Obtaining the ultimate objective of economic growth depends largely on the availability of infrastructure in the economy. New developments in finance also play an important role in enhancing economic prosperity in a country. Strategic Infrastructure Development for Economic Growth and Social Change explores different avenues of research in the areas of corporate governance, socioeconomic conditions, modern business infrastructure, business automation, strategic financial management, and financial aspects of modern businesses. This reference work discusses practical applications, skills, practices, and strategies involved in economic and business growth, and overall economic development. Academicians, practitioners, professionals, and researchers will benefit from the topics discussed in this book.
Major Infrastructure Planning and Delivery introduces the system for planning and consenting Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) in England (which has also applied for some schemes in Wales). These are the major projects involving power stations and large renewable energy schemes, motorways, railways and a range of other high profile, high impact and sometimes controversial development schemes, and including some closely linked to the UK’s transition to Net Zero. The book explains where this separate system for governing major infrastructure came from and how it operates in practice, with a particular focus on the relationship between planning, consent and delivery of these infrastructure projects. Detailed case studies of the A14 highway, Thames Tideway super sewer, Galloper offshore windfarm and Progress Power station, drawing on research by the authors, illustrate issues of the often overlooked continuing role of local government, the engagement of local communities and stakeholders, and the modification of schemes between consent and construction. At a time of ongoing government planning reform, increased concern about climate change, and still unresolved consequences of Brexit, as well as timeless debates such as over national need versus local impact, this timely book offers rich detail on the particular approach to major infrastructure planning in England, but also speaks to wider issues around the governance of development and implementation of government policy under late capitalism.
This book examines complex challenges in managing major strategic economic and social infrastructure projects. It is divided into four primary themes: value-based approach to infrastructure systems appraisal, enabling planning and execution, financing and contracting strategies for infrastructure systems and digitising major infrastructure delivery. Within these four themes, the chapters of the book cover: the value and benefits of infrastructure projects planning for resilient major infrastructure projects sustainable major infrastructure development and management, including during mega events improving infrastructure project financing stakeholder engagement and multi-partner collaborations delivering major infrastructure projects effectively and efficiently whole-life-cycle performance, operations and maintenance relationship risks on major infrastructure projects public-private partnerships, design thinking principles, and innovation and technology. By drawing on insights from their research, the editors and contributors bring a fresh perspective to the transformation of major strategic infrastructure projects. This text is designed to help policymakers and investors select and prioritise their infrastructure needs beyond the constraining logic of political cycles. It offers a practical set of recommendations for governments on attracting private capital for infrastructure projects while creating clear social and economic value for their citizens. Through theoretical underpinning, empirical data and in-depth informative global case studies, the book presents an essential resource for students, researchers, practitioners and policymakers interested in all aspects of strategic infrastructure planning, project management, construction management, engineering and business management.
Andreas Bärmann develops novel approaches for the solution of network design problems as they arise in various contexts of applied optimization. At the example of an optimal expansion of the German railway network until 2030, the author derives a tailor-made decomposition technique for multi-period network design problems. Next, he develops a general framework for the solution of network design problems via aggregation of the underlying graph structure. This approach is shown to save much computation time as compared to standard techniques. Finally, the author devises a modelling framework for the approximation of the robust counterpart under ellipsoidal uncertainty, an often-studied case in the literature. Each of these three approaches opens up a fascinating branch of research which promises a better theoretical understanding of the problem and an increasing range of solvable application settings at the same time.
This book offers a unique and timely contribution, informed by responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, to unpack the intertwined challenges that planning needs to cope with in the future. It argues that the pandemic and post-pandemic periods, in their successive waves of restrictions and social distancing, have disrupted ‘normal’ practices but have also contributed to shaping a ‘new normal’. The new normal is emerging, re-configuring, and prioritizing the substantive objects of planning and its governance and participatory processes. This book discusses this shift and presents a collection of episodes and cases from diverse European urban contexts to develop a new vocabulary for describing and addressing challenges, models, perspectives, and imaginaries that contribute to defining the new normal. The book is aimed at scholars interested in urban planning, sociology, geography, anthropology, art, economy, technology studies, design studies, and political science.
This book forms a selection of chapters submitted for the CUPUM (Computational Urban Planning and Urban Management) conference, held in the second week of June 2021 at Aalto University in Helsinki, Finland. Chapters were selected from a double-blind review process by the conference's scientific committee. The chapters in the book cover developments and applications with big data and urban analytics, collaborative urban planning, applications of geodesign and innovations, and planning support science.
This book constitutes the refereed post-conference proceedings of the First International Conference on Smart Cities, Infrastructures, Technologies and Applications, SCITA 2017, held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in November 2017. The 35 revised full papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 62 submissions. The papers are grouped in topical sections: infrastructure track, e-governance and transportation track, healthcare track, applications track.
Revitalizing railways as a major sustainable transport mode in modern societies faces many issues and challenges. This in-depth overview places the importance of railways in the wider context of comprehensive sustainability, which encompasses sustainable development, social and economic equity and community livability. Some scholars have described the 21st century as a period of renaissance for railways and suggest this transport mode can fulfil people's desire for high mobility with low negative environmental, social, economic and financial impacts. In light of these new expectations for railways, in both passenger and freight transport worldwide, this book offers the latest research insights on the renewed interest about railway expansions and their wide-ranging environmental, socio-economic and even political implications.
The Leaf Plan. Towards the Ecological Transition presents innovative methodologies and practices to guide and support a sustainable urban development to cope with climate, social, economic changes. The book will illustrate comprehensive design approaches to address climate change, urban metabolism, temporary uses, landscape multifunctionality, cohabitation through new modes of urban design based on criteria of flexibility and adaptability. Trento is the experimental territory where the innovative process, methodologies and theoretical reflection have been tested above the framework of the three-year research project “TUT Trento Urban Transformation”. The book is structured around the five challenges (Ecological, Accessible, Smart, Welcoming and Beauty) proposed by the TUT research group for the Trento Leaf Plan, the new metabolic plan for the city of Trento. Beside the innovative field-test experimentations, the holistic methodological approach proposed by the book will be transferable and adapted in other metropolitan contexts to enhance the urban ecological transition. The publication, edited by the TUT research group, will include theoretical essays, critical selection of reference projects, operational tools, and interviews with experts in ecological transition, sustainable mobility, co-design approach, sharing, and urban resilience.