IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i2p790-d480724.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sustainability in Railway Investments, a Study of Early-Phase Analyses and Perceptions

Author

Listed:
  • Andreas Økland

    (Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), 7491 Trondheim, Norway)

  • Nils O. E. Olsson

    (Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), 7491 Trondheim, Norway)

  • Marte Venstad

    (Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), 7491 Trondheim, Norway)

Abstract

This article presents a study of sustainability in railway investment projects. The purpose of the study was to analyse how sustainability is interpreted and evaluated in the early phases of major public investment projects. These phases are characterized by potentially very influential decisions being made prior to when precise, detailed knowledge is available. The research uses a mix of qualitative and quantitative information sources and three datasets; 12 interviews, document analyses for 10 railway projects, and a case study. The qualitative data are from semi-structured interviews, while the quantitative data are based on structured document review of planning documents from ten Norwegian railway projects. In addition, a detailed case study of a major rail infrastructure project has been performed. The findings show that several aspects of sustainability are evaluated in the early phase of investment projects, but there are no explicit requirements to do an overall analysis of sustainability. Environmental aspects of sustainability are predominant in the respondents’ interpretation of the concept. Still, the structure and requirements of the early phases in the national project model ensures that the economic dimension of sustainability has the most influence in decisions regarding which project concepts that receive financing for further development.

Suggested Citation

  • Andreas Økland & Nils O. E. Olsson & Marte Venstad, 2021. "Sustainability in Railway Investments, a Study of Early-Phase Analyses and Perceptions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-21, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:2:p:790-:d:480724
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/2/790/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/2/790/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Volden, Gro Holst, 2018. "Public project success as seen in a broad perspective," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 109-117.
    2. Roger Vickerman, 2007. "Cost — Benefit Analysis and Large-Scale Infrastructure Projects: State of the Art and Challenges," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 34(4), pages 598-610, August.
    3. Gudmundsson, Henrik & Hojer, Mattias, 1996. "Sustainable development principles and their implications for transport," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 269-282, December.
    4. Craig Lewis & Steven Young, 2019. "Fad or future? Automated analysis of financial text and its implications for corporate reporting," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(5), pages 587-615, July.
    5. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    6. Bill Hopwood & Mary Mellor & Geoff O'Brien, 2005. "Sustainable development: mapping different approaches," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(1), pages 38-52.
    7. P.C. Bueno & J.M. Vassallo & K. Cheung, 2015. "Sustainability Assessment of Transport Infrastructure Projects: A Review of Existing Tools and Methods," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(5), pages 622-649, September.
    8. Mouter, Niek & Annema, Jan Anne & Wee, Bert van, 2013. "Attitudes towards the role of Cost–Benefit Analysis in the decision-making process for spatial-infrastructure projects: A Dutch case study," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 1-14.
    9. Price, Richard & Thornton, Simeon & Nelson, Stephen, 2007. "The Social Cost of Carbon and the Shadow Price of Carbon: what they are, and how to use them in economic appraisal in the UK," MPRA Paper 74976, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Filippo Giammaria Praticò & Rosario Fedele, 2022. "Economic Sustainability of High–Speed and High–Capacity Railways," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-22, December.
    2. Tobias Onshuus Malvik & Agnar Johansen & Olav Torp & Nils O. E. Olsson, 2021. "Evaluation of Target Value Delivery and Opportunity Management as Complementary Practices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-19, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dawid Szostek, 2019. "The Impact of the Quality of Interpersonal Relationships between Employees on Counterproductive Work Behavior: A Study of Employees in Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-33, October.
    2. Bahadur Ali Soomro & Ikhtiar Ali Ghumro & Naimatullah Shah, 2020. "Green entrepreneurship inclination among the younger generation: An avenue towards a green economy," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(4), pages 585-594, July.
    3. Higgins, Colin & Walker, Robyn, 2012. "Ethos, logos, pathos: Strategies of persuasion in social/environmental reports," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 194-208.
    4. John Holmberg & Johan Larsson, 2018. "A Sustainability Lighthouse—Supporting Transition Leadership and Conversations on Desirable Futures," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-25, October.
    5. Umberto Berardi, 2013. "Sustainability assessment of urban communities through rating systems," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 15(6), pages 1573-1591, December.
    6. Mehdi Jabbari & Majid Shafiepour Motlagh & Khosro Ashrafi & Ghahreman Abdoli, 2020. "Differentiating countries based on the sustainable development proximities using the SDG indicators," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(7), pages 6405-6423, October.
    7. Katharina Spraul & Julia Thaler, 2020. "Partnering for good? An analysis of how to achieve sustainability-related outcomes in public–private partnerships," Business Research, Springer;German Academic Association for Business Research, vol. 13(2), pages 485-511, July.
    8. Abeysekara, Baudhi & Perera, Piyaruwan & Chhipi Shrestha, Gyan Kumar & Gunaruwan, Lalithasiri & Kumarage, Amal & Sadiq, Rehan & Hewage, Kasun, 2021. "Improving the capital deployment efficiency: An infrastructure investment planning process in transportation project," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    9. Korah, Prosper Issahaku & Nunbogu, Abraham Marshall & Cobbinah, Patrick Brandful & Akanbang, Bernard Afiik Akanpabadai, 2019. "Analysis of livelihood issues in resettlement mining communities in Ghana," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 1-1.
    10. Biancardo, Salvatore Antonio & Gesualdi, Michele & Savastano, Davide & Intignano, Mattia & Henke, Ilaria & Pagliara, Francesca, 2023. "An innovative framework for integrating Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) within Building Information Modeling (BIM)," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    11. Alessandro Cariello & Rossella Ferorelli & Francesco Rotondo, 2021. "Tactical Urbanism in Italy: From Grassroots to Institutional Tool—Assessing Value of Public Space Experiments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-15, October.
    12. Xiucheng Dong & Jie Guo & Mikael Höök & Guanglin Pi, 2015. "Sustainability Assessment of the Natural Gas Industry in China Using Principal Component Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(5), pages 1-17, May.
    13. Erling Holden & Kristin Linnerud, 2007. "The sustainable development area: satisfying basic needs and safeguarding ecological sustainability," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(3), pages 174-187.
    14. Fátima Lanhoso & Denis Alves Coelho, 2021. "Emergence fostered by systemic analysis—Seeding innovation for sustainable development," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(4), pages 768-779, July.
    15. Markus Milne & Rob Gray, 2013. "W(h)ither Ecology? The Triple Bottom Line, the Global Reporting Initiative, and Corporate Sustainability Reporting," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 118(1), pages 13-29, November.
    16. Sabrina Tabares & Andrés Morales & Sara Calvo & Valentín Molina Moreno, 2021. "Unpacking B Corps’ Impact on Sustainable Development: An Analysis from Structuration Theory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-21, December.
    17. Irene Casas & Maria Teresa Borzacchiello & Biagio Ciuffo & Peter Nijkamp, 2012. "Short And Long Term Effects Of Sustainable Mobility Policy: An Exploratory Case Study," Regional Science Inquiry, Hellenic Association of Regional Scientists, vol. 0(1), pages 13-28, June.
    18. Niki Derlukiewicz & Anna Mempel-Sniezyk, 2018. "European cities in the face of sustainable development," Ekonomia i Prawo, Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika, vol. 17(2), pages 125-135, June.
    19. Lueg, Rainer & Radlach, Ronny, 2016. "Managing sustainable development with management control systems: A literature review," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 158-171.
    20. Markus J. Milne & Helen Tregidga & Sara Walton, 2009. "Words not actions! The ideological role of sustainable development reporting," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 22(8), pages 1211-1257, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:2:p:790-:d:480724. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.