Infrastructure Planning

Abstract

This course explains how ideas for infrastructure emerge from strategic planning (macro scale), are taken up in the planning of systems (meso scale) and progress to approval through project evaluation (micro scale). It also provides infrastructure planners with principles for the appraisal of possible projects with and without the explicit valuing of costs and benefits.

Objective

Infrastructure planners ensure our built environment optimally meets our future needs. This is challenging, as the built environment is a large and complex system, which interacts extensively with the natural environment. Additionally, there is considerable uncertainty with respect to the expectations of the built environment in the future, due to the uncertain environment in which we live, e.g., changing technologies and the changing climate. It is in the face of this complexity and uncertainty and high level strategic goals that an infrastructure planner need to propose and defend specific potential infrastructure improvements. This course provides infrastructure planners with an understanding of how ideas for infrastructure emerge from strategic planning (macro scale), are taken up in the planning of systems (meso scale) and progress to approval through project evaluation (micro scale). It also provides infrastructure planners with principles for the appraisal of possible projects with and without the explicit valuing of costs and benefits. More specifically, upon completion of the course students will understand: - how ideas for infrastructure are generated at a strategic level, are interpreted in the development of system plans and reach concrete project proposals - how project ideas emerge from system plans and are iteratively developed and appraised until approval - the principles of system modelling and system modelling over time in appraising and defending infrastructure proposals - the advantages and disadvantages of explicitly evaluating the costs and benefits in the appraisal of infrastructure proposals and the advantages and disadvantages of not evaluating the costs and benefits in the appraisal of infrastructure proposals.

Content

The course consists of 6 lectures, 3 help sessions and 4 presentation / evaluation sessions. The two-hour weekly lecture period is used as follows: 1-Introduction: Strategic planning to project appraisals – This lecture introduces the course and an explanation of how the impetus for infrastructure modifications emerge from strategic planning and evolve to the appraisal and approval of specific infrastructure projects. The requirements for successful completion of the course are discussed. 2-Strategic Planning: This lecture provides students with an overview of how strategic planning in a city works, i.e., going from initial ideas to agreed goals 3. Project appraisals: Case for change to approval – This lecture explains how system planners develop system plans considering high-level strategic goals and how these system plans iteratively evolve to become an appraised project. 4. Example: This lecture provides a real-world example of the theory explained in lecture 3. 5. Help session: This lecture is used to discuss how students should make a case for new or modified infrastructure that is aligned with the strategic goals give to them for their projects. 6+7 In these lecture slots select groups of students will present to their peers how they have made their cases for new or modified infrastructure 8-System modelling for appraisal: Evolution over time and valuation: Modelling how a system works. This lecture explains the principles of how to model a system to facilitate the appraisal of the project, 9-Project appraisals: Evolution over time and valuation: This lecture explains how to model systems changes over time, using Monte Carlo simulations, and how to consider both system changes and planner decisions triggered by system changes in the appraisal of projects. It also discusses how costs and benefits and robustness metrics are to be used. 10+11-Help sessions – We use the lecture periods to answer any questions you might have on your project. Your project is due on Friday of week 11. 12+13-Project presentations – In these lecture periods select groups of students will be asked to present their projects and be asked to field questions from the lecturers and fellow students. The presentations will be graded by the lecturers. Fellow students will give their impressions of the presentations and ability of the group to answer the questions. 14- This lecture slot will consist of a wrap-up of the course contents, and a number of presentations giving ideas of these principles can be used in more advanced analysis required in real world situations. The course uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches. The quantitative analysis required in the project requires at least the use of Excel. Some students, however, prefer to use Python or R.

Resources