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Understanding Added Value in Integrated Transport Planning: Exploring the Framework of Intelligence, Design and Choice
... In this process, enterprises should strengthen internal and external collaborative innovation and extensively use the internal and external technology, creative ideas, and resources (Hilbers et al., 2019;Khosravi et al., 2019;Kordej-De Villa and Slijepcevic, 2019;Ozoike-Dennis et al., 2019). ...
In the era of the knowledge economy that is filled with intense competition, formal closed innovation can no longer meet the market demand. The enterprise needs to implement open innovation involving external resources. The concept of open innovation emphasizes both the use of internal and external resources in the process of enterprise innovation and the use of internal and external markets to promote the commercial application of innovation achievements. With the rapid development of Internet technology, enterprises must build an open innovation ecosystem of benefits-sharing, identify, connect, and utilize external innovation resources, and be committed to creating an open innovation ecosystem without organizational boundaries. Enterprises should pay attention to coordinating the relationships among the innovation ecosystem members, eliminating heterogeneous barriers between enterprises and their partners, and enhancing their cooperative innovation ability with external organizations. It is also necessary to build a collaborative innovation platform convenient for the release and acquisition of innovation information, the collection of customer needs and related ideas, and the full use of external resources for innovation. In particular, it is necessary to guide users and related resources to the innovation platform, realize the maximum effect of resource aggregation, and promote customer demand-oriented new product development. Through building an open innovation ecosystem and a collaboration platform, it is helpful for enterprises to seek all kinds of technical and resource support, enhance their ability of independent innovation, promote the emergence of many innovative achievements, and realize value co-creation and win-win cooperation with partners.
... Competition for SME talent is based on how well current executives perform compared to their peers in the same sector and of a similar size (Sun et al. 2019) and (Tiep et al. 2021). As a result, SMEs with a compensation difference are more likely to engage in competitive tournaments with their sector rivals in order to raise their profile in the job market (Ozoike-Dennis et al. 2019) and (Hilbers et al. 2019). SME CE competitions have been shown to target clients who can improve the important locations of vulnerability and acquisition, cash management, R&D spending and capital expenditures, corporation taxes, and liquidity of the company (Durocher et al. 2018). ...
The purpose of this research is to understand the impact of technological innovation on corporate social responsibility and corporate environmental performance, as well as the difference in the measurement of this impact between domestic and foreign companies. Supply chain management is an essential tool to promote environmentally sustainable manufacturing by owning green products, green supply chain management and green manufacturing processes, believes that companies should participate in inappropriate policies, assessments, practices and activities while achieving all components of economy, environment, charity and ethics. The hierarchical regression model is used to analyse 175 small and medium enterprises samples. The survey results show that technological innovation will affect environmental performance and will also have a positive impact on company performance. Efficient companies can bring greater financial success, which not only supports economic community projects but also supports social welfare. Innovating through the participation of management and employees in environmental protection practices can not only improve the company’s performance but also enhance the company’s image among stakeholders. The findings of this article strengthen existing theories and help establish sustainable practices in Chinese and other developing and developed countries.
... The pandemic has impacted all economies crunched, whether developed or developing countries alike. So, there is now an apparent growing path to end the pandemic crises by falling on mass inoculation programs in pace and magnitude (Hilbers et al., 2019;Khosravi et al., 2019;Kordej-De Villa & Slijepcevic, 2019;Ozoike-Dennis et al., 2019). However, the execution is multifaceted and risky, whereas the extended-term ramifications of the Covid-19 on health, acquiring skills, and the quick spread of the technology continue to be significant in doubt (Abdullah et al., 2020;Gao et al., 2021;Haruna & M. Hanafiah, 2017;Soo Mun Peng, 2019). ...
This study evaluates the outlook of government expenditure through public and private financing for the green economic revitalization after COVID-19 in Canada. The various econometric estimations are used to measure the impact of government expenditure on green economic recovery. The implementation of public investment is explicitly associated with private funding. The results suggest that the government policy incentives and non-government financing influence fossil fuel energy sources proportions on non-government investment, which is additional than the feed-in tariffs. According to fixed effects results, the distribution of fossil fuel energy sources is an essential obstacle in solar energy investment. In contrast, the presence of varied types of renewable energy encourages non-government climate investment. Throughout the study period after the breakout of the pandemic phase, neither fossil fuel energy sources nor economic policy is marginally efficient. The different macroeconomic programs in green economic recovery might be ideal for attaining the needed impact. The critical policy conclusion of the results of this research is that an influential role of the public and private investment may be part of an optimal firm innovation plan for green economic recovery in the post-COVID-19 period.
... To achieve this lofty objective, China will need tremendous effort. GHG emissions may be caused by many commercial activities, including energy, industrial and agro-industrial industries (Kordej-De Villa and Slijepcevic 2019; Khosravi et al. 2019;Ozoike-Dennis et al. 2019;Hilbers et al. 2019). Farming and its leaders (i.e. ...
Research on sustainable business models and climate change is the focus of this article, which examines the industry, business and sustainability which has attracted a lot of attention. Because of this, we are investigating the effects of implementing business sustainability capabilities using a multiple-case methodology. An original report on China's small- and medium-sized businesses provided the data for this study that examined the theoretical and empirical relationships between financial literacy, innovation and environmental conservation. We devised a conceptual model to demonstrate the impact of corporate sustainability skills and competencies on climate change. Endogeneity concerns connected to financial literacy, innovation and ecological sustainability necessitate the employment of an instrumental variable for climate change. After adjusting for individual and firm characteristics, we found that financial literacy may substantially impact a company's sustainable business model. The findings suggest that financial literacy may boost company innovations by relieving financial restrictions and enhancing corporate governance, both of which contribute to the development of sustainable businesses that assist in increasing climate change mitigation efforts. On the other hand, innovation has a more significant influence on low-leverage companies. There was also a lot of talk about climate change, greenhouse gas emissions and climate change in the business context. This research, therefore, sheds light on how business sustainability capabilities and competencies might improve a company's environmental performance.
... This has to be estimated, and it is necessary to ascertain the significant aspects of EE by undertaking vertical juxtaposition alongside energy use across different sectors and horizontally compare various factors alongside the EC domain as well as horizontally compare different types of energy consumption regarding pollution planning plus EE . EE is now more than ever the number one goal of the manufacturing sector due to bottlenecks within production processes (Kordej-De Villa and Slijepcevic 2019; Khosravi et al. 2019;Ozoike-Dennis et al. 2019;and Hilbers et al. 2019). For climate change triggered by the release of global warming gases, the way energy is being consumed and the accompanying carbon dioxide pollution are a concern to the world. ...
The generally held belief is that government spending on education and research and development is to bring about direct impacts on the advancement and sustainability of an economy. Nonetheless, this evidence is not prevalent within industrialized and third-world economies, particularly among the foremost ten carbon dioxide releasing economies. Therefore, the OLS and the DEA are used to estimate the relationship between government public spending on research and development plus green economic advancement, utilizing data from several countries between 2008 and 2018. The findings reveal a varying green economic expansion indicator, which is a result of inadequate government programs to deliver results. Subsequently, for types of expenditure where formal juxtaposition can be made, such as RE compared with conventional energy, the authors detect that multipliers on green cost are almost twofold their traditional sources. The point approximate of the multipliers is 1.1–1.7 for green energy financing and 0.4 and 0.7 for conventional energy financing, depending on time and modeling. These results passed all the required sensitivity analyses. They provided backing to the bottom-up analysis, which reveals that controlling global warming, including preventing biodiversity extinction, works hand in hand with creating economic development and advancement.
... It can be derived from the two estimates, which indicate the significant rises in primary energy supply (PE) in the United States, Japan, and the rest of the world's gross CO 2 emissions (Kordej-De Villa and Slijepcevic 2019; Khosravi et al. 2019). With over 1.3 billion people expected to live in the area in the future, the enormous effect Asia would face is significant as it continues to rise in prominence in terms of clout in the latter alternative (Ozoike-Dennis et al. 2019;Hilbers et al. 2019). Many countries in the world, especially those in the early stages of development, face a high risk of loss which increased in both habitat diversity and health due to climate change. ...
This paper seeks to examine the effect of financial inclusion on energy efficiency financing to limit energy poverty in OECD. The study uses 1998–2018 for the OECD economy to connect the nexus between financial inclusion, energy efficiency and poverty indices, country-wise GDP, and financial inclusion index. The findings show that a financial inclusion 1% increase improves 14% energy efficiency, and this energy efficiency lowers energy poverty by 28%. These results are deduced via the entropy technique and compatible with prior research on energy efficiency and poverty. This study illustrates the different policy changes that may be implemented based on the resultant deductions. The energy efficiency indices are affected by FI substantially, albeit in various ways. Unsustainable financial inclusion increases energy costs, but not to the level of energy use and environmental severe pollution. The increasing concern about environmental contamination should show in the energy industry of OECD.
... For example (Wang et al. 2018) employ a GARCHSK method and CoVaR-Network, a method for examining the effects of stock market spillovers between the U.S. and China, as well as the crude oil market. Another study (Wen et al. 2016) investigated the risk connectedness of oil and stock markets using wavelet coherence and B.K. Frequency connectedness approaches (Ozoike-Dennis et al. 2019) and (Hilbers et al. 2019). Other studies (National and Stewardship 2005;Gurara and Ncube 2013;Dupor and Guerrero 2017;Dutta 2018;Bettendorf 2019;Wen et al. 2019;Yu et al. 2020;Pedauga et al. 2021;Yarovaya et al. 2021) also shows that risk spillovers are heterogeneous and change over the long and short term (Accastello et al. 2019), (Molla et al. 2019) and (Pinto et al. 2019). ...
This paper investigates volatility spillovers between the global crude oil market and the stock markets of the global oil stock markets (Russian, Canada, China, Kuwait, and the USA) pre and after the COVID-19 pandemic. We use wavelet Granger causality methods to study the volatility spillovers between global oil stock markets, mainly from January 1, 2019, to March 31, 2021. Our Results (1) shows that WTI and Brent oil prices had a negative mean return before COVID-19 but a positive mean return during the pandemic spread. Other Results (2) find the positive, significantly lowest, and highest frequency during the COVID-19 outbreak for all selected countries. The results also show that the link between oil WTI & Brent prices and stock markets return in the lowest (33-66 days) and highest frequency range (4-16) before the Covid-19 epidemic, especially in the first quarter of 2020. Before the COVID-19 period, the Russian oil stock market is seriously prejudiced with oil prices on a modest scale, but not after the pandemic's start. This study also perceives direction opposite between the COVID-19 period. The Canadian and United States America oil and stock markets influence the lowest scale in the previous COVID-19 sample for the U.S. market. Moreover, this paper exposed that oil marketing highest oil futures in their portfolios than stock shares for all times. We found that oil price shocks had a more significant impact on the stock markets of the United States and Canada than on the stock markets of other countries.
... Economic development considerations are intertwined with environmental protection and human well-being. Researchers Ozoike-Dennis et al. (2019), Hilbers et al. (2019), and Barro et al. (2020) looked into the global wealth creation for energy, which is mostly derived from energy sources such as coal, coal, and nuclear. The research found that the vast majority of the traditional energy originates from fossil fuels, accounting for between 80 and 90%. ...
A major issue for governments in the past few decades has been environmental deterioration caused by economic activity. Researchers are increasingly interested in the factors that contribute to environmental deterioration. This research fills the empirical gaps by looking at the influence of carbon footprints of growth and R&D investment on green finance development of renewable energy. Ordinary least square (OLS) is used in this work to assess the long-term connection between chosen variables in South Asia from 1995 to 2018. The importance of green finance, clean energy, and green financial instability have been identified as major variables. According to the study’s overall findings, clean energy, green finance, and sustainable economic growth are all important and positive indicators of a composite assessment of sustainable practices. Green bonds, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and green economic development all play an important part in green finance development and renewable energy production. The research also found that R&D expenditures had a positive and substantial influence on green finance development in South Asia, with a 1% increase in R&D expenditures lowering the sustainability of the environment by 0.070% and 0.080%. Other practical consequences for South Asia include a more suitable path toward a greener economy, as suggested by the projected findings.
... Therefore, we can preliminarily infer that industrial structural upgrading is a significant influencing factor of carbon emissions. Additionally, the role of energy intensity has also been highlighted in studies of the drivers of CO 2 emissions (Hilbers et al., 2019;Naminse and Zhuang, 2018;Tajudeen et al., 2018), which indicates that we should also consider energy intensity when studying the determinants of CO 2 emissions. ...
The nexus between trade openness and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions remains unsettled in the existing literature. Using a balanced panel dataset for 76 countries from 1990 to 2019, this study empirically investigates the non-linear relationship between trade openness and CO 2 emissions. Given the potential cross-sectional interdependence in the panel, we employ the system-generalised method of moments. We also conduct a mediating effect analysis to explore potential mediation effect in the trade openness-CO 2 nexus. Finally, the regional heterogeneity is discussed. The empirical results revealed an inverted U-shaped relationship between trade openness and CO 2 emissions, indicating that CO 2 emissions increase initially with an expansion of trade openness, then decline after trade openness crossing the turning point. Furthermore, three mediation effects (i.e. scale effect, technique effect and composition effect) exist in the nexus between trade openness and CO 2 emissions. Additionally, the impact of trade openness is heterogeneous across different regions. The main research results show that technique spillover is an important way to achieve a win-win situation in emission reduction and trade openness.
... There is a widespread forecast that the international aviation industry will experience strong development worldwide by 2020. In recent days, this has been in the context of a continuous expansion in freight, passenger traffic, and revenues throughout the sector Ozoike-Dennis et al. (2019) and Hilbers et al. (2019). In view of the unexpected and fickle effects of COVID-19 on the world economy, the pandemic's influence on different industries within the economy must thus be constantly monitored and followed to impart wisdom essential for policy and practice Lobato et al. (2021), Ielasi et al. (2018), Karim et al. (2022) and Ferrat et al. (2022). ...
This study examines fiscal-monetary policy links in America across a time period that includes the recent global economic crisis and the COVID-19 emergency. Hypotheses deviate that regulatory administrations are permanent and calculate fiscal policy yearly percentage rate and budgetary regulations which are likely to change between two governments. Additionally, study uses the VAR technique to evaluate the effects of financial initiatives similar to those undertaken in the aftermath of the Covid-19 outbreak. Results discovered that fiscal policy is more successful than monetary policy, and that lavishing on public debt helps increase short-run economic performance. People argue that concerns about a rapid rise in prices as a result of fiscal stimulus are unfounded because the US economy was not close to full employment or full use of funds prior to the global epidemic, and the dissemination processes that could contribute to accelerating rising prices are not always in place. As a result, with the withdrawal of monetary stimulus, the favourable effects on actual GDP and real private expenditure are gone. Long-term mortgage rates have risen, money invested has decreased, and prices have risen, raising concerns about the banking system's inflationary tendency.
... In the era of global pollution and warming, people are being forced to seek innovative approaches to achieving long-term sustainability, while people's inability to prioritize local issues over external issues is an inkling of unresolved problems caused by pollution (Kordej-De Villa and Slijepcevic 2019; Khosravi et al. 2019;Yadav et al. 2021). Economic progress, conserve natural resources, and environmental stewardship are three pillars of the green market (Ozoike-Dennis et al. 2019;Hilbers et al., 2019). Despite the relevance of the green economy, it is vital to thoroughly investigate the factors influencing its development. ...
The green economy is viewed as a cost-effective means of achieving sustainability around the globe, and a recent study inferred the nexus between the fiscal imbalances and green economic growth based on E-7 economies data. This paper attempts to answer how green fiscal spending ensures green economic growth and stabilizes fiscal imbalances in E-7 economies. The study findings highlighted the mechanism and viability of green fiscal spending for fiscal imbalances and green economic growth. More specifically, results showed that green fiscal spending extends green economic growth in Brazil with 30%, in China with 44%, in India with 11.8%, in Indonesia with 34%, Russia with 29.7%, and Turkey with 22.4%, respectively. Based on the findings, the following are our recommendations: (i) local governments should rebalance their fiscal budgets and invest more on public goods to assess local sustainable development, and (ii) several development initiatives specific to the local level should be employed to maximize fiscal spending.
... At the same time, the macroeconomic impacts of these policies can't be evaluated within the environment of conventional macroeconomic models. Within this research piece, we examine fiscal policy interplay within a phase that comprises the world's financial crisis of 2008 as well as an aspect of the pandemic crisis (Ozoike-Dennis et al. 2019) and (Hilbers et al. 2019). To do this, we ease the presumptions that policy situations are rigid and take (Azad et al. 2021) to approximate interest percentage regulations for monetary policy and tax regulations for fiscal policy that varies randomly among dual regimes (Yildirim and Onder 2019) and (Geghamyan and Pavlickova 2019). ...
This study seeks to evaluate the efficacy of macroeconomic revamping policies operationalized after the pandemic by fiscal and monetary regulators to fight the pandemic in China. This study aims to assess what the Chinese economic recovery implies after the pandemic regarding economic expansion and energy consumption of different economies utilizing an econometric approximation relying on data throughout the COVID-19 phase. Within the extended stage, Chinese economic development spillover impacts attain the same effect on upper-middle-income nations' economic expansion of 0.18 percent, next to the economic development, of lower-middle-income countries of 0.15 percent and high-income nations. We discover proofs of robust direct provincial spillovers, implying that provinces tend to construct a cluster of high-performing and low-performing areas, a procedure that accentuates regional earnings variances. Applying the experience of revamping previous financial crisis, we replicate the impact of the pandemic on the competence of these, and by far, other upper limit income nations to build back better from the pandemic to jobs occasioned by proofs of the pandemic. The spillover impact of China’s economic revival past the pandemic phase's carries a critical effect on the expansion in energy consumption in high-income nations, subsequently middle-income nations. As total factor productivity headwinds underpin economic growth, fiscal policy is the only policy that probably sustains the pollution intensities and concurrently advances household well-being regarding consumption and jobs.
... Brown and Kyttä (2014) argue that the PPGIS process can be a means to (geographically) represent existing social capital and enhanced community identity to improve the quality of land use decisions. This study expanded on this previous research by identifying 'soft' place values and enabling a shared understanding of these key place values to facilitate the selection of an acceptableinstead of optimal -plan alternative (Hilbers et al. 2019). Our findings show Valued yet Unprotected places, which can both be seen as potential resistance areas and can assist planners in developing and selecting an acceptable project alternative. ...
Projects for road infrastructure and spatial development easily meet public resistance because of a lack of local knowledge of place values by (often non‐local) planners. The aim of this study is to explore how insights in place values might improve the local knowledge base for planners of integrated road infrastructure projects and spatial development. We developed, tested and analysed the results from a novel online value‐mapping tool called the ‘Place Value Identifier’. The developed method allows us to (i) relate to ‘soft’ valuable places identified by Public Participation GIS as a complement to ‘hard’ land use data, (ii) define Valued yet Unprotected places based on combining ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ values and (iii) illustrate how these insights can be used for integrated planning of road infrastructure projects. The findings of this study show the increased potential of value mapping techniques and illustrate possible resistance areas around road infrastructure planning projects. This knowledge may assist planners in creating and selecting acceptable project alternatives that may invoke high public acceptance.
... This requires collaboration among territorial actors sensu Hägerstrand (2001), and knowledge about the states and trends of ecosystem services. This calls for new modes of knowledge production and learning (e.g., Gibbons et al. 1994, Hirsh-Hadorn et al. 2008, Guimarães et al. 2018, Hilbers et al. 2019. As a consequence, social innovations are now arising, aiming at areabased collective action across multiple sectors in landscapes involving knowledge-based multilevel fora for social interactions (e.g., IMFN 2008, Angelstam et al. 2013, 2019b, Sayer et al. 2013, Singh et al. 2013. ...
Achieving sustainable development as an inclusive societal process in rural landscapes, and sustainability in terms of functional green infrastructures for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services, are wicked challenges. Competing claims from various sectors call for evidence-based adaptive collaborative governance. Leveraging such approaches requires maintenance of several forms of social interactions and capitals. Focusing on Pan-European regions with different environmental histories and cultures, we estimate the state and trends of two groups of factors underpinning rural landscape stewardship, namely, (1) traditional rural landscape and novel face-to-face as well as virtual fora for social interaction, and (2) bonding, bridging, and linking forms of social capital. We applied horizon scanning to 16 local landscapes located in 18 countries, representing Pan-European social-ecological and cultural gradients. The resulting narratives, and rapid appraisal knowledge, were used to estimate portfolios of different fora for social interactions and forms of social capital supporting landscape stewardship. The portfolios of fora for social interactions were linked to societal cultures across the European continent: “self-expression and secular-rational values” in the northwest, “Catholic” in the south, and “survival and traditional authority values” in the East. This was explained by the role of traditional secular and religious local meeting places. Virtual internet-based fora were most widespread. Bonding social capitals were the strongest across the case study landscapes, and linking social capitals were the weakest. This applied to all three groups of fora. Pan-European social-ecological contexts can be divided into distinct clusters with respect to the portfolios of different fora supporting landscape stewardship, which draw mostly on bonding and bridging forms of social capital. This emphasizes the need for regionally and culturally adapted approaches to landscape stewardship, which are underpinned by evidence-based knowledge about how to sustain green infrastructures based on both forest naturalness and cultural landscape values. Sharing knowledge from comparative studies can strengthen linking social capital.
As a result of the COVID-19 epidemic, a worldwide economic slump has reduced the depletion of natural resources, lowering their costs. The loss of renewable energy profitability might hinder the attainment of specified goals of sustainable development goals. By using Chinese provinces data from 1995 to 2020, this research examined the relationships between renewable energy investment (REI), green finance (GFI), growth of the economy (GDP), renewable energy production (REP), and private sector participation (PSP) in China. According to this analysis, REI, REP, and GFI are more variable throughout the given period than GDP. And PSP. A bidirectional substantial causal correlation between REI and REP was identified using the Generalized method of moments (GMM). Still, the regression coefficient between GDP and REI and REI. and GFI has a one-way causal relationship. There was no evidence that the PSP directly impacted the REI. Based on the empirical findings of this research, we propose that policies be designed to reduce volatility in REI GFI, and REP and increase support to improve sustainable economic development and environmental and renewable energy production. Examine between green financing and environmental conservation for long-term environmental quality.
Renewable energy (RE) and energy efficiency (EE) have become hot topics among academic and business players in recent history in relation to the question of sustainable growth. Considering this backdrop, this research evaluates the EE of RE and the influence of RE on energy potential risk from both static and dynamic viewpoints in G-7 nations from 2005 to 2019. To quantify EE, a GVAR is utilized. Our results show no substantial impact on energy security risk from wind, hydropower, or total RE sources based on the Augmented Mean Group (AMG) projections for G-7 nations. Fuel and hydropower have a unidirectional causality to energy security risk, while manufacturing output, fuel consumption, financial interdependence, and urbanization have bidirectional causalities on energy security risk as per the Dumitrescu-Hurlin panel causality test results. The findings show that G-7 countries have varying levels of EE. The average EE of G-7 countries is large (with most member countries falling short of the average), coupled with a large standard deviation (suggesting wide EE disparities among member countries). Dynamic productivity is also affected by the 2007 global economic crisis that was sparked in the US. Besides that, we show that the G-7 nations use both “catch-up” and “border shift” tactics to boost EE and to reduce G-7-specific energy security risks.
History records show that pandemics and threats have always given new directions to the thinking, working, and learning styles. This article attempts to thoroughly document the positive core of coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) and its impact on global social psychology, ecological stability, and development. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is used to test the hypotheses and comprehend the objectives of the study. The findings of the study reveals that the path coefficients for the variables health consciousness, naturalism, financial impact and self-development, sustainability, compassion, gregariousness, sympathy, and cooperation demonstrate that the factors have a positive and significant effect on COVID-19 prevention. Moreover, the content analysis was conducted on recently published reports, blog content, newspapers, and social media. The pieces of evidence from history have been cited to justify the perspective. Furthermore, to appraise the opinions of professionals of different walks of life, an online survey was conducted, and results were discussed with expert medical professionals. Outcomes establish that the pandemics give birth to creativity, instigate innovations, prompt inventions, establish human ties, and foster altruistic elements of compassion and emotionalism.
This research aims to utilize quarterly global VAR data from April 1, 2020, to September 30, 2021, to assess the influence of the economic recovery of China following the COVID-19 outbreak on global economies. China is one of the first big economies globally to show indications of recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic. The nation's economic growth has the biggest long-term influence on middle-income nations (0.17%) followed by low- and middle-income economies (0.16%) and high-income economies (0.16%) (0.15%). The chain reaction of China's economic growth is most visible in high-income nations (0.11–0.45%), followed by middle-income countries (0.08–0.33%) and low-income countries (0.02–0.05%). Our findings show that the post-COVID-19 economic rebound in China will mostly benefit middle-income nations, with low- and middle-income countries following closely after. After COVID-19, the influence of the economic recovery of China is most visible in the rise of energy consumption in high-income nations, followed by middle-income economies. It is also worth noting that the influence of China's economic expansion on low- and middle-income economies does not always imply a rise in energy consumption. Overall, China's economic recovery has a significantly stronger influence on other countries’ economic development than other countries’ energy consumption has on other economies’ growth.
This study used a systematic empirical method, the DEA, to examine the effect of green finance on the industrial structure of Vietnam holistically to present the way forward for the improvement of green economic recovery. The empirical findings indicate that the effect of green finance on the industrial structure is 0.29, 0.37, and 1.98 on green economic recovery correspondingly. The green finance and the industrial structure present in Vietnam lead to significant economic benefits for the green economic recovery in the country as a whole. Additionally, we included other factors such as the urbanization, industrialization, and population growth to predict the green economic recovery better. The DEA technique was applied in the analysis, and the findings were robust. In addition, four hypothetical time-dependent cases showed that Vietnam’s anticipated green finance and industrial structure nexus for the year 2001 to 2019. Empirical forecast findings indicate that the percentage of industrial structure is declining, and as a consequence, green finance has risen by 11.9% on average during the period. Reductions in industrial structure will cause Vietnam’s green funding to decline significantly. Such findings thus proposed several policy implications for essential stakeholders.
Sustainable goals are achieved by utilizing private firms' investment in renewable energy sources. Globally, the demand for alternative sources of Renewable Energy (RE) and green finance (GF) has prompted an increase in research on these topics. This research applies a novel technique panel cointegration and causality model to evaluate the causes of green finance development in China between 1990 and 2020. This study adds information on the relationship between green finance and financial inclusion in the form of private firms' investments. The findings show that green finance and financial inclusion (FI) are beneficial to development globally and more granular. For every 1% growth in RE sources, there will be a 0.522% rise in trademark filings and a 0.1243% rise in private sector investment filings. The trademark and patent are promoted by 0.062% when financial inclusion is improved by 0.031%. Investment, commerce, and human progress have a calming effect on the connection discussed above. A variety of robustness tests supports our model results. This study's policy recommendations include decentralizing the energy industry to allow for more private sector participation; financial incentives for enterprises to use RE. It is clear from these findings that our study contributes significantly to the field of empirical research and also gives crucial policy recommendations.
This study’s objective is to observe and assess the relationship between the performance of small and medium enterprises and total quality management. In particular, it examines whether the effectiveness link between total quality management and SMEs is impacted by organizational culture. The owners and managers of small and medium-sized enterprises in Vietnam’s South-West area were surveyed using a self-administered questionnaire. Measurable findings contribute to the literature by indicating that total quality management and organizational culture directly influence the performance of small and medium enterprises. And also a crucial and positive anomalous impact on small and medium-scale enterprises’ performance via total quality management. The statistical cross-sectional research design examined a case study of a small business that had been put together. As a follow-up study, extra data might be examined using subjective or methodological approaches. The investigation’s findings shed light on small and medium enterprises’ owners-managers in today’s unique industrial environment, focusing on total quality management to increase productivity. Small and medium-sized enterprises may benefit from the findings by receiving guidance on organizational culture, which has an influence on the efficient implementation of total quality management, hence increasing performance.
Since China's economic reform, the country's economy has thrived. Chinese foreign direct investment is attracting more and more attention throughout the globe. Although China's energy issues and environmental degradation have worsened as the economy has grown, the energy consumption structure has become more problematic. The generation of green finance and renewable energy resources is essential to addressing environmental issues and achieving sustainable development. Using data from 30 Chinese provinces from 2000 to 2019, this research examines the link between green finance, foreign direct investment, and GDP. Only economic growth is detected I(2) in the second stage, which uses first-generation and second-generation unit root tests for panel data (0). Due to these considerations, we adopted an autoregressive distributed lag technique with a Pooled Mean Group, Mean Group, and Dynamic Fixed Effect estimation model. According to the findings, only renewable energy was shown to be substantial and negative in terms of Greenhouse gas emissions, while FDI was determined to be important and beneficial only in the long run. This study shows that we need more strategic thinking about how we can deploy in the renewable sector while also advancing techniques, advancement, human capital, research, and development that will boost green finance production and sustainable development in the long run.
This study presents empirical insights into Dutch citizens' preferences for spatial equality in the context of decision-making regarding the composition of a national transport investment plan. To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first study worldwide which empirically investigates citizens' preferences for the spatial distribution of benefits accruing from a transport investment plan. We conducted two Stated Choice experiments: one involving an investment plan for travel time savings, the other involving an investment plan for traffic safety. Our results show that in the context of travel time savings, a vast majority of citizens has a strong preference for spatial equality. When the investment program involves traffic safety improvements, the share of citizens that has a preference for spatial equality is considerably smaller. Specifically, using a Latent class discrete choice analysis we identified distinct segments. The first segment has a very strong preference for the investment program having the largest total reduction in traffic deaths; the second segment assigns a substantial value to an equal distribution of reductions of traffic deaths across the Netherlands. Highly educated citizens are found to have a relatively strong preference for spatial equality as compared to low educated citizens. Contrary to our expectations, explanatory variables such as political orientation, income, car ownership and region of residence do not appear to associate with citizens' preferences for spatial equality.
Planning and conserving nature areas are challenging tasks in urbanized and intensively used countries like the Netherlands. This paper supports decision making and public policy debate about these tasks in both an empirical and a methodological way. Empirically, we explore policy alternatives by determining the potential consequences of different nature policy scenarios in the Netherlands. Methodologically, we employ a mixed monetary and non-monetary evaluation method known as multi-criteria cost-benefit analysis (MCCBA). We evaluate four new future directions of Dutch nature policy that address four dominant stakeholder demands: biodiversity conservation, the provision of ecosystem services, recreational potential as well as economic gains. To balance compact presentation of evaluation outcomes on the one hand and information richness of results on the other, we distinguish between two impact indicator sets: three “headline” and ten “elaborate” indicators. Using these indicators we discuss the quantitative assessment of the four nature policy scenarios by comparing them to two other scenarios, reflecting the 2010 stand-still baseline situation (2010) as well as a reference policy (Trend). In total, we evaluate six scenarios; four present new directions and two reflect existing or recently (2010) halted practices. Our findings first of all show that even in an urbanized country like the Netherlands, with its intensive competition among land use functions, serious gains in national and international biodiversity are possible. Second, we find that it is doubtful whether stimulating the provision of regulating ecosystem services in a country which applies intensive and profitable agricultural techniques is beneficial. Other countries or areas that are less suitable for intensive agricultural practices may be more logical for this. Finally we demonstrate that increasing urban recreational green space − a common challenge for many urban areas − can only be achieved at relatively high costs, while it does not seem to lead to relatively high scores on nature appreciation. Nature appreciation seems to be served better by wilder nature than by park-like nature.
Planners need to adopt market-conscious planning to estimate how and where planning interventions create value for both investors and end-users. This article presents such kind of planning support methodology by incorporating difference-in-differences estimation into hedonic price models to examine the added value of sustainable development. It illustrates this methodology by using spatial panel data to compare market effects before and after the extension of the metro system in Nanjing, China. Results show that metro extension has positive effects in suburban areas, particularly in suburbs far away from metro stops before, while it has limited effects in central urban areas. Accessibility to financial and business services and open space also contributes to house prices after controlling for the effects of access to metros. Urban sustainable policies need to emphasize integration between land use and transportation planning in suburbs. This methodology provides planners with a means for determining market value of planning interventions, and contributes to more market-conscious planning.
Planning approaches that integrate road infrastructure and other land uses are being increasingly applied. Dealing with functional interrelatedness and stakeholder fragmentation are the main reasons for this. This article conceptualizes and analyses why and how such integrated approaches can be applied effectively throughout consecutive stages of infrastructure planning. The two case studies illustrate that the concept of integration is applied for strategic as well as operational reasons, and they reveal that these reasons may alternate throughout the planning process. Effective integration is therefore dynamic: it appropriately focuses on strengthening the socio-economic perspectives of a region for the longer term, as well as on the relations between different land uses that are physically adjacent and competing for space within a smaller area. Due to fragmented institutional contexts, successfully dealing with interrelatedness requires an intense level of interaction amongst involved actors. Such “co-production” of visions and plans has two important characteristics: negotiation, and learning about each other’s goals. Ultimately the case studies also show that planning at the infrastructure–land use interface needs institutional mechanisms to guide the alterations between strategically and operationally inspired integration. Contracts with private parties, public participation, and positive conditions for learning about each other’s referential frames are examples of the institutional mechanisms encountered in this study.
The scientific literature frequently discusses questions if cost-benefit analysis (CBA) or multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) is the appropriate appraisal tool in transport policy-making, or a combination of both. Hardly any literature exists on the opinions of real transport policy decision-makers about appraisal tools such as CBA or MCDM (or both) which are actually supposed to help them. The aim of this paper is to discuss from a politicians’ perspective how a useful transport policy appraisal tool might look like. Twenty-one Dutch transport politicians were interviewed on their views on CBA. The results show that they use CBA but in a non-decisive manner and they find the aggregate outcome (the composite result) of CBAs pretentious. They seem especially interested in appraisal tools which show clearly to them the political important trade-offs of a transport policy. This paper proposes a possible approach for such a trade-off information sheet using both CBA and MCDM.
Studies in the Planning Support Systems (PSS) debate are increasingly paying attention to the support function of PSS. This involves among other things studying the usefulness of PSS to practitioners. This paper adds another dimension to this evolving debate by arguing that planning tasks should receive more attention. Although planning tasks are central in several PSS definitions, they have hardly received explicit attention in empirical studies. In an aim to fill this void we conducted an empirical study based on the perspective of task-technology fit. The latter consists of a combination (‘fit’) of analytical and communicative support capabilities (‘technologies’), and three types of planning tasks: exploration, selection and negotiation. Next, we selected four case studies in the Netherlands, in which the same PSS was applied, which consists of a combination of the CommunityViz software and a touch-enabled MapTable. The cases differed in the planning tasks that were central during the workshop, resulting in different kinds of usefulness attributed to the PSS. For instance, in one case with a selection task the communicative support capabilities contributed to the transparency of the process, whereas in another the analytic support capabilities of the PSS improved the task of negotiation because of the iterative feedback it provided. The paper concludes with the observation that the concept of task-technology fit has potential be applied in different contexts and with different types of PSS.
Environmental decision support intends to use the best available scientific knowledge to help decision makers find and evaluate management alternatives. The goal of this process is to achieve the best fulfillment of societal objectives. This requires a careful analysis of (i) how scientific knowledge can be represented and quantified, (ii) how societal preferences can be described and elicited, and (iii) how these concepts can best be used to support communication with authorities, politicians, and the public in environmental management. The goal of this paper is to discuss key requirements for a conceptual framework to address these issues and to suggest how these can best be met. We argue that a combination of probability theory and scenario planning with multi-attribute utility theory fulfills these requirements, and discuss adaptations and extensions of these theories to improve their application for supporting environmental decision making. With respect to (i) we suggest the use of intersubjective probabilities, if required extended to imprecise probabilities, to describe the current state of scientific knowledge. To address (ii), we emphasize the importance of value functions, in addition to utilities, to support decisions under risk. We discuss the need for testing "non-standard" value aggregation techniques, the usefulness of flexibility of value functions regarding attribute data availability, the elicitation of value functions for sub-objectives from experts, and the consideration of uncertainty in value and utility elicitation. With respect to (iii), we outline a well-structured procedure for transparent environmental decision support that is based on a clear separation of scientific prediction and societal valuation. We illustrate aspects of the suggested methodology by its application to river management in general and with a small, didactical case study on spatial river rehabilitation prioritization.
Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
In response to societal, political and financial-economic dynamics, a trend towards integration of road infrastructure planning and planning of other land use functions can be observed. Effects of this trend – which is especially visible in the Netherlands, but can also be recognized in other countries – are observable in spatial development plans, designs and projects, as well as the organizational sides of planning. In this paper we take a substantial perspective regarding these innovations; we make a distinction between broadening of the functional scope and the spatial scope of projects. Both deserve careful consideration in the optimization of synergy among planning sectors, which can be seen as a concrete reflection of often abstract sustainability principles. Traditional barriers between spatial policy sectors (‘silos’) have to be overcome in order to optimize this synergy, while traditional administrative boundaries often hamper the definition of optimal project areas needed for context-specific infrastructure development. This paper aims to analyse the broadening of these scopes from a theoretical and empirical perspective. In order to examine the relationship between planning scopes and sustainability of outcomes we propose an analytical framework based on a review of scientific literature and policy documents. After this we explore the position of these concepts within Dutch road infrastructure planning and build on the experiences gained through our involvement in the development of a planning instrument for sustainable integrated developments. The insights are used to draw conclusions about the relationship between the functional and spatial scope of infrastructure projects and their potential contribution to a more sustainable road infrastructure planning practice, in terms of synergy and spatial quality. Furthermore, possible consequences for the organizational side of infrastructure planning are discussed.
Cost-benefit analysis has become a widely used and well developed tool for evaluation of suggested transport projects. This paper presents our view of the role and position of CBA in a transport planning process, partly based on a survey of a number of countries where CBA plays a formalised role in decision making. The survey shows that methodologies, valuations and areas of application are broadly similar across countries. All countries place the CBA results in a comprehensive assessment framework that also includes various types of non-monetised benefits. An important advantage with using CBA is that it is a way to overcome cognitive, structural and process-related limitations and biases in decision making. Some of the main challenges to CBA and to quantitative assessment in general lie in the institutional and political context. There is often a risk that CBA enters the planning process too late to play any meaningful role. This risk seems to increase when planning processes are centred around a perceived “problem”. If the problem is perceived as important enough, even inefficient solutions may be viewed as better than nothing, despite that the definition of what constitutes a “problem” is often arbitrary.
The European Union (EU) Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive which was introduced some 25 years ago has had a major impact on decision-making practices in EU member states. In the professional literature, this impact has mostly been discussed under the heading of "effectiveness", with an emphasis being given in particular to procedural elements. The extent to which EIA has contributed to objectives, such as raising environmental awareness and leading to an incorporation of environmental values in decision-making has only been rarely investigated. This paper reflects on these latter two aspects of EIA effectiveness in two EU member states; the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Empirical evidence was compiled mainly on the basis of a comprehensive literature review and online surveys with EIA professionals in both countries. Our results indicate that overall the instrument is about equally effective in both countries with regards to the incorporation of environmental concerns in decision-making. As both countries have different governance mechanisms, further research is needed on why perceived effectiveness does not differ more.
Questions of how best to define the ends, justify the means, and measure the performance of governments have preoccupied political economists for centuries. Recently, the concept of public value—defined in terms of the many dimensions of value that a democratic public might want to see produced by and reflected in the performance of government—has been proposed as an alternative approach. This article develops three philosophical claims central to the practice of public value accounting: (1) when the collectively owned assets of government are being deployed, the appropriate arbiter of public value is the collectively defined values of a “public” called into existence and made articulate through the quite imperfect processes of democratic governance; (2) the collectively owned assets include not only government money but also the authority of the state; (3) the normative framework for assessing the value of government production relies on both utilitarian and deontological philosophical frameworks.
Throughout western Europe, metropolitan governance is back on the agenda. Since the early 1990s, new forms of city-suburban cooperation, regional coordination, regionwide spatial planning and metropolitan institutional organization have been promoted in major city-regions. In contrast to the forms of metropolitan governance that prevailed during the Fordist-Keynesian period - which emphasized administrative modernization, interterritorial equalization and the efficient delivery of public services - the newest wave of metropolitan governance reform is focused upon economic priorities such as territorial competitiveness and attracting external capital investment in the context of geoeconomic and European integration. This article develops an interpretation of the new metropolitan governance in western Europe in two steps. First, I situate the new metropolitan governance in historical context by underscoring its qualitative differences from earlier waves of metropolitan institutional reform. Second, building upon a critique of contemporary `new regionalist' discourses, I develop an interpretation of current metropolitan reform initiatives as important structural and strategic expressions of ongoing, crisis-induced transformations of state spatiality. To this end, I relate contemporary metropolitan reform projects: (a) to various broader trends and counter-trends of state spatial reorganization; and (b) to newly emergent political strategies oriented towards a reconfiguration of inherited approaches to entrepreneurial urban governance. From this perspective, contemporary forms of metropolitan institutional reform are interpreted as key expressions of ongoing processes of state rescaling through which territorial competitiveness is being promoted at a regional scale, albeit in highly contradictory, often self-undermining ways. The article concludes by summarizing some of the methodological implications of this analysis for future studies of urban-regional restructuring and the production of new state spaces.
This paper provides guidance on the selection of indicators for comprehensive and sustainable transportation planning. It discusses the concept of sustainability and the role of indicators in planning, describes factors to consider when selecting indicators, identifies potential problems with conventional indicators, describes examples of indicators and indicator sets, and provides recommendations for selecting indicators for use in a particular situation.
To support policy formulation for rehabilitation of the natural environment in the Western Mancha region in Spain, a planning support system was developed and applied. The system is based on a framework developed for planning and decision making, and includes three main components, namely, a water balance model of the groundwater basin, a planning model and an evaluation model. The water balance model, which makes use of GIS and remote sensing, simulates the average yearly recharge of the aquifer system in relation to the land use changes for average meteorological conditions, to help understand the current situation; the planning model, which makes use of mixed integer programming, simulates the reaction of farmers towards the changes in the present subsidy schemes and helps formulate a proper policy instruments; and finally the evaluation model, which makes use of multicriteria decision analysis to support the evaluation of developed policies and selection of attractive scenarios based on the identified criteria and the preferences/opinion of various decision makers.
Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) is a generic term for approaches supporting the systematic evaluation of alternatives in problems involving multiple criteria and stakeholders. One of the most challenging tasks is to gather preference information from stakeholders in a way that both reflects their true opinions and meets the theoretical requirements of the applied MCDA approach. Various techniques have been used in practice, including interviews and decision conferences. In this paper, we present a new cost-efficient approach in which an analyst generates weight profiles for various stakeholder groups. That is, instead of personally asking specific trade-off questions from the stakeholders, weight profiles are developed on the basis of more general preference information collected from the stakeholders. The potential advantages of this approach are: (i) the collection of the preferences using surveys is less laborious than personal interviews or decision conferences and (ii) the risk of cognitive biases in the weight elicitation can be reduced, because the most challenging task of MCDA — assigning weights to the criteria — is left to the analyst, who should be aware of typical biases and how to avoid them. We developed and tested the approach in a contested public decision-making situation related to the development of a new residential area. We utilised the data gathered from the participants of the workshops (21) as well as the data from a web survey including 177 responds via a randomly sampled closed survey, in addition to 484 responds via an open survey. Four preference profiles each having specific weight distributions to criteria were developed, using a multi-stage procedure. Four development alternatives were compared as based on the developed preference profiles. We were able to realise the MCDA process within a very tight time schedule, create plausible preference profiles and summarise each alternative’s pros and cons from different perspectives. However, we also identified several issues which have to be paid more attention in future cases or require further research.
This article draws lessons about recent innovations in decision support for coping with challenges in integrated infrastructure planning strategies. After setting up a conceptual framework for the scope of analysis and the use of information in infrastructure planning, the empirical section explores the introduction of early-stage sustainability assessment tools. Data collection draws on experiences gained in the Netherlands with a new tool: ‘Sustainability Check’. We conclude that such instruments have a number of capacities that address the challenges of area-oriented planning: (a) bringing together information about the comprehensive value of alternatives, (b) facilitating the generation of alternatives, (c) addressing institutional fragmentation by learning about referential frames, and (d) adding contextual perspectives to the ‘hard’ outcomes of conventional tools. We also conclude that tools such as Sustainability Check should not be seen as a replacement for conventional decision support tools, but rather as complementary to them.
The present paper proposes a spatial multicriteria approach for supporting Decision-Makers in the siting process of a Municipal Solid Waste landfill in the Province of Torino (Italy). In particular, the contribution illustrates the development of a Multicriteria-Spatial Decision Support System based on the integration of Geographic Information Systems and a specific Multicriteria Decision Analysis technique, named Analytic Network Process (ANP). This technique, which represents the generalization of the more well-known Analytic Hierarchy Process to dependences and feedbacks, is particularly suitable for dealing with complex decision problems which are characterized by inter-relationships among the elements at stake. The application allows the dependence relationships among the criteria to be assessed, and the relative importance of all the elements that play an influence on the final choice to be evaluated. The purpose of the study is to generate a suitability map of the area under analysis for locating a waste landfill, paying particular attention to the contribution that the spatial ANP offers to sustainability assessments of undesirable facilities. To this end, the simple network structure has been used and both exclusionary and non-exclusionary criteria have been identified and grouped into clusters. The results are obtained in the form of suitability maps analysed through ilwis 3.3 software (52North, ITC, Enschede, The Netherlands) and have been further verified through a sensitivity analysis with reference to the clusters priorities in order to test the robustness of the proposed model. The main findings of this research have proved that the spatial ANP is a useful tool to help technicians to make their decision process traceable and reliable. Moreover, this approach helps Decision-Makers to undertake a sound reflection of the siting problem. Finally, the implementation of the spatial ANP technique gives an originality value to the present research because it represents one of the first applications at both the national and international level.
Road infrastructure projects are increasingly placed in their wider land-use context because of the functional relationships they have with surrounding areas. These more inclusive area-oriented planning processes typically involve a complex of interdependent but institutionally fragmented actors. Effective operationalization of collaborative strategies therefore remains difficult. Various policies introduce spatial design efforts to the infrastructure planning processes as a strategy to deal with these issues. This paper explores experiences in the Netherlands that have placed spatial design in vital positions in the process. An exploration of literature from the fields of spatial design, planning, and geography teaches us that design approaches, in such cases, may be applied to serve as a communicative modus that fosters dialogue, creativity, and eventually an inclusive and shared story about an area’s future. We interviewed designers experienced in serving that role and asked them whether and how such objectives are achieved. Consecutively, in order to come to practical lessons for exploitation of the merits indicated by the interviewees, we studied two projects that the interviewees considered best practices. We conclude that a combination of technical and relational design can effectively help a fragmented group of actors to find a shared and meaningful story and make integral choices on infrastructure projects, framed within a wider area’s development. Ensuring effective iterations between technical and relational design requires institutionalization of the coordinative capacities of design, as well as the right mindset among participants. This way, the employment of such design approaches facilitates effective operationalization of collaborative governance at the infrastructure/land-use interface.
Maintaining and enhancing living conditions in cities through a combination of physical planning and environmental management is a newly emerging focus of governments around the world. For example, local governments seek to insulate sensitive land uses such as residential areas from environmentally intrusive activities such as major transport facilities and manufacturing. Regional governments protect water quality and natural habitat by enforcing pollution controls and regulating the location of growth. Some national governments fund acquisition of strategically important sites, facilitate the renewal of brown fields, and even develop integrated environmental quality plans. Integrating City Planning and Environmental Improvement is about the practice of integrating urban physical planning and environmental quality management which is been widely adapted world wide. The book looks at a wide range of integrated approaches which have been implemented and the critical assessment of these provides lessons for local and national governments interested in setting up similar schemes and suggesting ways of further innovation.
In recent years, there has been an increasing emphasis placed on local and regional integration in major planning projects and infrastructure development including roads, rail and waterways. This emphasis is not only on integrating various projects, but also integrating them with related issues such as housing, industry, environment and water. In other words, land-use planning and infrastructure management have become more spatially-oriented. This book brings together experts in the fields of spatial planning, land-use and infrastructure management to explore the emerging agenda of spatially-oriented integrated evaluation. It weaves together the latest theories, case studies, methods, policy and practice to examine and assess the values, impacts, benefits and the overall success in integrated land-use management. In doing so, the book clarifies the nature and roles of evaluation and puts forward guidance for future policy and practice. © Johan Woltjer, Ernest Alexander, Angela Hull and Matthias Ruth 2015. All rights reserved.
Over 150 forms of impact assessment can be identified using Google searches, with several new forms appearing since 2003. Since then, the popularity of the various members of the impact assessment family has changed, partly in response to legislative and regulatory changes, and general trends in society. The information explosion and expansion of the internet has resulted in a 32 fold increase in the number of hits for "impact assessment", now over 12 million. The conventional methods most frequently mentioned in 2003 had relatively low proportional change over the last 10 years but remain amongst the most frequently mentioned in 2014: risk assessment, public participation, cost-benefit analysis, public involvement, environmental monitoring, and project evaluation. The terms with highest proportional change (i.e. the super-hot topics) were primarily social concerns, including: equality impact assessment, welfare impact assessment, mental health impact assessment, disability impact assessment, human impact assessment, social impact assessment, and social risk assessment. Other terms that had high proportional change included life cycle impact assessment. Information about the relative popularity of the various forms of impact assessment is used in this paper to discuss issues and trends in the broad field of impact assessment.
Contemporary urban lifestyles and business practices are increasingly dependent on mobility. At the same time, the negative impacts of mobility on natural and social environments are growing dramatically, as is the public outcry for their reversal. Urban planners are faced with a difficult dilemma: how to rejoin the essential role of mobility in enhancing cities' welfare and well-being with the lack of sustainability of present urban mobility practices? The paper argues that coping with this dilemma requires understanding and managing the deep intertwining of urban mobility, spatial developments, and broader socio-economic and cultural processes, but also coming to terms with the many, irreducible uncertainties of the challenge. It concludes that only a more intensive and critical interaction between different disciplines – at the very least fully integrating transport and spatial planningand between planning science and planning practice can achieve this.
This paper concerns the development of a new decision support framework for the appraisal of transport infrastructure projects. In such appraisals there will often be a need for including both conventional transport impacts as well as criteria of a more strategic and/or sustainable character. The proposed framework is based on the use of cost-benefit analysis featuring feasibility risk assessment in combination with multi-criteria decision analysis and is supported by the concept of decision conferencing. The framework is applied for a transport related case study dealing with the complex decision problem of determining the most attractive alternative for a new fixed link between Denmark and Sweden – the so-called HH-connection. Applying the framework to the case study made it possible to address the decision problem from an economic, a strategic, and a sustainable point of view simultaneously. The outcome of the case study demonstrates the decision making framework as a valuable decision support system (DSS), and it is concluded that appraisals of transport projects can be effectively supported by the use of the DSS. Finally, perspectives of the future modelling work are given.
This paper deals with a practical tramp ship routing problem while taking into account different bunker prices at different ports, which is called the joint tramp ship routing and bunkering (JSRB) problem. Given a set of cargoes to be transported and a set of ports with different bunker prices, the proposed problem determines how to route ships to carry the cargoes and the amount of bunker to purchase at each port, in order to maximize the total profit. After building an integer linear programming model for the JSRB problem, we propose a tailored branch-and-price (B&P) solution approach. The B&P approach incorporates an efficient method for obtaining the optimal bunkering policy and a novel dominance rule for detecting inefficient routing options. The B&P approach is tested with randomly generated large-scale instances derived from real-world planning problems. All of the instances can be solved efficiently. Moreover, the proposed approach for the JSRB problem outperforms the conventional sequential planning approach and can incorporate the prediction of future cargo demand to avoid making myopic decisions.
In this paper we give an overview of the use of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) for transport project appraisal. The aim of this review is to provide an outline of the increasing use of MCDA methods in the evaluation of transport projects. We investigate for which kind of transport decisions the MCDA methods are applied. The review consists of identifying the transport related subjects, the interconnected arising decision problems and the kind of representative MCDA method(s) used for transport project evaluations. This review allowed deriving a general frame for the evaluation of transport projects. One of the conclusions resulted in the importance of integrating stakeholders in the decision process not yet very common in the transport projects that were reviewed. The Multi-Actor Multi-Criteria Analysis (MAMCA) approach is suggested as a direction for further research. The MAMCA methodology has already proven its usefulness in several transport related decision problems enabling to involve the stakeholders explicitly in the decision process.
What decision analysis is about.- Structuring the decision problem.- Generating objectives and hierarchies.- Generating and preselecting alternatives.- Decision making under certainty with one objective.- Decision making under certainty and with multiple objectives: multiattribute value functions.- The generation of probabilities.- Simulation of an objective variable's probability distribution.- Decisions under risk and one objective.- Decision under risk: incomplete information and multiple objectives.- Time preferences under certain expectations.- Group decisions.- Descriptive aspects of decision making.
Collaboration and decision-making of humans usually entails logical reasoning that is expressed through discussions and individual arguments. Where collaborative work uses geospatial information and where decision-making has a spatial connotation, argumentation will include geographical references. Argumentation maps have been developed to support geographically referenced discussions, and provide a visual access to debates in domains such as urban planning. The concept of argumentation maps provides for explicit links between arguments and the geographic objects they refer to. These geo-argumentative relations do not only allow for cartographic representation of arguments, but also support the querying of both space and discussion. Combinations of spatial queries and retrieval of linked arguments provide a powerful way of analyzing and summarizing the current state of a debate. In this chapter, we provide an overview of the original argumentation model, and we discuss related research and application development. We also link argumentation mapping to related concepts in geographic visualization, spatial decision support systems, and public participation GIS under the umbrella of collaborative GIS.
Because trade-offs (Pareto optimal, non-dominated or efficient sets) are not properties of criteria or objectives, but of sets of feasible alternatives, the proper task of decision making is to work on designing proper sets of alternatives rather than assuming them to be fixed and given a priori. In fact, decision making takes place only when multiple criteria and trade-offs are present. All the rest (single criteria, aggregates or utilities) are simply analysis, measurement and search, not decision making.Similarly, optimization must involve design of the configuration or ‘shape’ of sets of alternatives because no given and fixed system can be optimized. Traditional ‘optimization’ is therefore measurement and search, or just computation. Anything given and fixed a priori cannot be optimized. Multiple criteria or objectives can never be conflicting per se because their properties emerge only when applied to different sets of alternatives. Criteria are only ‘measure tapes’ and no trade-offs can exist among them. Because decision making is incompatible with a single criterion, all decision making involves multiple criteria: thus, Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) becomes a redundant designation.These and similar insights and conclusions call for MCDM paradigm re-assessment: is it about decision making, or about analysis, measurement and search (explication) through computation? Eight different concepts of optimality are presented, as well as theories and models of trade-offs elimination, conflict dissolution, optimal system design, de novo programming, theory of the displaced ideal and other advances related to feasible set optimal re-design and re-configuration. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Strategic Environmental Assessment aims to incorporate environmental and sustainability considerations into strategic decision making processes, such as the formulation of policies, plans and programmes. In order to be effective, the assessment must take the real decision making process as the departure point. Existing SEA approaches are frequently tailored after an EIA model conceived from a rational perspective on decision making. However, there are good reasons to assume that most strategic decision making processes are characterised by a bounded rationality. Furthermore, the predictability of environmental consequences generally becomes weaker at strategic levels than at the project level and complexity increases in terms of the numbers of actors involved in the decision. This paper examines various theoretical perspectives to decision making and discusses the implications for decision support in general and SEA in particular. The authors argue that the design of the SEA must be more sensitive to the real characteristics of the decision making context.
Integrated transportation plans require assessment approaches that can adequately support their multi-dimensional, context-specific needs. The suitability of cost benefit analysis (CBA) for answering this need has been studied in recent research: an analysis of participant perceptions in the Netherlands showed several problematic process issues when assessing integrated transportation plans with CBA (Beukers et al., 2012). CBA was perceived by the participants as a final test, in contrast to the desired outcome of using CBA as a learning tool to optimize the plans. Furthermore, the two main groups of participants (plan owners and evaluators) appeared to hold different and sometimes clashing rationales. This clash was expressed through lack of communication and mutual trust.
Using a literature review of the fields of deliberative planning and organizational learning to explore how to improve communication and build trust, this paper provides a deeper understanding of the process issues at hand and contends that strong communication and trust between plan owners and evaluators are crucial conditions for employing CBA as a learning tool. Finally, based on these theoretical insights, this paper proposes an approach for supporting the practical use of CBA as a learning tool.
Investment in new large transportation infrastructure is capital-intensive and irreversible in nature. Private sector participation in infrastructure investment has gained popularity in recent times because of scarcity of resources at the public sector, and because of the ability of the private sector to build, operate, maintain such facilities, and share future uncertainties. In such cases, there are multiple entities each with different objectives in the project. Traditional techniques used to determine feasibility of such projects and do not consider two critical elements. These are the need (1) to identify major entities involved in these projects and their individual objectives, and (2) the importance of analyzing measures of effectiveness of each entity in a multi-objective context. A framework is proposed to address these issues along with a set of relaxation policies to reflect the nature and level of participation by the entities.
First, the feasibility of each single entity perspective is determined and next, a multi-objective optimization (MOO) is proposed reflecting the perspectives of all entities. The MOO results in pareto-optimal solutions to serve as tradeoff between the participation levels of the multiple entities. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is used as a tool to narrow down number of options for decision makers for further consideration. AHP and MOO are integrated to determine the feasibility of strategies from multi-entity perspectives. The framework is examined on the proposed multibillion dollar international river crossing connecting the city of Detroit in the U.S. and the city of Windsor in Canada. This methodology provides a decision making process tool for large-scale transportation infrastructure investment consisting of multiple entities.
This paper develops and then applies a novel approach of combining cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and multi-criteria analysis (MCA) within a road infrastructure development programme with the aim to support the effective implementation of transport policy when prioritising projects. By incorporating CBA results into an MCA framework this approach retains the strengths of each appraisal method and provides a procedure for decision makers to create an initial ranking of projects which is consistent between all candidate investments and has a clear link to policy goals. We further develop an approach for an incremental analysis that eliminates mutually exclusive projects and allows decision makers to develop a cost-effective investment programme in compliance with their strategic goals. Stakeholder confidence in the outcome of any infrastructure investment ranking exercise is important and can be enhanced by an understanding of the robustness of the ranking to variations in key inputs to the assessment exercise. Two complementary perspectives on sensitivity testing are outlined which between them facilitate an assessment of the robustness of the project ranking obtained. The applicability of the approach has been successfully demonstrated for the National Secondary Road Network in Ireland.
This paper seeks to conceptualize and explore the changing relationships between planning action and practice and the dynamics of place. It argues that planning practice is grappling with new treatments of place, based on dynamic, relational constructs, rather than the Euclidean, deterministic, and one‐dimensional treatments inherited from the ‘scientific’ approaches of the 1960s and early 1970s. But such emerging planning practices remain poorly served by planning theory which has so far failed to produce sufficiently robust and sophisticated conceptual treatments of place in today's globalizing’ world. In this paper we attempt to draw on a wide range of recent advances in social theory to begin constructing such a treatment. The paper has four parts. First, we criticize the legacy of object‐oriented, Euclidean concepts of planning theory and practice, and their reliance on ‘containered’ views of space and time. Second, we construct a relational understanding of time, space and cities by drawing together four strands of recent social theory. These are: relational theories of urban time‐space, dynamic conceptualizations of ‘multiplex’ places and cities, the ‘new’ urban and regional socio‐economics, and emerging theories of social agency and institutional ordering. In the third section, we apply such perspectives to three worlds of planning practice: land use regulation, policy frameworks and development plans, and the development of ‘customized spaces’ in urban ‘regeneration’. Finally, by way of conclusion, we suggest some pointers for practising planning in a relational way.
The UK's “best value” performance assessment regime mandated Local Authorities to demonstrate the added value of their planning. Evaluating planning in these terms raises the basic question: What is planning for? The paper reviews various teleological definitions of planning that address this question and discusses their implications for evaluation and practice. General instrumental teleologies and universal normative ones are useless for practical purposes; real evaluation of planning must be based on a positive contingent teleology that determines: What is this planning for? This conclusion is operationalized from an institutional design perspective to show how planning agencies could demonstrate the value of local planning.
Societal and technological changes are influencing the spatial expression of human activity and governance. The focus on the regional level is stronger and there is greater cooperation at more levels between public and private stakeholders. Furthermore, there is a growing demand for a better quality of space and new concepts for funding spatial interventions. This whole intricate scenario is in need of new planning instruments that can be deployed at a regional level.This paper examines trade-off schemes for spatial interventions at the supra local, or – as we call it in this paper – more regional level. It investigates how a creative design of land-uses in combination with a trade-off system between economically stronger and weaker land-uses can contribute to the quality of space and the need for adequate funding. Often in these trade-offs it concerns on the one hand more urban land-uses like housing and commercial functions, and on the other hand more rural land-uses like nature, water, and cultural landscape functions. As there are hardly any academic attempts to classify such methods in spatial planning at a regional level, the paper provides an attempt to classify trade-off methods. These are (1) one-to-one trade-offs aimed primarily at maintaining the status quo in a certain area, (2) one-to-one trade-offs aimed at spatial improvements and (3) multiple trade-offs relating multiple land-uses and characterised by a larger complexity. Underlying concepts of the trade-off schemes in spatial planning are the desire to improve the quality of space with the intervention and the need for adequate financing of such intervention. A firm institutional framework and an active government are also needed to successfully implement such trade-off schemes. The concept of trade-off at a regional level is elaborated in two case studies representing two of the presented categories: the Space-for-Space scheme and the Hart van de Heuvelrug project, both situated in the Netherlands.
Academic discussions on Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) as an appraisal instrument for integrated land use and transportation plans tend to focus on its technical aspects. However, many issues of CBA also arise from process related matters, especially when assessing integrated plans. Using an inductive research design, we explored how these process related issues play out in Dutch planning practices. In two applied research techniques, focus group sessions and open in depth interviews, we focused on process related issues as perceived by CBA participants ranging from plan makers to CBA testers. This article presents the different perceptions of issues in CBA processes. Through these collected perspectives, we found that these issues are multi-layered and present a number of fundamental dilemmas. After relating our empirical data to theory, we conclude that the biggest challenge lies in decreasing the level of mistrust and communication deficits revealed between plan owners and CBA calculators and their respective frames of thinking when assessing complex integrated land use and transportation plans.
Abstract-Dynamic network models are needed to analyze traffic congestion patterns for new real-time motorist information systems. In previous research, a dynamic network modeling framework incorporating behavioral models of drivers' route and departure time choices and their day-to-day adjustment processes was developed. Network performance in this framework is represented by time dependent arrival and departure rates, link occupancies, and queuing delays. The purpose of this paper is to extend this framework to include explicit models of drivers' information acquisition and integration. The need for these models is motivated by considering the possible beneficial and counter-productive effects that may be caused by enhanced motorist information. Information on network conditions influences the set of routes considered by a driver and also affects the perceived values of the level of service attributes. The paper presents the structure of a dynamic model in which newly acquired information may affect pretrip and en-route travel decisions. To assess the potential magnitudes of the effects that were identified
further theoretical and empirical research is needed.
Summarizes research of the past 15 yr. directed toward discovering and explicating the organization of information processes that underlies human problem solving. The basic characteristics of the human information processing system (IPS) serial processing, small short-term memory, infinite long-term memory with fast retrieval but slow storage impose strong conditions on the ways in which the system can seek solutions to problems in large problem spaces. The current theory is described in 4 broad propositions: (a) a few gross characteristics of the human IPS are invariant over task and problem solver; (b) these characteristics determine that a task environment is represented (in the IPS) as a problem space, and that problem solving takes place in a problem space; (c) the structure of the task environment determines the possible structures of the problem space; and (d) the structure of the problem space determines the possible programs that can be used for problem solving. These propositions and their relation to the known characteristics of the IPS are developed.
This book provided a survey of the most used multicriteria decision analyses with the advantages and drawbacks of each of them. Recommendations a re given for a practical use.
Sociological studies sensitive to the issue of place are rarely labeled thus, and at the same time there are far too many of them to fit in this review. It may be a good thing that this research is seldom gathered up as a “sociology of place,” for that could ghettoize the subject as something of interest only to geographers, architects, or environmental historians. The point of this review is to indicate that sociologists have a stake in place no matter what they analyze, or how: The works cited below emplace inequality, difference, power, politics, interaction, community, social movements, deviance, crime, life course, science, identity, memory, history. After a prologue of definitions and methodological ruminations, I ask: How do places come to be the way they are, and how do places matter for social practices and historical change?