Social Sustainability in the Lifecycle of Chilean Public Infrastructure
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 142, Issue 5
Abstract
To enhance concern for the social aspects of sustainability and to delineate the criteria to be considered at each stage of the lifecycle of an infrastructure, this paper aims to determine the relevance of a set of criteria that evaluate social sustainability throughout the lifecycle of a public civil infrastructure. This research presents the results of a case study applying the Delphi method to 24 Chilean experts consulted in a series of three rounds. In addition, binomial statistical tests and Kendall’s coefficient were used to show the convergence of the experts. Thus, it was identified that of 36 initial criteria assessed at each stage of the lifecycle, the consideration of 20 is required at the design stage, 29 at the construction stage, 33 during operation, and 27 at demolition. The most relevant criteria, per lifecycle stage, were Stakeholder Participation (design and demolition stages), External Local Population (design stage), Internal Human Resources (construction and demolition stages), Macro-Social Action of Socioenvironmental Activities (construction stage), and Macro-Social Action of Socioeconomic Activities (operation stage).
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Acknowledgments
This research was funded by the European Commission under the Erasmus Mundus Lindo Program (EMA-2-2012-2658) and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness along with FEDER funding (Project BIA2014-56574-R). The authors are also very grateful to the participants in the Delphi study and to professors Joaquín Catalá, Jaime Jiménez, and José V. Martí-Albiñana for participating in the focus group.
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© 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Apr 29, 2015
Accepted: Oct 7, 2015
Published online: Dec 29, 2015
Published in print: May 1, 2016
Discussion open until: May 29, 2016
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