Whittington, Jan. (2012). When to Partner for Public Infrastructure? Journal Of The American Planning Association, 78(3), 269 – 285.
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Abstract
Problem, research strategy, and findings: Public agencies traditionally request bids and award contracts to private firms after infrastructure designs are complete (bid-build). They also increasingly partner with private firms, often by folding capital improvements into a contract to design and build (design-build). The latter involves much more than the mere transfer of design work to the private sector, such as time to completion; the merits or problems of design-build strategies can, thus, be difficult to isolate. This article presents a method for doing so. Together with the development of a theory of contracting, the comparative analysis of two very similar highway overpass projects, one design-build and the other bid-build, demonstrates how so-called transaction cost economics can clarify the details of partnership cost-effectiveness. Takeaway for practice: Transaction cost analysis disaggregates and evaluates the costs of completed projects, accounting for factors typically external to economic analysis. My approach reveals tradeoffs between variables of interest to planners, such as the pace of delivery, public participation, environmental compliance, and the transfer of risk of cost overrun to the private sector.
Keywords
Design & Build Contracts; Bridges; Infrastructure (economics); Transaction Costs; Construction Contracts; Public-private Sector Cooperation; Transportation Planning; Design-build; Evaluation; Infrastructure; Public–private Partnership; Transaction Cost; Vertical Integration; Contracting Process; Privatization; Firm; Services; Reverse; Lie; Public-private Partnership
Grover, Himanshu; Brody, Samuel D.; Vedlitz, Arnold. (2017). Understanding Climate Change Risk Perception in the USA. International Journal Of Global Warming, 13(2), 113 – 137.
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Abstract
Public perceptions of risk from climate change are an important determinant of the willingness of citizens to support climate change mitigation and adaptation policies. Although there is a growing body of research focusing on a variety of individual, cultural, and organisational factors that affect an individual's perception of risk, only a few studies have adopted a multivariate analytical approach to understand public perceptions of climate change risks. This study extends earlier interdisciplinary research initiatives and proposes a more comprehensive, integrated model for understanding climate change risk perception. Using measures of objective risk, individual climate stress, and individual capacity, we explain public perceptions of climate change risks. The analysis is based on a national representative survey of US citizens. Geographic information systems and spatial analytical techniques are used to supplement the survey data with measures of objective risk associated with the location of each respondent. Analysis of the data using multivariate regression suggests that increased objective risk and individual capacity result in significantly higher perception of risk from climate change, whereas higher individual climate stress results in lower risk perceptions.
Keywords
United-states; Public Support; Experience; Adaptation; Beliefs; Gender; Impact; Policy; Representations; Communication; Climate Change; Risk Perception; Objective Risk; Individual Climate Stress; Individual Capacity; Data Processing; Perceptions; Geographic Information Systems; Mitigation; Interdisciplinary Research; Multivariate Analysis; Environmental Risk; Regression Analysis; Environmental Policy; Perception; Interdisciplinary Studies; Remote Sensing; Information Systems; Analytical Techniques; Surveying; Policies; Research; Capacity; Adaptations; Climatic Changes; Gis; Climatic Analysis; Climate Models; Research & Development--r&d; Climate Change Mitigation; United States--us
Martins, Antonio Miguel; Serra, Ana Paula; Martins, Francisco Vitorino; Stevenson, Simon. (2020). House Price Dynamics and Bank Herding: European Empirical Evidence. Journal Of Real Estate Research, 42(3), 365 – 396.
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Abstract
This paper examines house price dynamics, bank herding behavior, and the linkages between them. The analysis presented indicates that prior to the financial crisis, non-fundamental factors played a significant role in several European countries, including the United Kingdom, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, and Ireland. We also provide evidence indicative of herding behavior in the residential mortgage loan market. Finally, Granger causality tests show that non-fundamentally justified price dynamics contributed to the herding displayed by lenders and that this behavior was a response by banks as a group to common information on residential property assets.
Keywords
Bubbles; Market; Behavior; Fundamentals; Constraints; Policy; Model; House Prices; Mortgages; Price Bubble; Herding Behavior
In Making Healthy Places, Second Edition: Designing and Building for Well-Being, Equity, and Sustainability, planning and public health experts, Andy L. Dannenberg, Affiliate Professor of Urban Design & Planning, along with co-authors Nisha D. Botchwey and Howard Frumkin bring together scholars and practitioners from across the globe in fields ranging from public health, planning, and urban design, to sustainability, social work, and public policy. This updated and expanded edition explains how to design and build places that are beneficial to the…
In 2021 the College of Built Environments launched the CBE Inspire Fund, designed to support CBE research activities for which a relatively small amount of support can be transformative. The second year of awards have just been announced, supporting five projects across 4 departments within the college as they address topics such as food sovereignty, anti-displacement, affordable housing, and health & wellbeing. This year’s awardees include: Defining the New Diaspora: Where Seattle’s Black Church Congregants Are Moving and Why Rachel…
Though Transit Equity Day is just one day, the issue of equity on Seattle’s public transit is an ongoing and important conversation to Seattle and King County residents. Neighborhoods across the county have unequal access to transit lines; bus stops are often located in inconvenient or dangerous places due to oncoming traffic and lack of sidewalks; and bus schedules are irregular or sparse, with long wait times. These are just a few of the challenges folks might experience before getting…
I am interested in sustainable buildings with an emphasis on energy efficiency, health requirements, indoor air quality, incentives, and green financing. This interest is shaped by the emerging trend towards healthy buildings that improve the occupants’ productivity and health. My research agenda focuses on reconceptualizing sustainable building’s performance to meet the building’s health requirements and energy-efficiency and promote this in policy decision-making settings, including improving the risk responsiveness of codes and standards for building practices.
Congratulations to Assistant Professor of Real Estate and CSDE Affiliate Arthur Acolin for being awarded a $10,000 Tier 2 seed grant for his project, “Accessory Dwelling Units as Potential Source of Affordable Housing Across Generations”. This grant is part of CSDE’s quarterly call for seed grant applications and is intended to help faculty initiate new research endeavors that have high relevance to population science and a strong chance of building towards extramural funding. Acolin will be conducting a joint project…
The Cyber-BE Lab integrates the latest in academic research on policy, communication, and organization with industry expertise on IoT security, risk mitigation and building operations. Cyber-BE offers a holistic understanding of IoT in the built environment. We support the organizational, communication, and policy innovations that will help minimize IoT risk through:
- Advancing social scientific research to better understand and apply smart technology in the built environment
- Delivering usable guidance and tools to address the policy, organizational, and communication challenges that industry practitioners face
- Building a community of practice of IoT security practitioners and researchers
The lab leads include Laura Osburn, Senior Research Scientist at the Department of Construction Management, Jessica Beyer, Lecturer and Research Scientist at the Jackson School of International Studies, and Chuck Benson, Director of IoT Risk Mitigation Strategy at the University of Washington.
The Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium (PacTrans) announced in January 2021 the project proposals selected for funding. Qing Shen, Professor of Urban Design and Planning and Chair of the Interdisciplinary PhD Program in Urban Design and Planning is among those selected for project funding. Shen is working alongside Co-Principal Investigator Catherine (Casey) Gifford–Innovative Mobility Senior Planner–on the applied research project titled “Supplementing fixed-route transit with dynamic shared mobility services: a marginal cost comparison approach”. The project goal is to address a…