Abstract
First off, I would like to welcome Professor Jeremy Hall of the University of Central Florida as the new Editor of Public Works Management & Policy. I am confident that PWMP will continue to thrive in his knowledgeable and capable hands. That being said, I will now bring to a close one of the most enjoyable tasks I have undertaken in a long and rewarding career.
Opening this issue is a Commentary by Fisk, et al. entitled “Framing Water Infrastructure for Climate Resilience: Governance Dimensions and Challenges.” Here they offer approaches to guide thinking about the importance of governance regimes related to water infrastructure as the effects of climate change become more acute. This includes solutions that move beyond traditional “gray” infrastructure to natural approaches that can serve to increase resilience to climate change.
This is followed by “Public-Private Partnerships in the GCC Region: Policy Discussions, Projects, Regulatory Frameworks, and Future Directions” by Biygautane and Clegg. This policy insights paper explores the development of PPPs in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region over three decades and illustrates how declining prices for oil and natural gas prices have altered the regional perspective on PPP. As a result, the GCC states have made numerous reforms to existing regulatory and institutional systems to enable a more extensive uptake of PPPs that encompasses a broader spectrum of social and economic infrastructure services.
In “Italy in Front of the Challenge of Infrastructure Maintenance: Existing Issues and Promising Responses,” Luisa Maria Mimmi takes up the question of why the optimal maintenance of infrastructure gets so little attention in public policy debates and in national strategic infrastructure investment plans. She finds that in the case of Italy, information deficits, inadequate strategic planning and governance, and unpreparedness for macro changes affecting infrastructure are critical root causes of neglect. Despite these challenges, she identifies several ongoing interventions that demonstrate Italy’s commitment to address this long neglected but critical area of infrastructure investment.
Although there is rising interest in the use of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) for public infrastructure in Uganda, the risks associated with these arrangements have not received adequate attention. In “Principal Risks Associated with Public-Private Partnership Projects in Uganda,” Bagenda and Ndevu compile an extensive list of these risks which they mostly attribute to inadequate experience in PPPs, the complexity of the PPP model, high levels of corruption, and the immature domestic financial market. An improved understanding of these risks can guide the assessment of PPP projects and better inform contract negotiations and investment decisions.
The final paper in this issue deals with the difficulties of achieving universal access to safe and affordable water and sanitation in Kenya. In “Leaving No One Behind,” Koros, et al., found that although the few licensed private water utilities in the country performed well, the costliness of water services production limits their viability in most low-income areas. To combat this disparity, they make several recommendations for financing and cost recovery but ultimately, there will be a need for setting pricing structures that include cross-subsidization between the rich and poor.
The issue closes with a review by Richard Little of “Lifelines of Our Society: A Global History of Infrastructure” by Dirk van Laak as translated by Erik Butler.