The changing face of infrastructure facilities management worldwide is characterised by high demand for investments in renewal and maintenance, governmental budget constraints and innovations in information systems. The authors highlight the growing demand for accurate, complete and continuous disclosure of information related to management activities, expenditures, stock availability and shadow prices. This study discusses how infrastructure facilities, commonly considered as a public good, have been traditionally funded by the public sector but that the efficiency of this approach has come into question at the same time as the ability of governments to leverage funds for new facilities and for maintenance and rehabilitation of existing ones has decreased. These factors, they argue, have led to increasing interest in private sector participation in financing, building and operating public infrastructure. The main purpose of this book is to: * present recent theoretical and practical advances as well as new concepts and paradigms in infrastructure systems * provide a state-of-the-art overview of current research * stimulate new research and innovative thinking on the interface between infrastructure measurement and management. The book, written by numerous experts in the field, will appeal to national and regional infrastructure ministries and agencies, companies engaged in infrastructure financing, construction, management and maintenance as well as students at graduate level and above and researchers in civil engineering, infrastructure planning and infrastructure economics and management.

The transformation of the world economy from a system of nations trading materials-intensive goods to a system of seamless global networks for information-intensive goods and services has created the need for a comprehensive restructuring of transportation and communications activities. The contributors - transportation and communications analysts from Japan and the United States - address this restructuring from a variety of perspectives ranging from theoretical treatments of the role of information in the economy to applications of communications technologies for the collection of travel data. The authors transcend traditional methods of transportation and communication analysis in order to address emerging issues that are not well represented by the prevailing cost-benefit framework. Many draw from advances in social sciences, such as game theory, that recognize the interdependence of human decision making. New ways of assessing the economic benefit of infrastructure and the evolving role of institutions in the information economy are demonstrated, along with novel approaches to analyzing human mobility and interaction in a knowledge-rich environment. By moving beyond traditional forms of analysis that were better suited to an earlier time, the chapters in this book provide a wealth of insights for policy formulation in the globalized knowledge economy. This comprehensive volume will be of great value to regional scientists and economic geographers, as well as civil engineers, economists, and analysts interested in transportation and communications.

This collection of original research chapters by international scholars addresses the complementary roles of transportation and knowledge and their spatial manifestations in modern urban and regional economies. The featured studies employ the most current and sophisticated technologies, while the authors add a strong element of practical application and policy implications in each chapter. The book is organized into four major themes. The first is infrastructure and economic growth, addressing the historical and contemporary economic impacts of rail, highway and transit infrastructure. The second theme, models for transportation planning and policy, includes methods for optimal toll setting and the effect of transport costs on interregional trade. The third theme, which is the spatial structure of cities, examines processes that drive and arise from urban form, including personal interaction, shopping, commuting and residential location. The fourth theme is transformations in the knowledge economy, including growing income inequality and the role of knowledge in urban dynamics. This book will be of interest to the research communities in urban and regional economics and planning, regional science, transportation studies and the knowledge economy. With its emphasis on practical aspects, it will also be of interest to the policy community. Contributors include: B. Anderson, A.E. Andersson, C. Burke, Z. Chen, K.E. Haynes, B. Johansson, K. Kobayashi, A. Koike, Y. Konishi, T. Laitila, W.W. Ling Lo, M. Lundgren, H. Maoh, K. Matsushima, S.-i. Mun, Y. Nishiyama, Y. Ohira, M. Okumura, M. Olsson, M. Onishi, T. Otazawa, G. Ray, K. Sato, S. Segi, J-e. Sung,Y. Wan, H. Westlund, H. Yamaguchi, A. Zhang

Borders are critical to the development and survival of modern states, offer security against external threats, and mark public policy and identity difference. At the same time, borders, and borderlands, are places where people, ideas, and economic goods meet and intermingle. The United States-Canada border demonstrates all of the characteristics of modern borders, and epitomises the debates that surround them. This book examines the development of the US-Canada border, provides a detailed analysis of its current operation, and concludes with an evaluation of the border's future. The central objective is to examine how the border functions in practice, presenting a series of case studies on its operation. This book will be of interest to scholars of North American integration and border studies, and to policy practitioners, who will be particularly interested in the case studies and what they say about the impact of border reform.

With a combined population larger than that of the EU or NAFTA, economic integration of the ASEAN states will have a massive impact on both the Asian and global economies. This book examines the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and its opportunities and challenges. It looks at the impacts of economic integration, trade structure and economic interlinkage among these countries through case studies. The book also utilizes theories to further examine areas such as trade, cross-border infrastructure, border management, and the regional development in terms of trade liberalization and foreign labor. This book also provides insight and analysis to developing policies for "ASEAN Connectivity". Given the challenges faced and huge potential impacts of the AEC's cross-border project, this book will be of interest to policy makers, business leaders and researchers in the ASEAN region and throughout the world.

Economic geographers study and attempt to explain the spatial configuration of economic activities, including the production of goods and services, their transfer from one economic agent to another and their transformation into utility by consumers. The spatial configuration, which includes both the pattern of activities on the map and the relationships between activities occurring in different places, is the outcome of a vast number of distinct but interrelated decisions made by firms, households, governments and a variety of other private and public institutions. The goal of this book is to provide the student with a rigorous introduction to a diverse but logically consistent set of analytical models of the spatial decisions and interactions that drive the evolution of the economic landscape. The book begins by explaining fundamental concepts that are critical to all topics in economic geography: the friction of distance, agglomeration, spatial interaction, market mechanisms, natural resources and production technologies. The following sections cover major areas of inquiry including multiregional economies, location theory, markets for space and systems of cities. The final section synthesizes and builds on these topics to address two trends that provide particular challenges to economic geographers today: globalization and the emergence of the knowledge economy.

In recent decades urban regions around the world have engaged in a new process of development based on the creation of new knowledge. Amidst the globalization of economic activities and the arrival of transformative technologies, knowledge has become the key driver of competitiveness and is profoundly reshaping the patterns of economic growth and activity. This book offers a comprehensive new model of the rise of a Knowledge Economy and its evolutionary development in the Megalopolis. These regions are developing new institutions and governance mechanisms to adapt, disseminate, and utilize available knowledge to promote continuing development of their Knowledge Economies. However, such developments are accompanied by increasing inequalities in incomes and in urban services. This book examines the resilience of some urban regions and their recent emergence as vibrant Knowledge Economies. It also reviews the recent renewal and growth in the Megalopolis-- stretching along the Atlantic Seaboard along the metropolitan areas of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington DC. This book will appeal to researchers and professionals interested in urban and regional development, and to business groups interested in economic development.

In recent decades urban regions around the world have engaged in a new process of development based on the creation of new knowledge. Amidst the globalization of economic activities and the arrival of transformative technologies, knowledge has become the key driver of competitiveness and is profoundly reshaping the patterns of economic growth and activity. This book offers a comprehensive new model of the rise of a Knowledge Economy and its evolutionary development in the Megalopolis. These regions are developing new institutions and governance mechanisms to adapt, disseminate, and utilize available knowledge to promote continuing development of their Knowledge Economies. However, such developments are accompanied by increasing inequalities in incomes and in urban services. This book examines the resilience of some urban regions and their recent emergence as vibrant Knowledge Economies. It also reviews the recent renewal and growth in the Megalopolis-- stretching along the Atlantic Seaboard along the metropolitan areas of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington DC. This book will appeal to researchers and professionals interested in urban and regional development, and to business groups interested in economic development.

Economic geographers study and attempt to explain the spatial configuration of economic activities, including the production of goods and services, their transfer from one economic agent to another and their transformation into utility by consumers. The spatial configuration, which includes both the pattern of activities on the map and the relationships between activities occurring in different places, is the outcome of a vast number of distinct but interrelated decisions made by firms, households, governments and a variety of other private and public institutions. The goal of this book is to provide the student with a rigorous introduction to a diverse but logically consistent set of analytical models of the spatial decisions and interactions that drive the evolution of the economic landscape. The book begins by explaining fundamental concepts that are critical to all topics in economic geography: the friction of distance, agglomeration, spatial interaction, market mechanisms, natural resources and production technologies. The following sections cover major areas of inquiry including multiregional economies, location theory, markets for space and systems of cities. The final section synthesizes and builds on these topics to address two trends that provide particular challenges to economic geographers today: globalization and the emergence of the knowledge economy.