The Economic Evaluation of Projects as a Structuring Discipline of Learning Processes to Support Decision-Making in Sustainable Urban Transformations

Abstract

This paper is based on the following research questions: i) In which way could the discipline Economic Evaluation of Projects contribute to conveying the sustainability concept in urban settings among master’s degree students? What are the methods/techniques that can support decision processes of sustainable urban transformation? In response to the two research questions, the paper proposes a multi-methodological framework as a design tool for students (future professionals) aimed at representing the decision problem from a sustainable planning perspective. Through a Problem-Based Learning approach based on a case study, the proposed framework considers: SWOT Analysis, Stakeholder Analysis (SA), Multicriteria Analysis (MCDA), Cash Flow Analysis (CFA), and the application of the Neighborhood Sustainability Assessment Tools (NSATools). The multi-methodological framework has been applied to an experimental teaching case study as part of the Economic Evaluation of Projects module demonstrating its effectiveness in terms of sustainable spatial planning and structuring of the decision process from a multi-actor perspective. Future directions of the research are aimed at tackling two major limitations of the multi-methodological framework as the need to closely reflect a real decision process through an iterative framework and the sometimes hard interpretation of some elements of urban sustainability.