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Development of infrastructure projects sustainability assessment model

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While infrastructure investments can have a significant impact on economic growth, they can also have a negative impact on the environmental and social aspects. As a result, there has lately been a strong trend toward assessing infrastructure projects based on their expected sustainability performance. The primary contribution of this paper is the development of a model for assessing the sustainability of infrastructure projects. 100 infrastructure sustainability factors were collected from previous research to cover the various phases of any infrastructure project. These factors were divided into the three main pillars of sustainability: economic, environmental, and social, with percentages of 50%, 30%, and 20%, respectively. A questionnaire of 100 infrastructure development experts from various sectors was conducted to rate the sustainability factors within each of the three main pillars according to their relative importance. The most important 27 factors were chosen. Another questionnaire was conducted for the 27 factors, using the AHP technique to identify the priority vectors in each of the three main pillars, as well as the selected factors within each of them. A recommended scale was created to be used as a yardstick to measure the proposed model’s input factors. For the three main pillars, three sustainability assessment models were developed. As a result, an overall sustainability assessment model was developed. With this model, the proposed infrastructure projects can be evaluated and ranked according to their expected sustainability outcomes. Consequently, decision-makers can successfully plan for the sustainable development of the infrastructure projects within certain specified boundaries and restrictions.
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Vol.:(0123456789)
Environment, Development and Sustainability (2022) 24:7493–7531
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-021-01791-5
1 3
REVIEW
Development ofinfrastructure projects sustainability
assessment model
HossamE.Hosny1· AhmedH.Ibrahim1· ElinA.Eldars1
Received: 22 October 2020 / Accepted: 23 August 2021 / Published online: 6 September 2021
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2021
Abstract
While infrastructure investments can have a significant impact on economic growth, they
can also have a negative impact on the environmental and social aspects. As a result,
there has lately been a strong trend toward assessing infrastructure projects based on their
expected sustainability performance. The primary contribution of this paper is the devel-
opment of a model for assessing the sustainability of infrastructure projects. 100 infra-
structure sustainability factors were collected from previous research to cover the various
phases of any infrastructure project. These factors were divided into thethree main pil-
lars of sustainability: economic, environmental, and social, with percentages of 50%, 30%,
and 20%, respectively. A questionnaire of 100 infrastructure development experts from
various sectors was conducted to rate the sustainability factors within each of the three
main pillars according to their relative importance. The most important 27 factors were
chosen. Another questionnaire was conducted for the 27 factors, using the AHP technique
to identify the priority vectors in each of the three mainpillars, as well as the selected fac-
tors within each of them. A recommended scale was created to be used as a yardstick to
measure the proposed model’s input factors. For the three mainpillars, three sustainability
assessment models were developed. As a result, an overall sustainability assessment model
was developed. With this model, the proposed infrastructure projects can be evaluated and
ranked according to their expected sustainability outcomes. Consequently, decision-makers
can successfully plan for the sustainable development of the infrastructure projects within
certain specified boundaries and restrictions.
Keywords Sustainable development· Infrastructure projects· Economic sustainability·
Social sustainability· Environmental sustainability· Sustainability assessment· AHP
technique
* Elin A. Eldars
elin.eldars@alexu.edu.eg
1 Construction Engineering Department, Faculty ofEngineering, ZagazigUniversity, Egypt
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
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