Publicação
Sustainable infrastructure development: definition of criteria and quantification of indicators for water and wastewater systems in Douro and Trás-os-Montes
| Resumo: | The work presented herein describes the process and results of the application of a methodology based on multi-criteria analysis techniques designed to evaluate and rank a series of municipalities in terms of their urban water and wastewater systems and addressing the issue of sustainable infrastructure development. The selected area comprising eight neighbouring municipalities within Douro and Alto Trásos- Montes is characterised by complex morphological and climate conditions that have historically hindered the region’s development by past absence of adequate accessibilities. Despite recent and significant investment and ensuing infrastructure improvements, the area continues to struggle with declining population dynamics, aging, moderate to high unemployment rates, and an overall more reticent economical development, particularly when compared to that of the more affluent coastal areas. The land is occupied mainly by rural and forestry uses, hence urbanised areas are few and scattered. Since the land is sparsely populated, it is difficult to reach by comprehensive systems of urban water and wastewater service, and thus, accessibility to minimum service levels is not homogeneous throughout the area. A multi-criteria evaluation procedure was developed using a series of case-defined indicators and applying available analytical methodologies for data processing. Two analytical scenarios were proposed and two data normalisation methods were used. Sets of scores were calculated for each analytical option, revealing that the top and bottom scorers were consistently the same, regardless of initial assumption scenario or data normalisation model. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to verify the robustness of the ranking order, while testing some variations to the sustainable development model. The consistency of the results suggests that the series of selected indicators was well-designed and robust. Though based on existing approaches focused on similar subjects, the methodology developed herein was original and involved the definition of case-specific indicators and decisions regarding analytical options that can be potentially applied to similar case studies. |
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| Autores principais: | Danko, Cristina Carvalho |
| Assunto: | Multicriteria analysis Water and wastewater infrastructure Douro Alto Trás-os-Montes Análise multi-critério Infra-estrutura de água e saneamento |
| Ano: | 2008 |
| País: | Portugal |
| Tipo de documento: | dissertação de mestrado |
| Tipo de acesso: | acesso aberto |
| Instituição associada: | Universidade do Minho |
| Idioma: | inglês |
| Origem: | RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho |
| Resumo: | The work presented herein describes the process and results of the application of a methodology based on multi-criteria analysis techniques designed to evaluate and rank a series of municipalities in terms of their urban water and wastewater systems and addressing the issue of sustainable infrastructure development. The selected area comprising eight neighbouring municipalities within Douro and Alto Trásos- Montes is characterised by complex morphological and climate conditions that have historically hindered the region’s development by past absence of adequate accessibilities. Despite recent and significant investment and ensuing infrastructure improvements, the area continues to struggle with declining population dynamics, aging, moderate to high unemployment rates, and an overall more reticent economical development, particularly when compared to that of the more affluent coastal areas. The land is occupied mainly by rural and forestry uses, hence urbanised areas are few and scattered. Since the land is sparsely populated, it is difficult to reach by comprehensive systems of urban water and wastewater service, and thus, accessibility to minimum service levels is not homogeneous throughout the area. A multi-criteria evaluation procedure was developed using a series of case-defined indicators and applying available analytical methodologies for data processing. Two analytical scenarios were proposed and two data normalisation methods were used. Sets of scores were calculated for each analytical option, revealing that the top and bottom scorers were consistently the same, regardless of initial assumption scenario or data normalisation model. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to verify the robustness of the ranking order, while testing some variations to the sustainable development model. The consistency of the results suggests that the series of selected indicators was well-designed and robust. Though based on existing approaches focused on similar subjects, the methodology developed herein was original and involved the definition of case-specific indicators and decisions regarding analytical options that can be potentially applied to similar case studies. |
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