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Infrastructure regulation : what works, why and how do we know? : lessons from Asia and beyond
This title intends to contribute to the understanding of infrastructure regulations by analyzing empirical cases in telecommunications, electricity and water, with examples drawn from a number of countries in Asia and beyond.
Book
A Systematic Review of Sustainability Criteria in Infrastructure Development
This paper explores the immediate need of infrastructure stakeholders for practical guidance promoting sustainable infrastructure development that aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and European Union (EU) regulations. Despite overarching definitions, there is a noticeable absence of a uniform set of sustainability criteria, which delays the integration of sustainability principles into infrastructure planning, development, and operations. Through a targeted content analysis of the systematically selected literature from the Web of Science, this study seeks to clarify the characteristics of sustainable infrastructure. In the systematic review of 106 sources, carefully selected through a structured exclusion process described in the Open Science Framework register, the authors construct a comprehensive set of 43 sustainable infrastructure characteristics. Subsequently, these indicators undergo evaluation by sector experts through focus group discussions on the relevance of the proposed sustainable infrastructure criteria to local planning contexts. The focus group’s results demonstrate the adequacy of the proposed criteria, albeit with variations in perceived importance. Additionally, participants in the focus group suggest conducting field tests of the criteria in a municipal setting before scaling up to national policy frameworks.
Journal Article
A Review of Digital Twin Applications in Civil and Infrastructure Emergency Management
Natural disasters can cause severe damages to civil infrastructure and lead to extensive economic losses and casualties. To improve the emergency response capability of civil infrastructure under extreme circumstances such as natural disasters and human-caused hazards, intelligent technology for infrastructure emergency management has been extensively studied. As an emerging paradigm of interdisciplinary convergence, digital twins (DTs) can integrate intelligent technology into different stages of emergency management and provide a new solution for the emergency management of civil infrastructure (EMCI). However, applications of DT in EMCI have several limitations and are mostly case by case. However, the sector needs more generalisable lessons to address the greater value of DT in the context of EMCI. To address this gap, we first carry out a systematic literature review and analyse the latest progress and previous research deficiencies of DT by taking the scientometrical approach. Next, a framework is proposed to explain how DT can be applied to the mitigation, preparation, response, and recovery stages of EMCI. Lastly, the trends and prospects of DT applications in EMCI are discussed. Overall, the knowledge gained from this study will promote the research and development of more-viable DTs to address the sector’s demand for emergency management.
Journal Article
Sustainable Transaction Processing in Transaction-Intensive E-Business Applications Through Resilient Digital Infrastructures
In the era of digital transformation, transaction-intensive e-business applications—such as high-frequency trading (HFT), e-monetary services and decentralized marketplaces—require infrastructures that are not only fast and secure but also sustainable. Current solutions often prioritize short-term performance over long-term resilience, leading to inefficiencies in energy use and system reliability. This paper introduces a conceptual framework for sustainable transaction processing, leveraging energy-efficient hardware accelerators, real-time communication protocols inspired by industrial automation and lightweight authentication mechanisms. By integrating associative memory-based matching engines and optimized network architectures, the proposed approach ensures predictable latency, robust security and scalability without compromising sustainability. The framework aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure) by reducing resource consumption, enhancing operational resilience and supporting future-ready digital ecosystems.
Journal Article
A life cycle model for high-speed rail infrastructure: environmental inventories and assessment of the Tours-Bordeaux railway in France
PurposeThe objective of the study is to progress towards a comprehensive component-based Life Cycle Assessment model with clear and reusable Life Cycle Inventories (LCIs) for high-speed rail (HSR) infrastructure components, and to assess the main environmental impacts of HSR infrastructure over its lifespan, to finally determine environmental hotpots and good practices.MethodsA process-based LCA compliant with ISO 14040 and 14044 is performed. Construction-stage LCIs rely on data collection conducted with the concessionaire of the HSR line combined with EcoInvent 3.1 inventories. Use and End-of-Life stages LCIs rest on expert feedback scenarios and field data. A set of 13 midpoint indicators is proposed to capture the diversity of the environmental damage: climate change, consumptions of primary energy and non-renewable resources, human toxicity and ecotoxicities, eutrophication, acidification, radioactive and bulk wastes, stratospheric ozone depletion, and summer smog. Three characterization methods are used: the “Cumulative Energy Demand” method to quantify energy demand, the EDIP method for waste productions, and the CML method for the rest.Results and discussionThe study shows major contributions to environmental impact from rails (10–71%), roadbed (3–48%), and civil engineering structures (4–28%). More limited impact is noted from ballast (1–22%), building machines (0–17%), sleepers (4–11%), and power supply system (2–12%). The two last components, chairs and fasteners, have negligible impact (max. 1 and 3% of total contributions, respectively). Direct transportation can contribute up to 18% of total impact. The production and maintenance stages contribute roughly equally to environmental deterioration (respectively average of 62 and 59%). Because the End-of-Life (EoL) mainly includes recycling with environmental credit accounted for in our 100:100 approach, this stage has globally a positive impact (− 9 to − 98%) on all the impact categories except terrestrial ecotoxicity (58%), radioactive waste (11%), and ozone depletion (8%). Contribution analyses show that if concrete production is one of the important contributing processes over the construction stage, primary steel production is unquestionably the most important process on all the impact categories over the entire life cycle.ConclusionsThese results are of interest for public authorities and the rail industry, in order to consider the full life cycle impacts of transportation infrastructure in a decision-making process with better understanding and inclusion of the environmental constraints. Suggestions are provided in this way for life cycle good practices—for instance as regards gravel recycling choices—and additional research to reduce the impact of current major contributors.
Journal Article
Railroads and the transformation of China
As a vehicle to convey both the history of modern China and the complex forces still driving the nation's economic success, rail has no equal. Railroads and the Transformation of China is the first comprehensive history, in any language, of railroad operation from the last decades of the Qing Empire to the present. China's first fractured lines were built under semicolonial conditions by competing foreign investors. The national system that began taking shape in the 1910s suffered all the ills of the country at large: warlordism and Japanese invasion, Chinese partisan sabotage, the Great Leap Forward when lines suffered in the \"battle for steel,\" and the Cultural Revolution, during which Red Guards were granted free passage to \"make revolution\" across the country, nearly collapsing the system. Elisabeth Kèoll's expansive study shows how railroads survived the rupture of the 1949 Communist revolution and became an enduring model of Chinese infrastructure expansion. The railroads persisted because they were exemplary bureaucratic institutions. Through detailed archival research and interviews, Kèoll builds case studies illuminating the strength of rail administration. Pragmatic management, combining central authority and local autonomy, sustained rail organizations amid shifting political and economic priorities. As Kèoll shows, rail provided a blueprint for the past forty years of ambitious, semipublic business development and remains an essential component of the PRC's politically charged, technocratic economic model for China's future.-- Provided by publisher
Book
Technological gaps and opportunities in urban productive sectors: The case of Guayaquil in the framework of sustainable development
This study examines technological gaps and opportunities within Guayaquil’s manufacturing (C) and commerce (G) subsectors in the framework of Sustainable Development Goal 9 (SDG 9). Using a quantitative, descriptive approach and analyzing indicators from 2020 to 2023, it assesses progress in innovation (R&D), sustainable infrastructure, access to clean technologies, and digitalization. The findings reveal a clear sectoral asymmetry: manufacturing shows sustained advances in R&D investment, productive modernization, and formal employment—mainly driven by large firms with high technological absorption capacity while commerce demonstrates greater dynamism in ICT adoption and post-pandemic digital adaptation. However, SMEs in both sectors continue to face financial, structural, and technical barriers that limit their access to clean technologies and sustainable infrastructure. These results underscore the need for differentiated and context-sensitive policies that recognize the distinct capacities of each sector. Strengthening financial mechanisms, fostering public, private, academic collaboration, and promoting clean innovation among SMEs are essential to close the existing gaps. The study concludes by proposing a strategic roadmap to enhance business sustainability and advance toward a more resilient, inclusive, and innovation-driven urban economy in Guayaquil.
Journal Article