Rethinking new public infrastructure value for money in recession times: the Greek case

Abstract

The recent financial crisis in Europe has led to large reduction of public investment and urges the recession-hit countries to revisit their approach to new infrastructure projects initiation in light of the current budgetary constraints. This paper reviews the methodologies and practices implemented worldwide with the aim to achieve cost efficiency in infrastructure development and critically discusses the current approach to planning and designing of infrastructure projects in Greece. A number of transport infrastructure projects under tendering or construction, including urban express roads, urban development projects, cruise port, urban rail and airport, are presented and analyzed. The authors highlight the critical role of the implementation of appropriate tools and informed decision-making in design and construction and present alternative solutions of enhanced cost efficiency for the required value for money to be achieved in each of the above projects.