In recent years a wide range of organisations have issued guidance on different aspects of strategic infrastructure planning and prioritisation. The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) reviewed this material and conducted interviews with practitioners from around the world. This report draws these insights together into a single source of guidance and illustrates them with a series of case studies.
The report is targeted at decision-makers grappling with the challenge of designing and delivering infrastructure planning and prioritisation processes that can enhance the value delivered by a national infrastructure system and ensure that infrastructure strategies support the achievement of national priorities. Other target groups include financial institutions, private infrastructure developers, and infrastructure consultants and contractors.
It draws on international best practice to describe three stages of national infrastructure planning: establishing a national vision for infrastructure, conducting a national infrastructure needs assessment, and creating a national infrastructure strategy.
The report provides insight and advice on six key aspects of the enabling environment for national infrastructure planning:
- the institutional framework;
- fiscal capacity and private finance;
- data to support decision-making;
- stakeholder buy-in and consultation;
- legal and regulatory frameworks; and
- human capacity and capability requirements.
Illustrative case studies are used throughout, and pointers to other sources of useful guidance are included.