Babatunde, S O; Ekundayo, D; Udeaja, C and Abubakar, U O (2022) An investigation into the sustainability practices in PPP infrastructure projects: A case of Nigeria. Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, 11(1), pp. 110-125. ISSN 2046-6099
Abstract
Purpose: In the global construction industry, the concept of sustainability is not new, particularly within building projects. Against this backdrop, several studies have been conducted, mostly in developed countries, on sustainability in construction projects. However, efforts at investigating sustainability practices in public–private partnership (PPP) infrastructure projects in developing countries have received limited attention. Hence, the purpose of this study is to investigate the incorporation of sustainability practices within the context of Nigeria’s PPP infrastructure projects. Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire survey, which targeted four different types of stakeholders, was conducted in this study. These stakeholders included public sector authorities, concessionaires, consultants and banks undertaking PPP infrastructure projects in the Lagos State, Nigeria. The data collected were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean score, standard deviation (SD) analyses and the Kruskal–Wallis test. Findings: The findings of this study revealed that all the respondents are very much aware of sustainability principles and the vast majority of the respondents from the public sector authorities and the consultant organizations confirmed that they have incorporated sustainability requirements into their bidding documents for PPP infrastructure projects. The study revealed sustainability features in the three aspects of sustainability, namely, economic, environmental and social factors. Furthermore, the study revealed the top three–ranked economic factors of sustainability (considered to be the most important factors) were low maintenance costs, whole life costing and supporting the local economy, respectively. Similarly, the study revealed the top three–ranked environmental factors of sustainability were biodiversity, energy use during the operation stage and energy use during the construction stage, respectively. Furthermore, the study further revealed that the top three–ranked social factors of sustainability were the educational aspect, equity between stakeholders and health and safety, respectively. Practical implications: The study will be of great value to PPP stakeholders involved in sustainability decision-making processes when delivering sustainable PPP projects, particularly in Nigeria. Also, the study’s findings are important as not many empirical studies have been conducted on the sustainability practices of current PPP projects in Nigeria. Originality/value: The study’s findings would further inform the need for both the public and private sectors to take a more strategic approach to enhance sustainability in PPP projects.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | developing countries; infrastructure; PPPs; projects; sustainability |
| Index terms: | global construction, Lagos State, empirical study, investigation, economic factor, energy use, infrastructure project, maintenance cost, biodiversity, decision-making process, private sector, partnership, deviation, Nigeria, social factor, public sector, methodology, construction project, developed country, documents, questionnaire, environmental factor, whole-life costing, bidding, local economy, developing country, health and safety, concessionaire, survey |
| Subjects: | contract type, data collection methods, strategic management, financial and cost management, economic analysis, bidding, energy systems, environmental science, research methods, biodiversity, financial management, professional development, development economics, production management, economic concepts, health safety and environment, Geography, sociology, decision analysis, partnership management, administrative law, occupational health, infrastructure and transport systems, industry analysis |
| Topics: | International Construction, Legal Issues, Research Practice, Project Management, Geographical Context, Information Management, Engineering Principles, Cost Management, Business Strategy, Health and Safety, Procurement, Sustainability, Risk Management, Stakeholder Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here