Suchergebnisse

Since modern waterway networks are increasingly confronted with ageing assets, waterway renewal will increase in importance for western countries. Renewal can be regarded an impetus for realising integrated waterway networks that internalise externalities, which entails broad stakeholder involvement. This can be coordinated through different inter-organisational structures. Applying a transaction-cost perspective, we contribute to the assessment of effective governance arrangements for renewing waterway networks in such an integrated fashion. Our aim is to examine efficient inter-organisational structures for waterway renewal, as perceived by actors involved in a case study of the Dutch waterways. Our findings show that waterway renewal incorporates additional functionalities in terms of capacity (expansion or reduction), but not so much in terms of quality (combining transportation aims with spatial objectives such as ecology or regional development). Inter-organisational structures that address geographical interrelatedness and, hence, broader stakeholder involvement were associated with uncertain and time-consuming transactions, because of extensive negotiations regarding the alignment of conflicting interests and the crossing of geographical and administrative boundaries. Also, a change in interdependency from hierarchical towards contractual relationships was required, putting dominant actors (the national government) in an unfamiliar position in which they loosen their grip on infrastructure investments. Perceptions on transactions centre on sectoral aims and individual assets, whereas the actual transaction may be different if a perspective is taken that includes the greater waterway system, the wider spatial surroundings and a longer-term horizon. We conclude that short-term, transportation objectives overrule longer-term, integrative objectives, which withholds strategic considerations required for aligning waterway interests.

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is implemented in most countries as an administrative procedure. In this context, it is subject to the principles of administrative justice. However, to date, no empirical research has been conducted to determine the extent to which EIA decisions comply with the principles of administrative justice. In this paper, empirical data from 42 EIA cases in South Africa are used to establish EIA compliance with the administrative justice principles of lawfulness, procedural fairness and reasonableness. This is achieved by measuring EIA decisions against specially developed key performance indicators (KPIs). Overall, decisions were found to mostly comply with the principles of administrative justice. However, questions arise with regards to the quality and substance of the information feeding into the decision-making process and on which decisions are ultimately based.