Deciding how to decide: A conceptual model for consensually fostering urban infrastructure maintenance

Abstract

Infrastructure owners face challenges in effective maintenance decision-making due to the process's multidisciplinary nature, spanning mathematics to cognitive science. This study delves into enhancing maintenance for complex infrastructure systems, specifically in scenarios where a single primary owner must consider the preferences and requisites of multiple stakeholders. In such unstructured problems characterised by diverse perspectives and potentially conflicting interests in uncertain environments, systematic decision analysis is paramount. In response, this paper proposes a generic conceptual model to outline the primary critical consideration of decision-making through a holistic scheme of the decision problem; it facilitates discovering shared views when defining the decision problem, eliciting objectives early in the decision-making process, and ensuring that selected agendas align with desired outcomes and core values. It provides valuable guidance for decision-modellers in infrastructure rehabilitation. These claims are reinforced with the application of the proposed model to case studies, illustrating its practicality in real-world settings.