Download Free Toward Better Infrastructure Book in PDF and EPUB Free Download. You can read online Toward Better Infrastructure and write the review.

Examining innovative ways to address Africa’s infrastructure deficit is at the heart of this analysis. Africa’s infrastructure stock and quality is among the least developed in the world, a challenge that significantly hinders economic development. It is estimated that the finance required to raise infrastructure in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) to a reasonable level within the next decade is at US$93 billion per year, with two-thirds of this amount needed for capital expenditures. With the existing spending on infrastructure being estimated at US$45 billion per annum and after accounting for potential efficiency gains that could amount to US$17 billion, Africa’s infrastructure funding gap remains around US$31 billion a year. One approach to address this challenge is by facilitating the increase of private provision of public infrastructure services through public-private partnerships (PPPs). This approach, which is a relatively new arrangement in SSA is multifaceted and requires strong consensus and collaboration across both public and private sectors. There are several defined models of PPPs. Each type differs in terms of government participation levels, risk allocations, investment responsibilities, operational requirements, and incentives for operators. Our definition of PPPs assumes transactions where the private sector retains a considerable portion of commercial and financial risks associated with a project. In more descriptive terms, among the elements defining the notion of PPPs discussed in this study are: a long-term contract between a public and private sector party; the design, construction, financing, and operation of public infrastructure by the private sector; payment over the life of the PPP contract to the private sector party for the services delivered from the asset; and the facility remaining in public ownership or reverting to public sector ownership at the end of the PPP contract. The observations and policy recommendations that follow draw on ongoing World Bank Group PPP engagements in these countries, including extensive consultations with key public and private sector stakeholders involved in designing, financing, and implementing PPPs. The study is structured around the most inhibiting constraints to developing PPPs, as shared by all six countries.
Toward More Sustainable Infrastructure: Project Evaluation for Planners and Engineers provides readers a framework for understanding and evaluating infrastructure projects to improve their performance and sustainability, taking into account not only the financial and economic issues, but also the social and environmental impacts that affect the sustainability of infrastructure. Based on a course designed developed by the author over ten years at M.I.T., this text demonstrates how to apply the basic methods of engineering economics in evaluating major infrastructure projects and also demonstrates how these same techniques can be useful with many routine business and personal decisions. It introduces students to project management, system performance, concepts of sustainability, methods of engineering economics, and provides numerous case studies, examples, and exercises based upon real world problems. This text fills a void in the education of many planners and engineering students, namely an understanding of why major infrastructure projects are undertaken, how they are structured and evaluated, and how they are financed. Toward More Sustainable Infrastructure: Project Evaluation for Planners and Engineers prepares readers to evaluate projects based upon an appreciation of the needs of society, the potential for sustainable development, and recognition of the problems that may result from poorly conceived or poorly implemented projects and programs.
The nation's physical infrastructure facilitates movement of people and goods; provides safe water; provides energy when and where needed; removes wastes; enables rapid communications; and generally supports our economy and quality of life. Developing a framework for guiding attempts at measuring the performance of infrastructure systems and grappling with the concept of defining good performance are the major themes of this book. Focusing on urban regions, within a context of national policy, the volume provides the basis for further in-depth analysis and application at the local, regional, state, and national levels.
This report provides a comprehensive review of the challenges that call for changes in the governance of OECD countries’ science systems, highlighting emerging policy responses and drawing lessons to inspire the reform process.
Sustainable infrastructure development is vital for Africa s prosperity. And now is the time to begin the transformation. This volume is the culmination of an unprecedented effort to document, analyze, and interpret the full extent of the challenge in developing Sub-Saharan Africa s infrastructure sectors. As a result, it represents the most comprehensive reference currently available on infrastructure in the region. The book covers the five main economic infrastructure sectors information and communication technology, irrigation, power, transport, and water and sanitation. 'Africa s Infrastructure: A Time for Transformation' reflects the collaboration of a wide array of African regional institutions and development partners under the auspices of the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa. It presents the findings of the Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic (AICD), a project launched following a commitment in 2005 by the international community (after the G8 summit at Gleneagles, Scotland) to scale up financial support for infrastructure development in Africa. The lack of reliable information in this area made it difficult to evaluate the success of past interventions, prioritize current allocations, and provide benchmarks for measuring future progress, hence the need for the AICD. Africa s infrastructure sectors lag well behind those of the rest of the world, and the gap is widening. Some of the main policy-relevant findings highlighted in the book include the following: infrastructure in the region is exceptionally expensive, with tariffs being many times higher than those found elsewhere. Inadequate and expensive infrastructure is retarding growth by 2 percentage points each year. Solving the problem will cost over US$90 billion per year, which is more than twice what is being spent in Africa today. However, money alone is not the answer. Prudent policies, wise management, and sound maintenance can improve efficiency, thereby stretching the infrastructure dollar. There is the potential to recover an additional US$17 billion a year from within the existing infrastructure resource envelope simply by improving efficiency. For example, improved revenue collection and utility management could generate US$3.3 billion per year. Regional power trade could reduce annual costs by US$2 billion. And deregulating the trucking industry could reduce freight costs by one-half. So, raising more funds without also tackling inefficiencies would be like pouring water into a leaking bucket. Finally, the power sector and fragile states represent particular challenges. Even if every efficiency in every infrastructure sector could be captured, a substantial funding gap of $31 billion a year would remain. Nevertheless, the African people and economies cannot wait any longer. Now is the time to begin the transformation to sustainable development.
Globalization of production has created opportunities and challenges for developing country producers and workers. This volume provides solutions-oriented approaches for promoting improved working conditions and labour rights in the apparel industry.
'The Impact of School Infrastructure on Learning: A Synthesis of the Evidence provides an excellent literature review of the resources that explore the areas of focus for improved student learning, particularly the aspiration for “accessible, well-built, child-centered, synergetic and fully realized learning environments.†? Written in a style which is both clear and accessible, it is a practical reference for senior government officials and professionals involved in the planning and design of educational facilities, as well as for educators and school leaders. --Yuri Belfali, Head of Division, Early Childhood and Schools, OECD Directorate for Education and Skills This is an important and welcome addition to the surprisingly small, evidence base on the impacts of school infrastructure given the capital investment involved. It will provide policy makers, practitioners, and those who are about to commission a new build with an important and comprehensive point of reference. The emphasis on safe and healthy spaces for teaching and learning is particularly welcome. --Harry Daniels, Professor of Education, Department of Education, Oxford University, UK This report offers a useful library of recent research to support the, connection between facility quality and student outcomes. At the same time, it also points to the unmet need for research to provide verifiable and reliable information on this connection. With such evidence, decisionmakers will be better positioned to accurately balance the allocation of limited resources among the multiple competing dimensions of school policy, including the construction and maintenance of the school facility. --David Lever, K-12 Facility Planner, Former Executive Director of the Interagency Committee on School Construction, Maryland Many planners and designers are seeking a succinct body of research defining both the issues surrounding the global planning of facilities as well as the educational outcomes based on the quality of the space provided. The authors have finally brought that body of evidence together in this well-structured report. The case for better educational facilities is clearly defined and resources are succinctly identified to stimulate the dialogue to come. We should all join this conversation to further the process of globally enhancing learning-environment quality! --David Schrader, AIA, Educational Facility Planner and Designer, Former Chairman of the Board of Directors, Association for Learning Environments (A4LE)
This important book draws together key contributions in the vast field of transportation economics, including contributions from Kenneth Button, David Banister and Juan Carlos Martín covering airline markets, congestion charging and speed control.
Smart Homes (SH) offer a promising approach to assisted living for the ageing population. Yet the main obstacle to the rapid development and deployment of Smart Home (SH) solutions essentially arises from the nature of the SH field, which is multidisciplinary and involves diverse applications and various stakeholders. Accordingly, an alternative to a one-size-fits-all approach is needed in order to advance the state of the art towards an open SH infrastructure. This book makes a valuable and critical contribution to smart assisted living research through the development of new effective, integrated, and interoperable SH solutions. It focuses on four underlying aspects: (1) Sensing and Monitoring Technologies; (2) Context Interference and Behaviour Analysis; (3) Personalisation and Adaptive Interaction, and (4) Open Smart Home and Service Infrastructures, demonstrating how fundamental theories, models and algorithms can be exploited to solve real-world problems. This comprehensive and timely book offers a unique and essential reference guide for policymakers, funding bodies, researchers, technology developers and managers, end users, carers, clinicians, healthcare service providers, educators and students, helping them adopt and implement smart assisted living systems.