Infrastructure and ecology: 'limited' costs may hide substantial impacts

摘要

In response to a growing demand for transport and changes in the way people use space, the nature of road infrastructure networks change: (small) roads are frequently transformed into highways. Before such expansions are realized, in many cases a legal obligation exists to carry out a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) in order to assess whether the expansion scheme creates a net social benefit for society. A CBA deals with the effects on the surrounding ecosystem, the environment and human living. This paper focuses on the valuation of the biotic, a-biotic and socio-economic damage, thereby contributing to the methodology of CBA as a tool to evaluate infrastructural plans integrally.