Multi-Criteria Approach for Prioritizing and Managing Public Investment in Urban Spaces. A Case Study in the Triple Frontier

Noé Villegas Flores,Hugo Alexander Rondón Quintana,Isidoro Fasolino,Camilo Alberto Torres Parra,Yelinca Saldeño Madero

doi:10.3390/su13063345

Abstract

The aspirations of public administrations to meet quality parameters and standards in urban spaces have fostered new strategies and tools that allow users to give safety and well-being. The participation and interaction of different actors during decision-making in the context of allocation of public resources implies a significant degree of complexity when prioritizing actions in public works. The objective of the study focuses on obtaining an urban street condition index (USCI) that allows an efficient diagnosis of urban infrastructure. The study provides an innovation component for decision-making through the construction of guidelines to prioritize spending on investment in urban infrastructure. The case study has been developed in three countries, Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina (Triple Border) with the aim of drawing management guidelines during the process in public entities. The results for Brazil and Argentina present streets with satisfactory USCI. Paraguay reflects a significant lack of urban infrastructure and compliance of accessibility regulations. Regarding the city of Foz de Iguazú, it has been observed that 50% of the roads require prevailing actions to improve the mobility of the roads; 40% of these reflect reduced mobility and deterioration of urban components, configured as an urgent action, and only 10% of the roads studied reflect adequate mobility conditions.

Highlights

The presented model provides a strong component of innovation to diagnose urban spaces, urban corridors, with the clear objective of classifying the urban streets and guiding decision-making entities in public spending
The global indices are observed for each urban street studied, understanding that for values close to 100%, they show a positive response of the attributes
Values close to 0.00% reflect a clear reduction in mobility and the prevailing need for public spending to improve the conditions of urban elements in order to improve the quality of life of the user in the urban space

Summary

Introduction

The different interpretations of development and conservation of urban infrastructure are guided by the different appreciations of the disciplines that interact with each other.The interacting social, urban, technical and political perspectives represent a clear conflict in the decision-making process during the exercise of public spending on infrastructure investment in urban spaces [1].The aspirations of the public administration to advance in high standards of quality in urban roads and improve the mobility conditions of the user have been defining new sustainable development strategies in view of the needs of society and especially with reduced budgets in public management entities [2]. most public entities have instruments for measuring and inspecting urban elements, the capacity and need to integrate technical and public management decisions makes new methodological alternatives necessary to diagnose urban streets in order to optimize limited financial resources intended for public infrastructure [3–5].With the growth of large metropolises and urban populations, the demands for public infrastructure are increasing [6,7]. The different interpretations of development and conservation of urban infrastructure are guided by the different appreciations of the disciplines that interact with each other. The interacting social, urban, technical and political perspectives represent a clear conflict in the decision-making process during the exercise of public spending on infrastructure investment in urban spaces [1]. The aspirations of the public administration to advance in high standards of quality in urban roads and improve the mobility conditions of the user have been defining new sustainable development strategies in view of the needs of society and especially with reduced budgets in public management entities [2]. Most public entities have instruments for measuring and inspecting urban elements, the capacity and need to integrate technical and public management decisions makes new methodological alternatives necessary to diagnose urban streets in order to optimize limited financial resources intended for public infrastructure [3–5].

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion