Adopting a Political Ecology Approach to Understanding Stakeholder Roles and Values in Infrastructure Initiatives

Infrastructure projects exert profound and enduring influences on ecological systems and human societies, yet prevailing value management approaches prioritize economic metrics—time, cost, and quality—while marginalizing socio-environmental considerations and power dynamics. This study adopts a political ecology lens to reconceptualize stakeholder engagement and project value in infrastructure, advancing an integrated 4E framework encompassing enclosure (economic), exclusion (political), encroachment (ecological), and entrenchment (social). Through a qualitative case study of Nairobi’s Expressway—drawing on peer-reviewed literature, policy documents, and environmental impact assessments—the framework is applied thematically to uncover how power relations shape the creation and distribution of social, economic, and ecological value. Findings reveal that (1) economic enclosure concentrates benefits among private actors via privatization and toll mechanisms; (2) political exclusion marginalizes affected communities through tokenistic consultations; (3) ecological encroachment externalizes environmental costs, eroding green spaces and ecosystem services; and (4) social entrenchment reinforces inequalities by privileging affluent commuters. Central to these dynamics are the emergent notions of agency, empowerment, and vulnerability, which elucidate how non-market stakeholders negotiate value amidst competing interests. The study contributes a novel theoretical model that integrates power-sensitive stakeholder analysis with multidimensional value assessment and offers practical guidance for policymakers and practitioners to adopt justice-oriented, value-centric governance. By embedding political ecology and the 4E framework into project inception, stakeholder engagement, and governance, infrastructure initiatives can more equitably address grand challenges such as climate change, social injustice, and biodiversity loss.