Business & Finance

RESEARCH OVERVIEW

Financial viability is critically important for all infrastructure systems. New business and enterprise solutions will be needed to undergird a transition toward more sustainable urban infrastructure systems. Similarly, traditional public financing streams may need to be reconfigured or mobilized in different ways to accommodate new infrastructure configurations. Market forces are already playing, and will to continue to play, a powerful enabling role in the emergence of new and potentially disruptive infrastructure innovations. Community-scale social enterprise models will also have a role to play in facilitating the financing of sustainable urban infrastructure systems that are equitable and accessible.

The network’s business and finance research efforts are concentrated on understanding the most appropriate enterprise models, both commercial and social, that can support the effective deployment of new sustainable infrastructure systems. At the same time, network researchers are working to understand the public financing mechanisms and coordinating arrangements that most effectively support decentralized and increasingly local infrastructure systems.

OUR PRODUCTS

Collaboration mitigates barriers of utility ownership on policy adoption: evidence from the United States

  • May 2020
  • Peer-Reviewed Articles
  • Author: Multiple

Curley, C., Harrison, N., Xu, C.K., & Zhou, S. (2020). Collaboration mitigates barriers of utility ownership on policy adoption: evidence from the United States. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management. … Read more

Patterns of Urban Infrastructure Capital Investment in Chinese Cities and Explanation through a Political Market Lens

  • August 2018
  • Peer-Reviewed Articles
  • Author: Multiple

Tong, K., Zhao, Z., Feiock, R., & Ramaswami, A. (2018). Patterns of urban infrastructure capital investment in Chinese cities and explanation through a political market lens. Journal of Urban Affairs, https://doi.org/10.1080/07352166.2018.1499417. ABSTRACT: Cities … Read more

Circular Economies and Low Carbon Urban Infrastructure Planning

  • February 2018
  • Podcast
  • Author: Anu Ramaswami

What is the unique role that urban infrastructure planning can play in national carbon mitigation? In this podcast, learn how cities are positioned to plan infrastructure systems using circular economy … Read more

Public Funding for Energy Research and Development

  • December 2017
  • Podcast
  • Author: Gabe Chan

Effective decision making to allocate public funds for energy technology research, development, and demonstration (R&D) requires considering alternative investment opportunities that can have large but highly uncertain returns and a … Read more

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