The Silk Road of the 21st Century, announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, will certainly change the world. It will definitely stimulate economic growth and prosperity in China, the rest of Asia and elsewhere. But how can we prevent the environmental damage and the increasing inequality on a planetary scale brought about by the construction of this "road" - or in reality: a network of highways, railways, sea routes and other connections? This book deals with the question for the Maritime branch of the new Silk Road and discusses relevant strategies and technologies for sustainable and responsible port innovation and development. The backbone of the study is formed by a number of case studies of port projects in and outside of China. Some chapters focus on best practices, while others discuss new academic viewpoints, but in all cases, suggestions for improvement are given. Based on the idea that a large investment agenda also creates moral responsibility, the Chinese cases also serve to ascertain whether and to what extent they can serve as an example for projects elsewhere. A few introductory and thematic chapters and the conclusion give steering and sense to the rest of the book. Ultimately, this title gives a first and coherent analysis and assessment of a project that is unparalleled in the world and that constitutes an important determining factor for our future.

Roads, railway lines and bridges, harbours and cities, irrigation and drinking water supplies: evidence of the presence of Dutch engineers in the former Dutch East Indies may be found everywhere in Indonesia. For Profit and Prosperity places this legacy from the colonial past in its true perspective. This publication provides a detailed description of some of the most important civil public works projects of the Dutch East Indian era while simultaneously outlining the contribution made by the Netherlands to the restoration, modernisation and development of such works in the Republic of Indonesia. The public works once constructed by Dutch engineers have greatly influenced the way in which Indonesia has become what it is today. For Profit and Prosperity reveals just how all of that happened and it does not merely confine itself to the technological aspect. The relevant social, economic and cultural developments are also subjected to careful scrutiny. This book therefore describes in a unique way just how technology and society can influence each other. For Profit and Prosperity does not so much set out to provide a comprehensive catalogue-style overview of all the public works structures created in the archipelago but rather to provide an insight into the way in which civil engineering evolved in the former colony. At the same time an impression is inevitably given of the effect which all of that had upon Dutch civil engineering in general.