Infrastructure for the Built Environment: Global Procurement Strategies

Role of construction in economic development: Review of key concepts in the past 40 years

“…Similarly, the government can stabilize the economy by postponing these projects during boom periods (Burns & Grebler, 1984). Through fiscal policy such as changing the amount of public expenditure or interest rates of loans financing these infrastructure projects, the government can generate desired changes in the economy, which has been the subject of many studies (Hillebrandt, 2000;Howes & Robinson, 2005;Lange & Mills, 1979;Lea, 1973;Ofori, 1988;United Nations, 1976). The recent 2008e2009 economic crisis has witnessed many countries relying considerably on construction spending to jumpstart the economy and spur employment.…”

On recognizing land administration as critical, public good infrastructure

“…Contemporary examples include the works of Howes and Robinson (2005), the OECD (2006), Weber and Alfin (2010), and Underhill (2010). The focus was on strategic decision making in relation to infrastructure, rather than dealing with the nature of any specific infrastructure.…”

“…Despite the efforts of land administrators to suggest otherwise (NRC, 1993;Groot, 1997;Coleman and Nebert, 1998;Finley et al, 1998;McLaughlin, 1999;Williamson, 2001b;Enemark, 2001;Bogaerts et al, 2002;Aanestad et al, 2006;Roberge and Kjellson, 2009;Williamson et al, 2010), the core literature dealing with infrastructure design, construction, management, and finance regularly fails to include land administration systems (c.f. Rainer, 1990;Niskanen, 1991;World Bank, 1994;Targowski, 1996;Borgman, 2003;Howes and Robinson, 2005;Nickolov, 2005;OECD, 2006;Brooks and Menon, 2008;Underhill, 2010;Weber and Alfin, 2010). The lack of recognition also exists in practice.…”

A systems approach to strategic infrastructure delivery

“…Governments have sought to involve the private sector in the delivery of public services (Akintoye et al, 2003), and this involvement has been a focus in the delivery of infrastructure (Levy, 1996;Howes and Robinson, 2005), primarily concerned with providing the private sector with an appropriate return on investment (ROI) while ensuring the works are provided effectively and efficiently. The growth in the use of PPP's can be attributed to the process of government debt reduction; and the failure of traditional methods to deliver value-for-money service delivery (Watson, 2003).…”