Sustainable development indicators for major infrastructure projects

The paper presents ongoing research to develop a sustainability enhancement framework for the major Dundee Central Waterfront urban re-development project. The enhancement concept recognises a need to ensure that sustainability is considered in decision-making at all stages of major projects to ensure a more sustainable outcome overall. The paper describes a set of procedures, developed by the authors and drawn from IT and knowledge management fields, to identify appropriate indicators and ensure the effective incorporation of sustainability issues throughout the Central Waterfront project decision-making processes. The procedures include the production of information flow diagrams to identify the wide range of stakeholders involved in the project and their means of interaction, and decision flow maps to identify and categorise use of the information by the stakeholders. The paper reviews current sustainability indicators related to infrastructure provision in the UK and Europe, emerging indicators from Scottish government, EU commission and research groups, and presents a set of strategic ‘sustainable development benchmark indicators’ suitable for enhancing the sustainability of the Central Waterfront project. Conclusions are drawn on the appropriateness of the indicators for assessing sustainable infrastructure provision.