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Sustained efforts and investments in different sectors are essential for the overall development of a region. Various studies around the globe underscore the importance of investment in road transport infrastructure in many developing countries to achieve their development targets. The relationship between infrastructure investment and economic growth is often found to be inconsistent. This ambiguity leads to a lack of consensus on an appropriate scale of investment required among the policy makers. So, it is often necessary to depend on empirical evidence by developing causality direction, which significantly contributes to policy implications in developing countries. The objective of this analytical study is developing a relationship between the road transport infrastructure and economic growth of Nepal. For this, relevant data from 1998 to 2022 were used to perform a unit root test and determine the order of integration, followed by cointegration analysis to determine the long-run relationship between the variables. In addition, the vector error correction model (VECM) was employed to find the direction of causality. The findings indicate unidirectional long-run causality from gross capital formation, exports of goods and services, expenditure on road transport infrastructures, and road length to the GDP of Nepal. Furthermore, the expenditure on road transport infrastructures is observed to have a short-run impact on economic growth. This study recommends that a suitable transportation policy should be implemented to boost investment on road transport infrastructures to achieve sustainable economic growth in Nepal-like developing nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the effects of infrastructures on export diversification (ED) in Africa, over the period 2000–2014. We make use of the Panel Correlated Standard Error (PCSE) and the two steps system Generalized Method of Moments (s-GMM) to investigate these effects. Globally, infrastructures significantly contribute to overall ED along the intensive margin but do not contribute to ED along the extensive margin. Infrastructures should be provided close to the export maximizing level. The spatial distribution of infrastructures should obey much of their capacity to contribute to diversified production and hence exports. In this line, the maintenance of infrastructures is necessary because power shortages and potholes slow down the move to a more diversified production and export structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Linear transport infrastructures are essential for the socioeconomic development of industrialized countries. However, adverse meteorological and hydrogeological events can result in significant economic losses. Globally, floods have the most substantial socio-economic impact. Climate Change, due to the extent of transport infrastructures over flood-prone territories, is a very important factor in worsening flood risk. The main objective of this study is to identify the sections of the hydrographic network that are susceptible to flood and erosion hazards where road infrastructures are located. The Metropolitan City of Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy) is selected as test site, due to the presence of several coastal watersheds and of a high population density. A swift methodological approach, based on already available datasets from public repositories and GIS analyses, is presented. This approach includes: i) geomorphological characterization of the hydrographic network; ii) census of stream tracts where bridges were damaged in past flood events; iii) identification of potentially critical tracts (PCT), based on similar geomorphological conditions; iv) multi-temporal satellite imagery analysis of PCT for the identification of flood-prone areas and, therefore, vulnerable road crossings. The adopted methodology has proved to be effective for the identification of vulnerable road crossings over wide portion of territories, identifying critical sites that need further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustained efforts and investments in different sectors are essential for the overall development of a region. Various studies around the globe underscore the importance of investment in road transport infrastructure in many developing countries to achieve their development targets. The relationship between infrastructure investment and economic growth is often found to be inconsistent. This ambiguity leads to a lack of consensus on an appropriate scale of investment required among the policy makers. So, it is often necessary to depend on empirical evidence by developing causality direction, which significantly contributes to policy implications in developing countries. The objective of this analytical study is developing a relationship between the road transport infrastructure and economic growth of Nepal. For this, relevant data from 1998 to 2022 were used to perform a unit root test and determine the order of integration, followed by cointegration analysis to determine the long-run relationship between the variables. In addition, the vector error correction model (VECM) was employed to find the direction of causality. The findings indicate unidirectional long-run causality from gross capital formation, exports of goods and services, expenditure on road transport infrastructures, and road length to the GDP of Nepal. Furthermore, the expenditure on road transport infrastructures is observed to have a short-run impact on economic growth. This study recommends that a suitable transportation policy should be implemented to boost investment on road transport infrastructures to achieve sustainable economic growth in Nepal-like developing nations.

This work explores the link between firm performance in emerging economies and transport infrastructure endowment, as a key element of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. We ground on the idea that transport infrastructures, by enabling connectivity, interactions and the exchange of knowledge and ideas, have the potential to enhance commercial opportunity recognition, technological development and, thus, firm economic performance. We also emphasize the crucial role of logistics system performance in providing better linkages between suppliers, firms and customers. The empirical analysis is focused on emerging economies whose infrastructure endowment is lower than those of developed ones; thus, its improvement is likely to be associated with better performance of their firms and economies. The results suggest that part of country-level differences in firm's labour productivity is explained by transport endowment. Particularly, transport networks, such as roads and railways, and the logistics system and services show strong and positive relationships with productivity, while transport nodes, such as airports and ports, show little or no association. This might occur because networks spread knowledge spillovers in a more capillary way compared to nodes. Overall, the empirical results suggest that policy-makers in emerging economies can sustain the economic performance of firms, with beneficial effects on the economic system, by improving their transport endowment. Plain English Summary: Firms are part of national ecosystems whose attributes may influence their performance and, therefore, the economic growth of a country. In this paper, we focus on transport infrastructure endowment. We distinguish between transport networks and transport nodes, and we consider the logistic system and services. Our research questions are tested on a sample of firms in emerging economies. In so doing, we combine micro-data on firms from East Europe and Central Asia with macro-data on transport endowment. We show that more developed transport systems are positively associated with better economic performance of firms. Particularly, the beneficial effect of transport networks is found to be more prominent, possibly because more developed transport networks are associated with increased opportunities for knowledge exchange between firms. Also, the logistics system is linked to better firm performance by reducing time and distance constraints and providing better linkages along the supply chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Representation and modeling using the building information modeling (BIM) methodology of civil works have become the subject of increasing attention in recent years, thanks to the potential offered by Open Infrastructure BIM (I-BIM). However, the complexity of infrastructure works, i.e., the variety of construction and technological systems, makes Open I-BIM very complex and challenging. The lack of systemic knowledge on the subject is another challenging factor. The aim of the following research work is to provide a synoptic overview of the existing scientific research, accompanied by the most recent studies in the field of computer modeling, its applications, and the main opportunities that Open I-BIM offers to the infrastructure sector. After a thorough review of 198 scientific articles published between 2013 and 2023, this study systematically presents a holistic review and critical reflection on the current status of the use of Open BIM in the infrastructure sector, with a focus on the development of the tools and methods used. The outcome of this work constitutes a systematic review of the literature with a bibliometric analysis on Open I-BIM, which is able to provide a knowledge base for identifying research trends, common problems, and the potential of developed methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transport infrastructures and economic development lie under a symbiotic relation, which is both theoretically and empirically evident and studied, at all levels of geographical and administrative scale. Building on the conceptual framework theoretically discussed in a previous work of the authors, this paper goes beyond current approaches and develops an integrated methodological framework for an ex-ante quantitative assessment of the (direct and indirect) effects of interregional transport infrastructures on spatial economies. To do so, it first applies a brief literature review to the main relevant methodologies, next describes the proposed methodological framework, and finally discusses each framework's component separately. The proposed methodology builds on an input-output (IO) model conceptualization and contributes to the current literature by (i) integrating direct, indirect, and induced economic impacts; (ii) separating distributive and generative effects for each region; (iii) providing individual estimations based on spatial interdependence or econometric models; (iv) distinguishing cases for trade coefficients' estimation; (v) investigating the impact on the choice of the location of enterprises' establishment; (vi) assessing the effects of transport infrastructure on tourism; and (vii) incorporating technology "diffusion" from centers to regions. The overall approach is broadly applicable and can motivate empirical research, by providing insights into estimating the contribution of transportation infrastructures' construction to a regional economy, along with a decision-making tool for transport policy, regional planning, and economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The international commitment to achieve carbon neutrality in the next few decades has oriented human activities towards the preservation of natural and non-renewable resources. In this context, a great research effort has been devoted to the search for sustainable solutions for the infrastructure construction sector, based on a thorough assessment of the environmental impact (EI). In this regards, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is considered one of the main components of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and, for a comprehensive analysis, all the costs incurred by stakeholders during the useful life of the infrastructure should also be taken into account, applying the Life Cycle Cost (LCC) methodology. So far, there is a lack of combined LCA and LCC analyses of railway projects to support a proper sustainable decision-making process at a project level. Therefore, this study aimed to contributed to this topic by determining the environmental effect and related costs of different planning and construction choices in terms of material and maintenance strategies. For this purpose, first, an LCA of typical railway infrastructures with a ballasted track was developed. The case study considered two different functional units of a double-track railway line: 1 km of embankment section and 1 km of a cut section, in straight alignment. After defining five alternative railway infrastructure scenarios with different materials (virgin or recycled material) and construction methods (e.g., lime stabilization), two different railway track maintenance approaches were analysed. SimaPro was used to analyse the case study, and the results were compared with those obtained using the PaLATE software, suitably adapted for use in the railway sector. Finally, a cost analysis was carried out using Life Cycle Cost (LCC) methodology for all the scenarios analysed. The results obtained in terms of EI and related costs of each scenario provide useful information, allowing a sustainable planning approach: as a general result, the initial construction phase always involves the larger part of the total environmental impact while the material production is the most polluting phase, reaching percentages always higher than 50% of the total. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies are gaining visibility and support. Decision-makers are defending the extension of large infrastructures that are low greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters, as a way to act quickly and massively without calling into question existing economic models. This situation depoliticizes these projects, masking their other ecological consequences such as their impacts on biodiversity. This article examines how promoters of these projects depoliticized its socio-technical futures while other actors re-politicized them. Using the example of the Seine Nord Europe Canal project, we show a politicization of the territorial future and a depoliticization of the environmental future. This depoliticization is based on the techno-optimist discourse promoting large-scale infrastructures as the only possible solution to the global ecological and climate crisis. It uses a selective framing of the environment that makes some elements visible and others invisible. We conducted semi-structured interviews with biodiversity stakeholders in the territories that would be impacted by the canal. Based on the concepts of environmental forms and motives, we reconstructed the environmental ontologies ignored by the dominant discourse and assembled them into three alternative scenarios. We present the method of investigation and identification of these motives and discuss the likelihood of the constructed scenarios participating in a re-politicization based on the reactions of various actors.

Several studies assert that transportation infrastructure rights-of-way can play a positive role for many animal species, especially in highly fragmented and human-dominated landscapes. This study examines the contribution of highway stormwater ponds to amphibian ecological networks, questioning both the influence of their location on species richness and their capacity to increase landscape connectivity. The ecological networks of amphibian species were modeled by graph theory around highway A77 (France). Stormwater ponds as well as natural ponds were included as potential habitats and several connectivity metrics were calculated at different scales. The connectivity values of the stormwater ponds were analyzed in relation to species presence data collected in 2018. While most of these ponds contribute little to regional connectivity, some of them represent important connector patches. Statistical analysis also suggests that highway ponds are used by amphibians in areas with few natural pools. This raises questions about how to improve the management of ecological networks by considering the capacity of artificial habitats to serve as a refuge for biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study assesses the seismic fragility curves of in-service piled bridge abutments on liquefaction-prone soils and evaluates an optimal countermeasure within the vulnerability framework. Seismic fragility curves, accounting for varying ground motion intensities, assess the seismic risk and describe abutment damage through settlement measurements. The ageing abutment performance is estimated by integrating a corrosion model into fragility curves. The impact of different sheet pile positions on the seismic performance of in-service piled bridge abutments is analysed, and the optimal pile position is discussed. The developed fragility curves provide a rapid and effective risk assessment tool for the seismic performance of in-service abutments and guide liquefaction remedial measures. • The seismic fragility curves for piled bridge abutments on liquefiable sites are established. • A corrosion model is integrated into the fragility curves to consider the deterioration of pile foundation performance. • The impact of various sheet pile reinforcement placements on liquefaction mitigation is assessed using fragility curves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a variegated body of academic work on nation-building and rail infrastructures, attention to the relationship between nation-building and wider processes of economic and political restructuring and an explicit and theoretically robust consideration of space have been largely missing. This paper seeks to address both limitations by advancing a spatially sensitive conceptualization of how rail infrastructures may be used as a tool for nation-building in contemporary capitalist societies. Particularly, I draw on Jessop's strategic-relational approach to the state and on theoretical contributions on the spatiality of social relations to propose the synthetic notion of 'spatial hegemonic vision' to explain the legitimacy and substantive coherence of state action, argue for the inherent spatiality of nation-building projects, and facilitate a theoretically robust and nuanced understanding of such spatiality. I further distinguish between political economic and cultural dimensions in nation-building and discuss the materialization and imagining of specific configurations of territories, places, scales and networks involved in spatial hegemonic visions. This conceptualization is then applied to the development of a high-speed rail line in the Spanish region of the Basque Country. This line has been mobilized to advance two competing yet partially compatible spatial hegemonic visions, whilst becoming itself a site where they came into conflict. The paper concludes by examining the validity of the proposed conceptualization and discussing its applicability to other contemporary cases of nation-building through transport infrastructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies are gaining visibility and support. Decision-makers are defending the extension of large infrastructures that are low greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters, as a way to act quickly and massively without calling into question existing economic models. This situation depoliticizes these projects, masking their other ecological consequences such as their impacts on biodiversity. This article examines how promoters of these projects depoliticized its socio-technical futures while other actors re-politicized them. Using the example of the Seine Nord Europe Canal project, we show a politicization of the territorial future and a depoliticization of the environmental future. This depoliticization is based on the techno-optimist discourse promoting large-scale infrastructures as the only possible solution to the global ecological and climate crisis. It uses a selective framing of the environment that makes some elements visible and others invisible. We conducted semi-structured interviews with biodiversity stakeholders in the territories that would be impacted by the canal. Based on the concepts of environmental forms and motives, we reconstructed the environmental ontologies ignored by the dominant discourse and assembled them into three alternative scenarios. We present the method of investigation and identification of these motives and discuss the likelihood of the constructed scenarios participating in a re-politicization based on the reactions of various actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate adaptation measures are shaped and implemented through processes of governance, where the interactions and decision-making among actors lead to the creation and reinforcement of institutions. Institutions in this respect are the rules that shape the interactions of actors in different phases of climate adaptation. Currently there is no comprehensive method to systematically identify and map dependencies between institutions. This study proposes the Institutional Network Analysis (INA) approach that is based on the Institutional Grammar as a systematic and comprehensive tool to (1) visualise institutional dependencies, (2) identify points of concern in the institutional landscape such as conflicts and voids, and (3) provide quantitative insights into the centrality of actors, embeddedness of institutional outcomes, and dependencies between institutions. The approach is applied to the case of climate adaptation of transport infrastructures surrounding the Port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The analysis reveals a conflict in the use of risk assessment criteria, as parties in the Port may follow their own matrices in the presence of a shared decision-making framework. Nonetheless, the network metric analysis reveals that the criteria, whether shared or individual, build on the same source of risk analysis, suggesting that this duality may not be detrimental for climate adaptation efforts. Additionally, an institutional void is identified for financial responsibilities in locations where infrastructures overlap. Finally, the network metrics show high dependency between institutions in the risk dialogue phase, and reveal the centrality of infrastructure owners ProRail and RWS in the institutional landscape instead of local or regional governmental bodies. • Institutional network analysis is a new approach for identifying institutional dependencies. • Institutional network analysis used to identify institutional voids and conflicts. • Duality of assessment criteria hampers the effectiveness of common frameworks. • Institutional void for financial responsibilities leads to conflict where infrastructures overlap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents the first results obtained by applying in situ and remote-sensing methodologies to monitor the Ponte della Musica-Armando Trovajoli located in Rome, within the activities of the WP6 "Structural Health Monitoring and Satellite Data" 2019-21 Reluis Project. In particular, the use of remote-sensing Differential Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Interferometry (DInSAR) measurements provided a spatial map of the displacement of the investigated infrastructure and the corresponding time-series, with the aim of monitoring deformation phenomena, focusing on the local scale analysis, which produces suitable results for urban monitoring and damage assessment. The DInSAR results have been integrated with the identification of the dynamic characteristics of the bridge, performed through an experimental campaign of ambient vibration measurements carried out in October 2020 and with the local-scale definition of the engineering geological setting of the foundation soil. The subsoil of the bridge is constituted by more than 50 m of recent alluvial deposits resting on Pliocene stiff clay acting as a geological bedrock. A substantially stable behavior of the bridge structural elements has been observed based on the analysis of both satellite and velocimetric data. This case represents a good example about how the integration of in situ sensors with remotely sensed data and the exploitation of a detailed knowledge regarding the on-site conditions represent a key factor for a sustainable structural and infrastructural monitoring and can support the planning both of maintenance and safety management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the seismic resilience of granular column-supported road embankments on liquefiable soils is examined to enhance the understanding and seismic design of resilient transportation infrastructure. A nonlinear dynamic analysis of embankments on liquefiable soils is performed, and the results are validated against centrifuge test data. In the assessment, a functional analysis framework encompassing fragility, vulnerability, and restoration functions is employed to evaluate the robustness and recovery of embankments. The resilience of embankments is quantified by the comprehensive life-cycle resilience index (R), which considers various factors, such as the embankment height, the liquefiable soil thickness, and the area replacement ratio (A R) of granular columns. A simplified design method is proposed that involves a model for rapidly assessing the resilience state of embankments under varying seismic intensities. The analysis highlights the essential role of granular columns in mitigating liquefaction-induced damage during seismic events, improving robustness, and recovering post-earthquake functionality, and a practical and reliable tool is developed for assessing embankment resilience across diverse seismic scenarios. • The seismic resilience curves for granular column-supported embankments on liquefiable sites are established. • The effect of embankment height, liquefiable soil thickness, and A R on the resilience of embankments are evaluated. • A simplified design method is proposed for rapidly analysing the resilience state of embankments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New international rail projects generate a host of expectations for development, especially in intermediate secondary city-regions. However, these expectations often hide the highly distributive effects of improved accessibility that depend on existing urban hierarchies. This paper challenges the simplistic view of infrastructure renewal addressing uneven geographical development and competitive urbanisation. Focusing on the planning process of Rail Baltic, a key Trans-European Transport Network megaproject, in the secondary city-region of Pärnu, Estonia, it explores the constitutive work of imaginaries as structured expectations in shaping urban hierarchies and infrastructural renewal. By triangulating the analysis of planning documents and media accounts with expert interviews, the study outlines the variegated imaginaries of new rail projects at the regional scale. In particular, it makes visible and critiques how existing place-bound elites utilise imaginaries to influence major infrastructure projects in their favour. The findings contribute to understanding the challenges and opportunities of infrastructural renewal in secondary city-regions, and underline the need for a clear municipal strategy beyond equating increased accessibility with local development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the French policy of mitigation hierarchy, with the aim of no net loss of biodiversity, by studying the geographical aspects of the application of the concept of ecological offsets in equivalence between losses and gains using spatialized data. We seek to know whether the dynamics of urban and interurban development (notably built-up and transport infrastructures) lead to a spatially integrated implementation of biodiversity offsets taking into account local characteristics and areas under pressure from land artificialization. Our main finding reveals that the majority of ecological offsets are generated by projects related to transport infrastructures (38%) and urban planning and construction projects (23%). However, if there are fewer, the ecological offsets of projects such as waste storage or energy development are mostly located in natural preserved areas, revealing a potential risk of non additionnality of offset measures and a risk that the private sector (through ecological offsets) will gradually replace the state in the protection of biodiversity. Our analysis also points out that despite the diversity of projects, habitats and protected species across France, there is a typical spatial layout profile of ecological offsets, pleading for a " one size fits all " offsetting in the French policy context of tenuous regulators' availability in time and competence level due to weakness of refresh training and downsizing of public services in the environment. This last result argues for a stronger control from environmental agencies between two tremendously tricky concepts of offsetting, the equivalence valuation methods and the adjustments coefficients (time delay and ecological risk), to drive ecological offsetting future decisions at local but above all regional- and national-level planning documents. • There is a typical layout profile of ecological offsets despite the diversity of habitats and protected species. • Most of ecological offsets are small and fragmented, which implead a major brake for ecological restoration to offset. • Ecological offsets managed at project scale without a territorial framework reduces their effectiveness. • Urban and inter-urban development projects lead to the majority (61%) of ecological offsets. • Land scarcity causes a spatial mismatch between the impact zone and the offset zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability and resilience are relevant concepts in design and management of transport infrastructures. Sustainability refers to concept of development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their ones. Resilience is linked to the occurrence of extreme events during the life cycle of infrastructures and it is a measure of the ability of recovery the previous functionality. Traditionally, the two concepts are applied separately even if they present a significant number of similar characteristics. The better solutions in transport infrastructures design, maintenance and rehabilitation should lead to an improvement of both qualities. This paper presents an integrated approach sustainability-resilience as a useful tool in the decision-making process where different alternatives of rehabilitation after an extreme event are considered. Sustainability and resilience are estimated based on LCCA. The integrated perspective allows addressing an appropriate amount of technical, economic and environmental issues and is an useful tool for the identification of the most efficient solution.

The ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ was announced in 2013 to better connect China economically, socially and culturally with the world by new transport infrastructures. Before forecasting the long-term impacts of the initiative on economic activities and population, one could learn from history about how transport infrastructures and the corresponding accessibility of different locales they engendered or enhanced might have shaped and reshaped the distribution of the population and economic activities in Europe. Historic maps of transport infrastructures and population statistics were collected from such sources as the Stanford Geospatial Network Model of the Roman World, the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, and the Gridded Population of the World Version 4. By digitizing and synthesizing the maps and statistics, transport accessibility in Europe and its nearby areas was mapped during both the Roman Empire (27 BC–476 AD) and the Middle Ages (1000–1500 AD), as well as the population distribution in Europe and its nearby areas in 2015. The mapping efforts indicated that the transport network changed greatly over time for various reasons, and that transport accessibility is a sufficient but not necessary condition for different locales’ population growth and economic prosperity over time.

Lagos is one of the fastest growing world mega-cities with a huge urban mobility crisis, the traditional aggregate city’s development model could not provide reliable scientific solutions to monitor the competing demands of various land-use components and the urbanization’s effects on transport infrastructure space. This study uses a disaggregated predictive spatial modeling approach to investigate the evolutionary dynamics of transportation infrastructure space to address the fragmented urban chain process. The methodology involves analysis and modeling of the land-use spatial transition changes that have occurred over the past three decades using three Landsat imagery epochs (1984, 2013, and 2019) in remote sensing ARC-GIS 10.7. Furthermore, the prediction of the two-temporal milestones (2030 and 2050) using hybrid cellular automata-Markov (CA-Markov) implemented in IDIRISI SELVA 17.0 software when the tides of social-demographic factors were expected to bring about significant urban spatial transformation. The forecast results are expected to increase the area for transport infrastructure spaces by 93 km2 (7.3%) in 2030 and 157 km2 (12.4%) in 2050. The model’s kappa reliability coefficient estimates for the three temporal scales (k1984 = 85%; k2013 = 88% and k2019 = 89%) are higher than the 80% minimum adjudged strong agreement between the ground truth and prediction classified images in literature. The model provides efficient tool in urban development planning and sustainable transport decisions.

This article examines transportation infrastructures' capacity to produce and transform social space through a focus on the contested history of railway development in Valsusa, Italy. I draw on participant observation and interviews with local residents and activists during ethnographic fieldwork in 2014–2015. I first describe how railways helped form modern sociality in Valsusa in the twentieth century. Subsequently, I explore contrasting topological effects of a projected high-speed rail through the valley. For planners envisioning a trans-European space of exchange, the railway is a powerful way to "shrink" space; for local residents, this implies reducing Valsusa to a traffic "corridor." Yet their protest generates new social relations and knowledges, giving rise to a notion of "territory" as unbound and connected to a transnational space of resistance to capitalist expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problems posed in the management of the wooded coppices which form, due to a lack of maintenance, on the slopes of the embankments and in the planted areas along major transport infrastructures offer an opportunity to study the case of a landscape project in the Likoto Eurometropolis (Lille Kortrijk Tournai). The team in charge of managing the local transport infrastructures follow an approach based on the containment of this linear forest which has been allowed to develop freely at a distance from motorways, railway tracks and station platforms. Such approaches allowing vegetation to grow freely also encourage the social practices of temporary dwellings and leisure activities that take advantage of the "forest" cover. At the same time, in recent years has emerged a more reasoned approach to the afforestation of infrastructures as a resource for the aesthetic and economic development of these areas through the production and exploitation of the biomass. In recent years, even the authorities in charge of the maintenance of these transport infrastructures have come to see these forms of afforestation as a resource rather than a constraint. Such a change in the perception of this potential forest may be considered as the heritage of long-standing landscape projects such as the Belgian Green Plan of 1958 or the Nord-Pas-de-Calais regional forest and the "new forestry model" the latter has come to represent. The plasticity of the forest model, motivated by theoretical debates on landscape ecology (notably the island theory and the SLOSS), seen from this perspective, would imply a re-appropriation of these wooded wastelands in the form of a linear forest on the edges of transport infrastructures.

The relationship among foreign direct investments and economic growth is a very controversial issue that has given rise to an abundant literature. Numerous research studies examine the bidirectional causal relationship and investigate the major determinants of these investments. In the same order of ideas, this article gives an empirical study from four North African countries to evaluate the role of transport infrastructures to improve the territorial attractiveness for the foreign direct investment. The present paper starts by a theoretical study explaining the role of transport as a major determinant of FDI. In a second section, we represent the empirical study. By using an econometric model with panel data, we found that traditional determinants of FDI have the most significant influence on the international investors’ decision. However, the same findings verify a positive impact of transport and consider it as a new important factor with strategic issues that cannot be avoided. The empirical validation from the four countries leads to verify that it is necessary to adopt development strategies that take into account the transport infrastructures and logistics function

This study reviews research developments in non-destructive assessment of linear transport infrastructures. The main focus will be on the integration between satellite remote sensing and ground-based techniques. Specifically, the potential of using interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) and high-frequency ground penetrating radar (GPR) techniques as self-standing and integrated survey methodologies will be discussed. To this effect, an overview on data fusion techniques will be given. The last section of the paper reports recent results achieved by using both GPR systems and the permanent scatterers InSAR technique on a real-life railway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article deals with the main aspects of public infrastructures - transport in all its categories, communications, energy and digital - existing in Romania at the county level and, when statistical data are not detailed on them, at that of the eight development regions. The conclusion of the analysis is that the current state of the mentioned infrastructures depends, in particular, on the natural conditions and the previous, historical, development of the counties, and that from the point of view of this state the most developed counties cannot be clearly differentiated from the least developed ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents the first results obtained by applying in situ and remote-sensing methodologies to monitor the Ponte della Musica-Armando Trovajoli located in Rome, within the activities of the WP6 “Structural Health Monitoring and Satellite Data” 2019-21 Reluis Project. In particular, the use of remote-sensing Differential Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Interferometry (DInSAR) measurements provided a spatial map of the displacement of the investigated infrastructure and the corresponding time-series, with the aim of monitoring deformation phenomena, focusing on the local scale analysis, which produces suitable results for urban monitoring and damage assessment. The DInSAR results have been integrated with the identification of the dynamic characteristics of the bridge, performed through an experimental campaign of ambient vibration measurements carried out in October 2020 and with the local-scale definition of the engineering geological setting of the foundation soil. The subsoil of the bridge is constituted by more than 50 m of recent alluvial deposits resting on Pliocene stiff clay acting as a geological bedrock. A substantially stable behavior of the bridge structural elements has been observed based on the analysis of both satellite and velocimetric data. This case represents a good example about how the integration of in situ sensors with remotely sensed data and the exploitation of a detailed knowledge regarding the on-site conditions represent a key factor for a sustainable structural and infrastructural monitoring and can support the planning both of maintenance and safety management.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between public transport services and the financial needs. Cities require to be equipped with public transport networks as they are primarily responsible for creation of wealth for countries and to ensure sustainability of urbanization. Once decisions have been taken to design, build and operate such networks, it is equally important to set rules for urban transport financing. Depending on the city size and other factors, authorities allocate resources. Nonetheless, is there a relationship between the size of the city and its public transport financial needs? This paper develops a model to explain such relationships. Design/methodology/approach - The study develops a spatial model, while providing intuition through the use of graphs, to solve the question of the amount of resources allocated for financing the transport services. Findings - It is verified that those financial needs are more than proportional to the size of the city; when a city grows in its number of boroughs, economic funds needed to support public transport have to increase in a greater proportion in comparison to the growth of boroughs growth. The model states a formula valid for explaining the financial needs. Originality/value - The model is interesting as it explains why large metropolitan areas need special financial aid from authorities. Real life shows that big cities like Paris, Berlin or Madrid need extraordinary funds for this purpose, and in most of the cases, specific national laws are required for financing public transport networks in these large metropolitan areas.

Building information modelling (BIM) is increasingly appropriate for infrastructure projects, and in particular for transport infrastructure. It is a digital solution that integrates the practices of the construction industry in facility management during the whole life cycle. This integration is possible through a single tool, which is the 3D digital model. Nevertheless, BIM standards, such as industry foundation classes, are still in the pipeline for infrastructure management. These standards do not fully meet the requirements of operation and maintenance of transport infrastructure. This paper shows how BIM could be implemented to address issues related to the operation and maintenance phase for transport infrastructure management. For this purpose, a new ontological approach, called Industry Foundation Classes for Operation and Maintenance of Infrastructures (IFCInfra4OM), is detailed. This ontology aims to standardise the use of building information modelling for operation and maintenance in road infrastructures. To highlight the interest of the proposed ontological approach, a building information model of a section on the A7 Agadir–Marrakech Highway in Morocco is produced according to IFCInfra4OM. The methodology is presented. The results obtained, including the IFCInfra4OM data model, are submitted. In the last section, an overview of the IFC extension approach is submitted.

The 'Belt and Road Initiative' was announced in 2013 to better connect China economically, socially and culturally with the world by new transport infrastructures. Before forecasting the long-term impacts of the initiative on economic activities and population, one could learn from history about how transport infrastructures and the corresponding accessibility of different locales they engendered or enhanced might have shaped and reshaped the distribution of the population and economic activities in Europe. Historic maps of transport infrastructures and population statistics were collected from such sources as the Stanford Geospatial Network Model of the Roman World, the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, and the Gridded Population of the World Version 4. By digitizing and synthesizing the maps and statistics, transport accessibility in Europe and its nearby areas was mapped during both the Roman Empire (27 BC–476 AD) and the Middle Ages (1000–1500 AD), as well as the population distribution in Europe and its nearby areas in 2015. The mapping efforts indicated that the transport network changed greatly over time for various reasons, and that transport accessibility is a sufficient but not necessary condition for different locales' population growth and economic prosperity over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the traditional determinants, transport infrastructures affect directly and significantly the territorial attractiveness of the foreign direct investment in the host countries. The increasing importance of this new determinant is essentially due to the great causal relationship with several other factors such as the territorial management in the host country. The aim of the present paper is to evaluate the importance of transport infrastructures to develop the territorial attractiveness of the developing countries to the multinational firms through their contribution to developing the territorial management and to enhance the quality of the private investment conditions. To do this, we have used a panel data model for 27 developing countries over the period between 1990 and 2014. The results prove that the transport infrastructures affect positively and significantly the territorial attractiveness by the positive influence on the territorial management. Also, the results indicate that the impact of these infrastructures on the territorial management, subsequently on the FDI attractiveness, becomes more important in presence of a good logistics function.

Stormwater ponds were originally constructed to control the quantity and quality of runoff on urban roads and highways before it was released to the environment. Often, stormwater ponds were designed in a technical feat of civil engineering, with no particular ecological or landscape objective in mind. Nevertheless, they are colonized spontaneously by diverse species, including amphibians. Through an initial review of the scientific literature, the objective of this study was to understand which factors determine whether a pond can be considered as an ecological trap or a valuable breeding site for amphibians. The first step was to question the role of the pond environment as a major factor in its colonization by amphibians, demonstrating that not all ponds are colonized by the same variety of species. The internal factors in the ponds that define them as ecological traps or sustainable breeding sites for amphibians was also considered. After confirming the functional and structural similarity between highway and urban stormwater ponds, 25 publications were compared, with study sites mostly located in Europe and North America, which concern the colonization of stormwater ponds by amphibians in urban or highway areas. Several factors were identified that may affect the ecological viability of these basins: (1) the factors related to the shape of the ponds (inclination of the banks, materials used, etc.,); (2) the biotic factors (aquatic vegetation, presence of predators, etc.,); (3) the abiotic factors (luminosity, water level in the ponds, etc.,); and (4) water pollutants. The low number of publications on this subject, as well as the low variety in the location of study sites, only allow cautious conclusions to be drawn. In particular, stormwater ponds located in highly anthropogenic landscapes can be both ecological traps and suitable habitats for amphibian breeding. This depends on the species that colonize each pond, many internal factors, and the environmental context in which it is embedded. Additional research is therefore needed in other parts of the world—particularly in amphibian biodiversity hotspots—as well as other impact factors such as the effects of different maintenance practices.

Logistics infrastructures play an important role in many fields of economic activity, substantially influencing land use planning. Despite this, scholars and practitioners have dedicated little attention to setting up efficient indicators able to define the effect that infrastructure investments have on industrial activities. Many theoretical and empirical studies have been dedicated to calculating the exact numerical effect of infrastructure investment on social wellbeing, but their explicative capacity has always proved to be scarce since it is difficult work and with high levels of arbitrariness. This work becomes much more difficult when it aims to determine the effects on industrial efficiency. In this paper, we will use an indicator to overcome the problems related to determination of the exact economic impact of infrastructure investment on an economic region or local territory and suggest land use policy models to analyse infrastructure economic impacts. More specifically, we will focus our attention on the factors affecting logistics and economic performance within the economic regions around twenty major European ports. By using the new ACIT (Autoregulation, Compensation, Invariance and Transversality) indicator, we show that positive effects, deriving from port logistics interventions, can occur in those regions that have an ACIT indicator positively associated with other variables, such as propensity to innovation and level of education. This indicator represents a starting point to study how, in the better performing regions, it could be possible to develop logistics services able to stimulate a higher level of transport demand and, at the same time, respect high standards in environmental quality. Finally, we explain how an improvement in logistics performances of a port region may determine an improvement in its socioeconomic and environmental conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship among foreign direct investments and economic growth is a very controversial issue that has given rise to an abundant literature. Numerous research studies examine the bidirectional causal relationship and investigate the major determinants of these investments. In the same order of ideas, this article gives an empirical study from four North African countries to evaluate the role of transport infrastructures to improve the territorial attractiveness for the foreign direct investment. The present paper starts by a theoretical study explaining the role of transport as a major determinant of FDI. In a second section, we represent the empirical study. By using an econometric model with panel data, we found that traditional determinants of FDI have the most significant influence on the international investors' decision. However, the same findings verify a positive impact of transport and consider it as a new important factor with strategic issues that cannot be avoided. The empirical validation from the four countries leads to verify that it is necessary to adopt development strategies that take into account the transport infrastructures and logistics function [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last twenty -five years, there has been an improvement and increase in the transport infrastructure in Spain. Civil works, including transport infrastructures, withstood the first impacts of the recent crisis thanks to the immediate implementation of a public package of civil engineering projects. However, since 2010, spending on infrastructure by the public administration has collapsed as a measure to achieve the required deficit targets. In this paper, we perform an evolutionary analysis of the different modes of transport (passenger and goods traffic for ports) and the investments made to improve its infrastructures. Among the results, we identify some excesses and punctual disharmonies. Finally, some reflections and considerations are made on the territorial distribution of public expenditure on transport infrastructures, indebtedness and future economic availability. A new infrastructure policy will have to face the many challenges that arise in the immediate future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimal design of building envelopes/HVAC systems and free cooling strategies are today necessary to reduce energy, economic and environmental impact of telecommunication, electricity distribution, or electric transportations infrastructures. To this aim, designers and operators require advanced techniques and tools. Target of this paper is to present the development of a simulation model for assessing and optimizing cooling performance of new/existing infrastructures to be designed/refurbished from the energy point of view. The model is implemented in a computer tool to assess the related potential benefits of different energy saving technologies/strategies and optimize different objective functions. By the presented approach new design and operating criteria are developed by varying all the occurring boundary conditions (weather, temperature limitations, electricity tariffs, etc.). To show the capability and suitability of the proposed approach, a case study concerning the equipment cooling of a railway substation is developed. The analysis is conducted for different Italian climates, obtaining remarkable energy savings. Specifically, by optimizing free cooling operation and thermal insulation the cooling energy consumption can be decreased up to 80% and 10%, respectively. By an energy refurbishment of all the Italian railway substations an annual electricity cost reduction due to equipment conditioning of about 0.5 M€ can be achieved, 47% lower. • Distributed building infrastructures have great potential of reducing cooling energy consumption. • Dynamic simulation is a paramount tool to design enhanced energy management strategies. • Free cooling contributes to 50% reduction of energy demand for equipment cooling. • Operational energy and use of material can be reduced with optimal envelope design. • The study proposes design criteria aimed at increasing energy efficiency at the infrastructure level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]