Ten Lessons from Ten Years PPP Experience in Belgium

Abstract

In 2004 Flanders, the northern region of Belgium launched a range of large public–private partnership (PPP) projects for a total value of 6 billion euros. Ten years later, PPP has become a well‐embedded procurement method for long‐term public infrastructure projects. This article makes a critical ‘round‐up’ of PPP experience in Belgium based on the perspectives of infrastructure professionals who were asked to provide their views on performance‐related issues in PPP projects. Two workshops were held to further enrich the input and ideas. Based on this empirical material this article formulates 10 lessons to improve PPP performance, which is deliberately broadly defined. It argues that the dominant ‘value for money’ evaluations, following strictly financial or commercial logics (in both the private and public sectors), need to be broadened. Given the large impact and cost of large infrastructure projects on society, broader societal and spatial contributions of PPPs are needed.

Support for and Behavioral Responses to Tolls

“…The introduction of tolled facilities has increased not just in the U.S., but across the world, due in part to greater reliance on publicprivate partnerships (PPPs) to deliver infrastructure (Gurgun & Touran, 2013;Liyanage & Villalba-Romero, 2015;Willems et al, 2017). Much of the literature on transportation PPPs and tolling has focused on lessons learned in terms of management and governance (Dyble, 2011;Hodge, Boulot, Duffield, & Greve, 2017;Puentes & Istrate, 2011;Rouhani, Gao, & Geddes, 2015), managing risk (Chung, Hensher, & Rose, 2010;Lemp & Kockelman, 2009;Roumboutsos & Pantelias, 2015;Shan, Garvin, & Kumar, 2010;Wang, 2015), pricing and rate setting (Gross & Garvin, 2011;Jang, Song, Choi, & Kim, 2014;Light et al, 2015;Roumboutsos & Pantelias, 2015), and success factors (Hwang, Zhao, & Gay, 2013;Liyanage & Villalba-Romero, 2015;Osei-Kyei & Chan, 2015;Shi, Chong, Liu, & Ye, 2016;Willems et al, 2017). Fewer have examined public support for and behavioral responses to tolls (Gomez, Papanikolaou, & Vassallo, 2016;Jagers, Matti, & Nilsson, 2017;Yusuf et al, 2014).…”

How do professionals perceive the governance of public–private partnerships? Evidence from Canada, the Netherlands and Denmark

“…However, less systematic research has been done on the micro level, examining the perceptions of professionals regarding PPP governance. Exceptions are Hodge et al () who study how Australian professionals react to PPP governance after the contract has been signed and Willems et al () who asked Belgian professionals about their perception of PPPs. Yet, a gap exists with regard to systematic, cross‐country comparative research in this respect.…”

PPPs and non-financial value: a critical analysis of public policy and implications for social, environmental and indigenous cultural values

“…In line with the research aim to examine public policy modes for the recognition and reporting of non-financial values, the Australian state of Victoria was selected as an exemplar case to describe, illustrate and analyse the treatment of key social and environmental accountability issues. The choice of Victoria is apposite for a study of PPP policy because it is widely acknowledged that Australia plays a leading role in PPP projects and policy globally (Hodge and Greve, 2018; Willems et al , 2017), and Victoria has long been recognised as the leading participant in this field (Broadbent and Laughlin, 2004; Grimsey and Lewis, 2005; Hodge and Duffield, 2010; Johnston, 2010). Victoria was the first Australian jurisdiction to develop detailed PPP-specific public policy materials (Malone, 2005) and the Victorian approach has become a primary source for the development of Australian national PPP policy (Hodge and Duffield, 2010).…”

“…In practice, a fundamental problem of incommensurability is masked by quantitative techniques that start with estimation but end with simplification and reduction of inherently complex issues. Where financial motivations and measures dominate, the achievement of longer-term social goals may be hindered (Willems et al , 2017).…”