2026-04-17T05:57:11Zhttps://recercat.cat/oai/request

oai:recercat.cat:2117/3953092026-02-02T10:08:33Zcom_2072_1033col_2072_452950

Analysis and comparison of the infrastructure report cards as a decision making tool for sustainable development Boix Cots, David Pardo Bosch, Francesc Pujadas Álvarez, Pablo Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Enginyeria civil Infrastructure (Economics) Infrastructure report card Infrastructure assessment Sustainable development Government accountability Infraestructura (Economia) Infrastructure plays a pivotal role in a nation’s economic and societal progress. However, due to the substantial expenses and the constraints of a limited government budget, the need to assess the condition of each infrastructure and identify those requiring utmost attention has become imperative. To address the challenge of assessing and prioritizing infrastructure, national civil engineering associations have developed infrastructure report cards (IRCs) following diverse methodologies. The objective of this paper is to present and compare the existing IRCs, analysing their key characteristics and comparing them through the developed comparison guidelines. The findings offer valuable insights into IRCs, encompassing general knowledge, diverse practices, and areas for improvement. Furthermore, it provides guidance to civil engineering associations in nations lacking an infrastructure report card, as well as to governments and national infrastructure planners. Recommendations highlight the importance of government collaboration without direct control, transparent methodology explanations, and accessible results presentation. Enhancing IRCs based on these recommendations can facilitate structured, rational, realistic, and sustainability-based decision making. The study acknowledges limitations, including the challenge of assessing IRCs’ real impact and the limited dataset. Despite these limitations, this paper provides a crucial step toward improving IRCs and fostering informed infrastructure decisions. This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Universities [grant number FPU18/01471] and AGAUR through its research group support program [2021SGR00341]. Peer Reviewed Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::9 - Indústria, Innovació i Infraestructura::9.4 - Per a 2030, modernitzar les infraestructures i reconvertir les indústries perquè siguin sostenibles, usant els recursos amb més eficàcia i promovent l’adopció de tecnologies i processos industrials nets i racionals ambiental­ment, i aconseguint que tots els països adoptin mesures d’acord amb les capacitats respectives Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::11 - Ciutats i Comunitats Sostenibles Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::11 - Ciutats i Comunitats Sostenibles::11.3 - Per a 2030, augmentar la urbanització inclusiva i sostenible, així com la capacitat de planificar i gestionar de manera participativa, integrada i sostenible els assentaments humans a tots els països Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::11 - Ciutats i Comunitats Sostenibles::11.c - Proporcionar suport als països menys avançats, incloent una assistència financera i tècnica, perquè puguin construir edificis sostenibles i resilients utilitzant materials locals Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::13 - Acció per al Clima Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::9 - Indústria, Innovació i Infraestructura::9.1 - Desenvolupar infraestructures fiables, sostenibles, resilients i de qualitat, incloent infraestructures regionals i transfrontereres, per tal de donar suport al desenvolupament econòmic i al benestar humà, amb especial atenció a l’accés assequible i equitatiu per a totes les persones Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::9 - Indústria, Innovació i Infraestructura Postprint (published version) 2023-09 Article https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/13/9/2166 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access Attribution 4.0 International Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)