Large Infrastructure Projects Research Articles

The Shore as a Politicized Space for Community Heritage: The Case of Pra’, Genoa

Changes in coastal and maritime environments, increasingly caused by the climate crisis and large infrastructural projects such as global port construction, significantly impact community identity. When a community’s terraqueous space – a space that transcends the land-sea binary distinction – suffers a shock, long-term sociability within the community and relationships with nature are altered. This article connects the challenges of coastal community spaces and the community’s cultural heritage by articulating a critical ontology of the shore. The connection is illustrated using the example of Pra’ in Genoa, where constructing a large port terminal has detached the local maritime community from the sea.

Integrated approach for sustainability assessment and reporting for civil infrastructures projects: delivering the UN SDGs

Large civil infrastructure projects, such as airports, highways, railways, townships, and other developments, are critical for contributing to the social, economic, and environmental pillars of sustainability along with the UN-SDGs. However, it is not enough to simply assess their impacts; organizations and stakeholders involved in creating, operating, and maintaining these projects must also report on them. Recent reports by UNEP indicate that the civil infrastructure sector is slow in adopting these principles of sustainability assessment and reporting. The aim of this study is to develop an integrated approach for assessing the sustainability of civil infrastructure projects and sustainability reporting for organizations and stakeholders while achieving the UN-SDGs. To achieve this aim, the study employs a two-step process. In the first step, a correspondence matrix is derived from the sustainability assessment parameters of various infrastructure rating tools (InRTs), Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards, and UN-SDGs targets. In the second step, a composite indicator called the Sustainability Alignment Index (SAI) is developed. The SAI comprises two sub-indices, namely the TBL-Sustainability Coverage Index (TSCI) and the TBL-Sustainability Disclosure Quality Index (TSDQI). The correspondence matrix, indices, and sub-indices are then used to evaluate the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the sustainability disclosures of selected civil infrastructure companies in Asia and Europe. The study's findings question the comprehensiveness of the evaluating criteria used in InRTs. It also reveals the lack of alignment between an infrastructure project's sustainability assessment criteria, GRI standards, and UN-SDGs targets. Moreover, the results emphasize the insufficient coverage of environmental sustainability assessment and reporting parameters in the disclosures made by the companies. The developed correspondence matrix, indices, and sub-indices can be used by organizations for comparing both quantitative and qualitative measures to understand their relative positions. Additionally, it will enable the public, policymakers, and other key stakeholders to compare different dimensions of sustainability more effectively.

Impact of Risk, Subsidy, and Bid-Criteria on the Private Investment in Public–Private Partnerships in Infrastructure Projects

Public–Private Partnerships (PPPs) are formed to finance and deliver large infrastructural projects that may not be entirely feasible by governments alone. This study investigates the intricate role of financial risks, subsidies, and bidding criteria in the context of PPPs in India, and their relationship to the amount and extent of investments made by private partners. Studies have claimed that the success of PPP projects is determined by the type of funding, the nature of risk undertaken by investors, and the bidding criteria used by a government to attract investors. However, there is sparse literature on these variables impacting the private investment in these projects. Thus, in an attempt to address this gap, we collated data from the World Bank for a ten-year period (i.e., 2009 to 2019) for the study variables, and used regression to analyze the hypotheses, while adopting both SPSS 24 and PROCESS Macro. This study disapproved some commonly held notions of risk relationships, such as the government using “viability gap” funding to attract private investment, and that “leverage” does not moderate the relationship between risk assumed and private investment, thereby contributing to the literature on private investment in PPPs as impacted by several factors. This study is among the first to recognize and elaborate on financial risk relationships, specifically in the context of Indian PPPs. These findings are significant for both private and public participants in terms of financial considerations in PPP projects, especially within the ambits of emerging markets.

Railroad Luxemburg: Rosa Luxemburg’s Theory of Infrastructure and its Consequences for a Public Service Internet

Infrastructures of circulation, transportation, and communication play a central role in Luxemburg’s work in political economy as well as revolutionary strategy. This paper seeks to reconstruct and develop a theory of capitalist infrastructural expansion drawing from a variety of Luxemburg’s writings. In Accumulation of Capital, infrastructural expansion – namely of railroads – plays a central role at all stages of capitalist accumulation. Railroads act as a site of military and state investment for introducing the commodity economy to non-capitalist sectors and eventually for the “capitalist emancipation of the hinterland.” At the same time Luxemburg rejects the progressive character of these infrastructural endeavours, and she argues that they will not be a genuine “stamp of progress in an historical sense” until capitalism has been destroyed. It is no coincidence then that her political writings prominently feature figures such as railway and postal workers, who are strategically positioned to strike at the infrastructures of imperialism. A Luxemburgist theory of infrastructure has important relevance for contemporary debates around the expansion and ownership of Internet infrastructures. The past decade has been marked by various calls for new models of Internet ownership. These include The Public Service Internet Manifesto, the Democratic Socialists of America’s Internet for All Campaign, Tarnoff’s Internet for the People, Téwodros Workneh’s “Case for Telecommunications Commons in Ethiopia,” and netCommons Project’s vision for community networks. Such calls for a publicly owned and funded Internet risk reproducing some of the dynamics Luxemburg describes in her account of the history of railroads, canals, telegraphs etc. Namely, such calls parallel the state subsidising of an infrastructure that seeks out new sites of accumulation and extraction. This is not to say that such endeavours should be wholly abandoned, but must fit into a broader anti-capitalist political program, otherwise such infrastructural expansion can be seen as continuing the expansion of capitalist accumulation. Luxemburg deters us from looking for a technical fix. For this reason, Luxemburg’s political writings and her critique of the non-progressive nature of capitalism are also useful as she indicates how the destruction of capitalism can alter and redeem such large infrastructural projects.

A Practicable Guideline for Predicting the Thermal Conductivity of Unconsolidated Soils

For large infrastructure projects, such as high-voltage underground cables or for evaluating the very shallow geothermal potential (vSGP) of small-scale horizontal geothermal systems, large-scale geothermal collector systems (LSCs), and fifth generation low temperature district heating and cooling networks (5GDHC), the thermal conductivity (λ) of the subsurface is a decisive soil parameter in terms of dimensioning and design. In the planning phase, when direct measurements of the thermal conductivity are not yet available or possible, λ must therefore often be estimated. Various empirical literature models can be used for this purpose, based on the knowledge of bulk density, moisture content, and grain size distribution. In this study, selected models were validated using 59 series of thermal conductivity measurements performed on soil samples taken from different sites in Germany. By considering different soil texture and moisture categories, a practicable guideline in the form of a decision tree, employed by empirical models to calculate the thermal conductivity of unconsolidated soils, was developed. The Hu et al. (2001) model showed the smallest deviations from the measured values for clayey and silty soils, with an RMSE value of 0.20 W/(m∙K). The Markert et al. (2017) model was determined to be the best-fitting model for sandy soils, with an RMSE value of 0.29 W/(m∙K).

A novel stability equation for the estimation of the factor of safety for homogeneous dry finite slopes

AbstractThis paper introduces a novel closed‐form equation (surrogate model) for approximating the Morgenstern–Price estimate of the factor of safety of homogeneous dry finite slopes with circular failure surfaces. Unlike typically used methods, the proposed equation does not require the definition of a critical failure surface, splitting the soil mass into slices, or the iterative reduction of soil resistance to the limit state. It can be easily programmed into calculators or computers and accurately determines the minimum factor of safety based on the shear strength parameters and slope geometry—meaning that it is ideally suited for integration into reliability calculations. The equation is determined parametrically for various soil parameters and slope geometry using the Morgenstern–Price method and compares favorably with conventional techniques, such as slope stability charts, limit equilibrium, and strength reduction methods (SRM). From a practical perspective, the proposed equation greatly simplifies the analysis of the slope stability as the creation of a numerical model is not required and is suited to use in the feasibility stage of a project, for example, for large linear infrastructure projects with differing slope geometries or in situations where a quick assessment is desired.

Colonial laws, postcolonial infrastructures: Land acquisition, urban informality, and politics of infrastructural development in Pakistan

This article traces (dis)continuities in colonial logics across disjunctures of decolonisation and democratisation through a large infrastructure project in contemporary Lahore, Pakistan. Analysing Lahore’s Orange Line Metro Train, a project constructed under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the article shows how colonial extractive and racial logics can limit the redistributive potential of typically inclusive infrastructures like mass transit by continuing to shape the conditions of their development and (re)producing precarious configurations of citizenship in the postcolony. It finds that Pakistan’s colonial-era land acquisition law erased a range of land relations and rights from recognition and thus compensation by the state. In an instance of informal policy making, the state eventually created an ad hoc ‘grant-in-aid’ scheme to compensate landowners in informal settlements. However, the scheme continued the property centric politics of recognition embedded in the expropriation law by only compensating people with long-term land claims. The public script of the scheme invoked welfare obligations of the state but structured these through moral-legal norms of property. The postcolonial state thus bypassed the transition from colonial subjects to citizens and instead repositioned people as humanitarian subjects. The article thus highlights the contradictions of developing subsidized public infrastructure in postcolonial cities, where construction becomes another conduit of imposing land commodification and disciplining pro-poor self-built neighbourhoods that have escaped the rigidity of private property.

Roadway construction as a natural experiment to examine air pollution impacts on infant health

Traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) poses a significant public health risk that is associated with adverse birth outcomes. Large roadway infrastructure projects present a natural experiment to examine how resulting congestion change is associated with adverse birth outcomes for nearby populations. This study is designed to examine the influence of living close to a roadway before, during, and after a construction project using a difference-in-differences design. We integrated data on all large roadway construction projects (defined as widening of existing roads, building new roads, improving bridges, installing intelligent transportation systems, improving intersections, and installing or upgrading traffic signals) in Texas from 2007 to 2016 with Vital Statistic data for all births with residential addresses within 1 km of construction projects. Our outcomes included term low birth weight, term birth weight, preterm birth, and very preterm birth. Using a difference-in-differences design, we included births within 3 years of construction start and 2 years of construction end. In our main model, the exposed group is limited to pregnant individuals residing within 300 m of a construction project, and the control group includes those living within 300–1000 m from a project. We used regression models to estimate the influence of construction on infant health. We included 1360 large roadway construction projects linked to 408,979 births. During construction, we found that the odds of term low birth weight increased by 19% (95% CI: 1.05, 1.36). However, we saw little evidence of an association for other birth outcomes. Contrary to our hypothesis of decreased TRAP after construction ends, we did not observe consistent improvements post-construction for pregnant individuals living within 300 m. Continued consideration of the influence of traffic congestion programs on birth outcomes is necessary to inform future policy decisions.

New frontiers in delivering public infrastructure

AbstractDelivering infrastructure in a timely and efficient manner to provide public value remains challenging despite the theoretical developments that have been made. What do we know that could help to deliver quality and energy‐efficient infrastructure, what are current challenges and how could we overcome them? This State‐of‐the‐Art Review article attempts to uncover underlying themes, including the governance of large infrastructure projects, the importance of innovation and contractual arrangements, and social and environmental acceptability. A current review of major Canadian contributions is offered, and promising research avenues are proposed.

ANALYSIS OF THE WATER QUALITY INDEX (AQI) OF THE RESERVOIR CACHOEIRA I, A MEMBER OF THE AGRESTE BRANCH IN PERNAMBUCO

The Agreste region of Pernambuco has a long history of water scarcity, with irregular rainfall and a semi-arid climate characterized by high solar radiation. In order to mitigate these effects in the region, the São Francisco River Integration Project is considered the largest infrastructure project in the country, bringing water to the most water-scarce areas. The Agreste Branch is part of this infrastructure project, with a length of 71 km, aiming to supply rivers and reservoirs in the state of Pernambuco. To ensure that the waters of the São Francisco River are reaching the region in good quality, the Water Quality Monitoring Program has been evaluating parameters at various points in the system, including local rivers and reservoirs. The Cachoeira I reservoir is a significant supply source in the municipality of Sertânia that is included in the monitoring program. This present study aims to assess the water quality of the Cachoeira I reservoir through the analysis of the Water Quality Index (WQI) and Trophic State Index (TSI). Through the analysis of these indices, an overall improvement in the classification of WQI and TSI was observed during the data collection period from 2018 to 2022, encompassing 12 monitoring campaigns, coinciding with the increase in water volume in the reservoir over the years. Understanding these parameters is crucial for the water management entities to make informed decisions in order to consistently improve the parameters and ensure the distribution of quality water to the population.

Large Scale infrastructural Projects and Climate Change in Kenya: An Assessment of Key Drivers of Climate Change in LAPSSET Project Area in Lamu

The paper argues that climate change has become a threat to human survival and life sustaining ecosystems. It argues that Large-scale infrastural projects’ activities accelerates drivers of climate change. Three major objectives were pursued; to identify drivers of climate change at LAPSSET project area; to assess how LAPSSET activities impact on critical ecologically significant Areas (CESA) and to determine possible adoption options by people affected by climate changes in LAPSSET areas. Both qualitative and quantitative frameworks are applied to assess the climatic risks and vulnerabilities. The paper finds that: 63% of the respondents cited high population increase and infrastural development at LAPSSET area as key drivers of climate change. Second ,70% of respondents thought that LAPSSET project was magnet of activities that had serious consequences on the environment and CESAs. While 80% of the respondents identified coral bleaching, clogging of creeks, shifting of fishing sites, changes in weather patterns, increased shoreline and draught as major climate related footprints. The paper recommends funding of environmental mitigating agenda pegged on law and on pre-determined percent of the resources allocated to any large-scale project. It recommends establishing a pool of climate change mitigation green army funded through a multi-agency approach. It also recommended that, all large-scale infrastructural projects operating in the Kenya should, by law be forced to re-green their area of operation and fight threats associated with climate change via legislation.

IMPORTANCE OF LIVELIHOOD IMPACT ASSESSMENT IN RESETTLEMENT PROJECTS

During the environmental and social impact assessment, planning for resettling people is often needed for large infrastructure projects that involve buying land. Resettlement planning, on the other hand, necessitates greater attention to detail than is often provided by a social impact assessment (SIA). The optimal time to begin preparing for a new home is after a SIA has been completed as part of the environmental permit process. The success of livelihood restoration is also influenced by timing and length, particularly in-kind support for social resilience. A one-time payout of cash compensation does not help restore a person's long-term financial well-being. Resettlement planning and SIA are intertwined in international infrastructure projects, and this article examines the consequences for timing of livelihood restoration measures in relation to the project cycle. KEYWORDS: Impact Assessment, Livelihood, Resettlement, Urban Planning, Rural

Disregard of aquatic shrews in the Environmental Impact Assessment reports regarding hydropower dams in the Nepal Himalayas

AbstractThe rate of hydropower dam construction on rivers is increasing in emerging economies in South Asia, to achieve economic development goals. These large infrastructure projects are likely to have many negative consequences on freshwater species but have not yet received much consideration. Among freshwater small mammalian species, water shrews are seriously impacted by these large structures. This paper aims to determine if water shrews have been considered during the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of these hydro dam project sites, as well as present the sightings of the water shrews from Nepalese rivers with hydropower potential. We reviewed 44 EIA reports of such projects in Nepal using a set of four criteria and 15 questions to analyze the methods of impact assessment for mammals and the reports on the presence of water shrews in each built area. The study found that the number of mammal species reported during the EIA varied from five to 55 species but no relationships between the hydropower structure's size and any water shrew species were considered in the studies. In almost all EIA reports, the term aquatic ecosystem was prioritized over the term aquatic small mammals, and the latter was not considered in the assessment. The major reason for not considering these species is probably due to the lack of robust methods to capture small mammals such as shrews, or due to survey methods focused only on terrestrial mammals. The Aquatic Animal Protection Act was fully reviewed and assured to be followed in a majority of the reports, yet the monitoring parameters and indicators were not available for aquatic small mammals. Ignoring the presence of these mammals while constructing hydropower plants is a serious threat to their persistence. We also reported the Himalayan water shrew in the Barun River and the elegant water shrew in the Upper Tamakoshi River of Nepal. Therefore, a better understanding of these species among hydropower developers, and all concerned agencies, is essential.

Mega-infrastructure development, tourism sustainability and quality of life assessment at world heritage sites: catering to COVID-19 challenges

PurposeMega-infrastructure development plans pave the way for policies to upgrade the infrastructure, environmental management and different aspects of locals’ well-being. These developmental dynamics can positively affect rural tourism including heritage sites destinations. The quality of life of local people can be linked to this positive developmental change through long-term and sustainable economic revitalization projects. In terms of this process, developing large-scale infrastructure and incorporating tourism sustainability can improve the quality of life-related to different dimensions that are critical to the community's well-being. Therefore, researchers have attempted to address this issue.Design/methodology/approachData were collected between September and October 2020. The study sample size was the residents of Zhabagly village, including Zhabagaly, Abaiyl and 115 Railway settlements. Moreover, the residents were older than 18 years. A systematic random sampling technique was utilised to reach the targeted sample size and the researchers received 243 responses from the locals. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used for analysis.FindingsThe findings from the structural equation modelling suggest that sustainable tourism increases due to the positive effect of mega-infrastructure development and positively impacts the locals' quality of life. Notably, no direct effect of mega-infrastructure development on quality of life reveals the pivotal role of sustainable tourism. Therefore, during the COVID-19 period, the dimensions of sustainable tourism – economic, market, socio-cultural and environmental – played a role in securing the positive impact of mega-infrastructure development on the locals’ quality of life.Research limitations/implicationsThis research highlighted the fact that when infrastructure projects are implemented to their full potential, they will generate sustainable tourism activities, provide eco-adventure activities, relax, treat signatories and boost the economy of all stakeholders. The study used AMOS to test the hypotheses. Qualitative research methods, including interviews with citizens, government officials and tourism managers, require further study.Practical implicationsThe infrastructural development on a mega-scale means building an upscaling tourism ecosystem. This ecosystem is marked by the availability of drinking water, waste and energy management facilities that support the elevation of living material, community, health, safety and emotional well-being. It reflects the policy-level implications for future Belt and Road initiatives (BRIs). The tourism industry's resilience during COVID-19 has practical lessons for other industries.Originality/valueLarge-scale infrastructure construction must create favourable conditions for the rapid development of tourism. The availability of clean water, waste and energy management facilities contributes to the food production, social cohesion, physical and mental health and general well-being of the ecosystem. This is one of the few studies that used sustainable tourism as a mediator between the impact of large infrastructure projects and their impact on the quality of life of locals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Aksu-Zhabagly, a World Heritage Site in Kazakhstan, was the site of this field study.

Metadata for Discovery. Planning for an Information Network

In advance of building a new high speed rail line aimed at connecting the North and South of England, the UK is undertaking the largest archaeological intervention in its history. While the High Speed 2 (HS2) project has created a wealth of new information, before any of that information can be disseminated to the general public, it must first be properly collected, documented, and linked. To this end, data collection is integral to facilitate effective data dissemination and FAIR - Findable, Accessable, Interoperable and Reusable - data to achieve the greatest public value for an archive. The most exciting search results and maps come from what is often seen as scary technical jargon. This paper will discuss some of the limitations the Archaeology Data Service (ADS) experiences as a digital repository, what is currently being done to maximise the reach of the ADS collections, and what tools have been created to aid both depositors and digital archives alike. Starting at the beginning of the data life cycle, this article will show how large infrastructure projects like HS2 allow the ADS to work with depositors to raise issues about data collection, generation, and description during project development and how collaborative efforts can improve the creation and import of data and metadata into the archive. The ADS has made steps towards keeping our data FAIR but simple, both by streamlining what metadata is essential to foster better discovery and reuse within an archive, and from there, how metadata can be passed to external data catalogues such as ARIADNEplus and The National Archives in the UK.

РАЗВИТИЕ ТЕОРЕТИЧЕСКИХ ОСНОВ УПРАВЛЕНИЯ РИСКАМИ КРУПНЫХ ИНФРАСТРУКТУРНЫХ ГЧП-ПРОЕКТОВ

The purpose of this article is to develop the theoretical foundations of risk management in the implementation of large infrastructure projects with government participation using the example of the development of high-speed railways in Russia. The relevance of this topic is due to the fact that for Russia, high-speed highways are a completely new type of transport infrastructure, the creation of which requires the development of existing views and approaches to risk management of large infrastructure projects with government participation. The impact of high-speed highway projects on a country’s economy is difficult to overestimate, as they affect many factors: from stimulating development to improving the quality of life of the population, which is why studying existing tools and proposing new views on risk management that increase the success of projects with government participation is one of the key issues to be addressed.

Collecting Information and Developing Narratives: the use of data on HS2 Phase One, UK

Large Infrastructure projects create vast amounts of data during the course of programmes of archaeological investigation, from the description of an archaeological deposit to complex three-dimensional survey data. It is key for future research and the completion of the archaeological programme that the data support the questions we wish to answer. This paper will consider the range of data generated from HS2 Phase One, and the potential of those data in the process of analysis and interpretation and their broader spatial and research context . The paper will also consider which data are key for different stages of the project lifecycle, and the extent to which the process of data capture may influence the narratives that are developed.

Assessment of Carbon-Dioxide Emission from Non-Road Equipment Construction Sources at a Flyover Development Site in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

It is emphasized that global warming and climate change vary directly with the increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide across domains. The constructions of social and economic infrastructures in developing counties such as Nigeria at a higher rate increases the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the lower atmosphere. Non-road construction equipment sources powered by fossil fuels are considered to be primary emitters of greenhouse gases during the construction stages of large infrastructure project. In this study, inventory of non-road construction machinery emissions from the Tank junction flyover construction site along East-West Road in Port Harcourt metropolis were estimated via field data gathering. Results showed that an average of about 398.7 g/s (4134.4 ton/year) of CO2 is released from the construction site in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Among the various types of non-road engines considered, the mobile crane was the largest single contributor to the total CO2 emissions, accounting for 18.5%. Machinery with power above 300 kW were 8 out of 30 equipment on site and accounted for the largest share (52.87%) of total CO2 emissions. Based on the findings from current research literature and the case study, control strategies such as enforcing standards and policy, conducting impact assessment, adopting low carbon technology, and restricting energy utilization need to be implemented in other reduce the impact of global warming and alleviate climate change. Therefore, CO2 emission mitigation plans and schemes are necessary alongside standardized frameworks and guidelines. All stakeholders must play their roles efficiently to reduce CO2 emissions and aid in mitigating the effects of climate change. 

Evolution of Theoretical Approaches to the Analysis of State and Business Cooperation in the Infrastructure Sphere

The classification of historical periods in the evolution of cooperation between the state and business in the infrastructural sphere by stages and forms of cooperation has been improved: antiquity (use of buyouts; competitive construction of post offices with cities, ports and harbors (manceps); infrastructural construction (precarium)) of the Middle Ages ("casual » application of PPPs; buyouts; concessions; "regalia"); the period of colonization (use of concessions for the development of new land colonies and international trade; involvement of private armed ships with their owners to solve military and trade "tasks" at sea); the origin and development of capitalism, industrialization (systematic concession legislation; capital-intensive projects; attraction of private capital in the form of concessions for the development of the utility sector); the modern stage from the middle of the 20th century. (transition from the policy of "public administration" to the "new public administration" model; "private financial initiative"; development of public-private partnership (PPP) regulation worldwide (in more than 120 countries); launch of cross-border PPP projects and projects with attracting direct foreign investment). It was determined that in France during the Middle Ages and the reign of mercantilism, the predominant role of the state in economic development, including infrastructure development, was emphasized. The state attracted private business and financed the works. Unlike mercantilists, representatives of the school of physiocrats believed that the state should not interfere in the field of entrepreneurship at all. The idea of state cooperation with private business in the development of industry by means of optimal regulation and protection from foreign competition, especially at the initial stage, was also reflected in the works of the German scientist F. List. Implementation of projects through the transfer of infrastructure objects under concession conditions to private companies allows to significantly increase their efficiency. The example of the railways of Belgium, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Switzerland shows that this form of PPP is quite competitive during the implementation of large infrastructure projects. At the same time, in order to achieve economic efficiency, such projects must be accompanied by strict state control. After the Second World War, the doctrine of a socially oriented model and a concerted strategy of economic development (concerted economy) came to the fore in economic thought. The positions of J. Keynes and moderate supporters of state intervention in the economy were dominant until the 70s. 20th century, when the ideas of "state capitalism" reached their peak. It is also necessary to note the role played by the theory of the public sector in justifying the role of the state in the economy at various stages of economic development. The state takes an active role in areas that are not attractive to private actors and are related to the generation of "public goods" to increase the level of well-being.

Modernization of the Urban Infrastructure of Ekaterinburg – Sverdlovsk in 1923–1930

Introduction. The article examines the process of formation and modernization of the urban infrastructure of Ekaterinburg – Sverdlovsk during the period of the New Economic Policy (NEP). The main mechanisms for the development of the urban economy are shown in conditions of regenerative growth of economics and a rapid increase of city’s population. The transformation of Ekaterinburg into Sverdlovsk, the administrative and political center of the Ural region, opened up opportunities to concentrate in it the local community resources and attract government funding. Using of limited market mechanisms of the NEP allowed the Sverdlovsk City Council to develop large infrastructure projects in conditions of moderate co-financing from the state. Results. Despite the large number of publications on local history, a comprehensive study of the processes of modernization of the urban infrastructure of Sverdlovsk during the NEP period was not carried out. The work analyzes the modernization of the most important sectors of urban infrastructure: electricity, transport, construction, water supply and sewerage. The abolition of command management mechanisms and the permission of private initiative in trade and small industry caused rapid growth in the city’s economy and its population. Sverdlovsk’s status as an administrative and political center of the Ural region strengthened the financial well-being of the city. The Sverdlovsk City Council received large loans from the state-controlled banking system for the development of capital construction and the development of urban infrastructure. By the end of the 1920s in Sverdlovsk, the main elements of modern urban infrastructure were created, water supply, sewerage, bus transit was built, and the construction of a tram system began. In order of regulation of economic activity and city’s property management on market conditions, a communal enterprise was created under the Sverdlovsk City Council – called Komkhoz. Conclusion. Modernization of the urban infrastructure of Sverdlovsk in 1923–1930 occurred mainly through the efforts of the local community. With the active attraction of local equity capital and loans from state-sanctioned banks, during the NEP period the city began the successful formation of a modern urban infrastructure. The course towards the development of forced industrialization of the USSR through accelerated growth of the public sector of the economy led to the gradual curtailment of private initiative on the ground in 1929–1930.