Highways as coupled infrastructure systems: an integrated approach to address sustainability challenges

Janssen, Marco A.; Anderies, John M.; Baeza, Andrés; Breetz, Hanna L.; Jasiński, Tomasz; Shin, Hoon C.; Vallury, Sechindra

doi:10.1080/23789689.2019.1708181

Cited by 11 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 27 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Indeed, there are multiple interdependencies between all three broad criteria, yet this is not an impediment to analysis since siloed thinking gets in the way of understanding. Systems are no respecters of silos, and it is systemic thinking and practices that are needed when addressing such complex problems as cities pose (Hall et al, 2016a;Janssen et al, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Delivering sustainable, resilient and liveable cities via transformed governance

Rogers,

Grayson,

Sadler

et al. 2023

Front. Sustain. Cities

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In the context of steadily declining Natural Capital and universal recognition of the imperative to reverse this trend before we get to the point that nature is not able to restore itself, cities have a crucial role to play. The UK Government commissioned a comprehensive study into the value of biodiversity, and by extension nature, reinforcing “why we should change our ways”—yet what is missing is the “how?”. This paper uniquely describes both the “how?” and a conclusive demonstration of the remarkable benefits of implementing it in a city. Critical to this process, it took a UK Parliamentary Inquiry to reveal that nature has become invisible within the economy, yet the ecological ecosystem services nature provides have enormous benefits to both people and the economy. Therefore integration—or seamless weaving—of urban greenspace and nature into people's lives and the places where they live, work, and spend their leisure time is vital. Moreover, what nature does not provide must be provided by engineered systems, and these have an economic cost; put another way, there are enormous cost savings to be made by taking advantage of what nature provides. In addressing these issues, this paper is the definitive paper from a 20-year portfolio of research on how to bring about transformative change in the complex system-of-systems that make up our cities, providing as it does the crucial in-depth research into the many diverse strands of governance—the last link in a chain of the creation, testing and proof of efficacy of methodologies underpinning a theory and practice of change for infrastructure and cities. The impact of this portfolio of research on Birmingham is two-fold: the Star Framework that placed natural environment considerations at the heart of all decision-making in the city, and the successful bid for the largest of the UK Future Parks Accelerator awards. While both are transformative in their different ways, yet mutually supportive, the latter enabled the design of a suite of system interventions from which the value of Birmingham's greenspaces is estimated to rise from £11.0 billion to £14.4 billion—a remarkable return on investment from the research's conceptualization of Birmingham's urban greenspace as a “business” (with its associated business models). In achieving this, the necessary enablers of thinking and practicing systemically, seamlessly working across disciplinary boundaries, an unusually strong focus on both the aspirations of all stakeholders and the context in question to define “the problem,” and the testing of proposed system intervention(s) both now and in the future have been iteratively combined. However, it is the critical enabling steps of identifying the complete range of value-generating opportunities that the interventions offer, formulating them into alternative business models to underpin the case for change and ensuring that they are synergistic with all the dimensions of governance that yielded the profound outcomes sought.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Delivering sustainable, resilient and liveable cities via transformed governance

Rogers,

Grayson,

Sadler

et al. 2023

Front. Sustain. Cities

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…There are attempts to expand thinking. The Coupled Infrastructure Systems (CIS) framework for example, and its adaptations, considers the interaction between hard infrastructure, soft infrastructure (which includes legal systems), natural infrastructure, human infrastructure (knowledge) and social infrastructure (relationships; see Janssen et al, 2019). As an SES-based study it aims to gain insights into the interactions within a system and their effect on the robustness of the regime.…”

Section: Infrastructure Governancementioning

confidence: 99%

A Governance Framework for Implementation of Scientific and Engineering Innovation in Buried Infrastructure Systems

Shrimpton

Hunt

Rogers

2022

Front. Sustain. Cities

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article draws on experience within a pervasive sensing research project, the Pipebots project. The aim of the project is to design miniature robots to gather physical condition and environmental data on buried pipe networks, using potable water distribution and wastewater pipe systems as the initial target applications. One of the challenges of the project is to anticipate and address the potential governance issues triggered by the project. Due to the lack of a suitable tool with sufficient breadth to guide thinking, the existing literature has been drawn upon to form the basis of a governance framework for use in infrastructure projects. Whilst the original intention was to be alert to and interrogate the forms of governance that may impact on new infrastructure interventions, what is emerging is a tool that would support the strategy for implementation, improve the design (a no-regrets design policy) and help build the business case for the transformational change the project envisages.

show abstract

“…Madrid has worked on enhancing the sustainability of the city by improving transport infrastructure (such as urban ring roads and high occupancy vehicle lanes), green areas (such as Madrid Río linear park), the recycling system and supporting green business, among others [3]. As it is known that the improvement of transport infrastructures is vital for the socio-economic development, and also to improve mobility and safety [4][5][6], infrastructure investments play a major role on the sustainability of the cities. Additionally, sustainable transport entails a significant contribution on reaching urban sustainable development [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability Analysis of the M-30 Madrid Tunnels and Madrid Río after 14 years of Service Life

Abajo¹,

Pérez-Fortes²,

Alberti³

et al. 2020

Applied Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In 2007, the excavation of the M-30 ring road located in Madrid and the creation of a green corridor either side of the Manzanares river brought significant change to the metropolitan area. The corridor and linear park which it provided were designed to contribute to the regeneration of the fluvial ecosystem, establish links among residents on each side of the river and promote cultural and leisure activities. This paper provides a sustainability analysis of the excavation of the M-30 (involving the socio-economic and environmental impact) 14 years after its construction. In order to show such an impact, an analysis of the area both prior to the project and after completion, as well as a hypothetical solution that uses improved materials, has been performed. This entails use of the multi-criteria decision-making model named MIVES (initials in Spanish, modelo integrado de valor para una evaluación sostenible). The MIVES method is based on the application of value functions of sustainability indicators selected by socio-economic and environmental criteria, chosen by experts. Results from analysis showed that the excavation of the M-30 considerably improved the sustainability of the area (sustainable index 3.43 and 6.26 both before and after the excavation works). However, use of improved materials in contrast with the application of conventional materials slightly improved the sustainability of the work (Sustainability Index 6.26 and 6.74, respectively, of the conventional materials).

show abstract

Highways as coupled infrastructure systems: an integrated approach to address sustainability challenges

Cited by 11 publications

References 27 publications

Delivering sustainable, resilient and liveable cities via transformed governance

Delivering sustainable, resilient and liveable cities via transformed governance

A Governance Framework for Implementation of Scientific and Engineering Innovation in Buried Infrastructure Systems

Sustainability Analysis of the M-30 Madrid Tunnels and Madrid Río after 14 years of Service Life

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About