Speaker : Dr Robert and Dr Shobhana Madhavan (Joint speaker), University of Westminster, London Date : 24 January 2015; Saturday. Venue : Department Conference Room, First Floor, Civil Engg Department. Time : 3.30 -4:30pm --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shobhana Madhavan, Robert Barrass outline for presentation. *********************************************************** Infrastructure: its economic and environmental context Infrastructure: the framework for economic activity and social interaction is essential for prosperity and the quality of life. Infrastructure provision involves complex optimisation problems. Pressures on capacity: pricing, generalized costs, taxation and subsidization Strategy for infrastructure must take account of economic and social functions. Synchronisation with structural change in the economy. Strategic level synergies: environmental and societal impacts at project and network levels. Time inconsistency: future choices are an - uncertain - function of present-day decisions. Today's expenditures are tomorrow's sunk costs. The solution: 'anticipatory hindsight': a staged and scenario-based approach to investment appraisal. Pressures on capacity: pricing, generalized costs, taxation and subsidization. Human factors: make the right choices easy. Infrastructure charging: revenue raising, behavioural change. Incentives for modal switching, financing investment. Political acceptability is a big constraint. Urban transport: Crowding, inflexibility over land use, inheritance of past centuries, conflicts. The role of Environmental Assessment: network and strategic levels. Sustainable development, sustainable mobility: we need to think locally as well as globally. Recent developments in the UK: Northern line extension (London Underground), Crossrail (trans-London 1 under construction, 2 in the early stages), High-speed rail (HS1 in operation, HS2 being planned). Issues: Money: availability of finance; value for money, economic benefits: are they real? How can they be secured? alternatives, opportunity costs, environmental and social impacts. Brief CV - DR ROBERT BARRASS **************************** Dr Robert Barrass has over thirty years experience of work in the fields of environment and transport. He has contributed to development of policies, legislation and programmes at European and national levels, and to analysis of inter-relationships between policy areas. He has experience of economic assessment of infrastructure and the management of research and studies on various aspects of the environment and transport. His work for the UK government included contributions to policy assessments relating to road, rail and airport infrastructure planning. Working for the European Commission he coordinated a Task Force report on the Environment and the European Single Market, and contributed to European state of the environment reports. He has numerous publications, including co-authorship of a book on European integration and sustainable development, and papers on environmental and transport policies and planning. Brief CV - DR SHOBHANA MADHAVAN, CMILT UK. ***************************************** Dr Shobhana Madhavan is Professor Emeritus to the University of Westminster at the Westminster Business School, London. She is an economist with substantial experience of teaching and research in the areas of development, technology, transportation and the environment. Her research includes a pioneering study, using original survey data, of rural travel and transport in Karnataka, India. She has published papers on technology transfer, environment, and the Indian automobile industry. She has co-authored a book on European Economic Integration and Sustainable Development. She has presented numerous papers based on her research at conferences in the UK and abroad. She was specialist advisor to the House of Lords, UK, advising on promotion of small and medium enterprises in Europe. Dr Madhavan was the organiser of an international conference on HIV/AIDS and Business in September 2006, in which renowned experts from business, medicine, and the health sector assisted in the development of new perspectives for shaping business strategies for combating the epidemic. She is a member of the International Sustainable Development Research Society and currently she is a member of the Scientific Committee of the International Sustainable Development Research Conference 2015 which will take place in Geelong, Australia. She is a member of the editorial board of Sustainable Development. Her professional qualifications include Chartered Membership of the Institute of Logistics and Transport, UK.