etc. would be likely users of such a book. Practitioners who want to find out, whether one of their problems can be solved with one of the location tools would love to get a quiek overview of what is available in this area. Researchers could use the book to check whether there is any new literat ure on a location subject they would want to work on. This book is an attempt to satisfy this wish list. We were lucky enough to find many of the most prominent researchers and practitioners in the world, who contributed 14 chapters to a book in which the largest part of the location area is covered. A most up-to-date collection of references is provided at the end of each chapter.