Quality of Life, Sustainable Civil Infrastructure, and Sustainable Development: Strategically Expanding Choice
Publication: Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 137, Issue 1
Abstract
As sustainable development becomes a more important objective in civil infrastructure planning and policymaking, quality of life (QOL) is an increasingly important measure to understand, characterize, and apply effectively in the search for and development of appropriate infrastructure solutions for sustainable development. This paper reviews the role of QOL in civil infrastructure decision making. It provides an overview and critique of methodological approaches to defining QOL and explains the significance of QOL in infrastructure decision making for sustainable development. Examples are used to demonstrate how infrastructure can be strategically developed or redeveloped to improve regional QOL and economic competitiveness while preserving or enhancing the natural environment. Based on the theoretical review and examination of infrastructure development examples, the writers suggest that a new paradigm that views infrastructure development as part of a sociotechnical system be considered. Such a paradigm would encourage strategic infrastructure designs and policies that expand choice and achieve multiple objectives for sustainable development.
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Acknowledgments
The writers would like to express appreciation to Karen Wong at Georgia Institute of Technology for her contributions to the case study material for this paper. This work was partially supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant No. NSF0219607-0015693000: Applications of portfolio theory and sustainability metrics in civil infrastructure management. The writers remain exclusively responsible for the ideas presented in this paper.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 137 • Issue 1 • March 2011
Pages: 39 - 48
Copyright
© 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 30, 2009
Accepted: Apr 18, 2010
Published online: Feb 15, 2011
Published in print: Mar 1, 2011
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