A Systematic Review of Sustainability Criteria in Infrastructure Development
Sustainability 2024
Ieva Kustova, Justīna Hudenko, Nataļja Lāce

This paper explores the immediate need of infrastructure stakeholders for practical guidance promoting sustainable infrastructure development that aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and European Union (EU) regulations. Despite overarching definitions, there is a noticeable absence of a uniform set of sustainability criteria, which delays the integration of sustainability principles into infrastructure planning, development, and operations. Through a targeted content analysis of the systematically selected literature from the Web of Science, this study seeks to clarify the characteristics of sustainable infrastructure. In the systematic review of 106 sources, carefully selected through a structured exclusion process described in the Open Science Framework register, the authors construct a comprehensive set of 43 sustainable infrastructure characteristics. Subsequently, these indicators undergo evaluation by sector experts through focus group discussions on the relevance of the proposed sustainable infrastructure criteria to local planning contexts. The focus group’s results demonstrate the adequacy of the proposed criteria, albeit with variations in perceived importance. Additionally, participants in the focus group suggest conducting field tests of the criteria in a municipal setting before scaling up to national policy frameworks.


Keywords
criteria of sustainable infrastructure; sustainable infrastructure components; Sustainable Development Goals and infrastructure planning; focus group
DOI
10.3390/su16114564
Hyperlink
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/11/4564

Kustova, I., Hudenko, J., Lāce, N. A Systematic Review of Sustainability Criteria in Infrastructure Development. Sustainability, 2024, Vol. 16, No. 11, Article number 4564. e-ISSN 2071-1050. Pieejams: doi:10.3390/su16114564

Publication language
English (en)
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