Originally published in 1981, this book was intended for students of public administration, policy studies, urban and regional planning and operations research, as well as central and local government administrators. It demonstrates the basic concepts and outlines some of the many uses of operations research in the public sector in such a way that they can be understood by an audience without special technical skills. Operations research is off putting to many people because they are intimidated by mathematics. The authors have written this book with these individuals in mind.
The book is organized around the reports of twelve studies carried out over 15 years for city or county governments or regional bodies. The studies included in the book represent problems found in many functional areas and at several levels of local government. They cover health and social services; trans oration and environmental problems; and planning and administrative services.