Development of a Decision Support System for Sustainable and Resilience Evaluation of Urban Underground Space Physical Infrastructure
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
DEVELOPMENT OF A DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR SUSTAINABLE AND RESILIENCE EVALUATION OF URBAN UNDERGROUND SPACE PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE By Lewis O. Makana (MEng) A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY College of Engineering and Physical Sciences School of Civil Engineering University of Birmingham October 2014 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. Abstract ABSTRACT Urban underground space is a complex socio-ecological system, housing several integrated sub-systems, of which utility infrastructure systems account for the bulk share in urban centres. Each of these individual geo-structures housed in underground space retains unique characteristics that facilitate the retention of functional performance. It often is the case that sustainability evaluation of underground space use is complex, owing to the interdisciplinary nature of the integrated systems. To appraise the sustainability or otherwise of such systems, geotechnical engineers employ the use of sustainability evaluation tools. The large proportion of these evaluation tools for the geo-professional focus on environmental and/or economic sustainability, at the expense of social sustainability, and hardly ever consider the continued functional performance (resilience) of a geo-structure during sustainability assessment(s). Furthermore, the proclivity towards adoption of a forecasting (trend analysis) approach to planning, remains the current modus operandi for the geo-professional. The research described in this thesis proposes a new, novel evaluation ‘framework’ and accompanying operational ‘model’, the ‘SUURE’ (Sustainable Underground Use Resilience Evaluation) ‘framework’, which adopts a socio-ecological systems (SES) approach to evaluation, combining sustainability science and resilience theory, at the same time incorporating a range of interdisciplinary tools and methods to achieve this. It purposes at its core to aid in sustainability evaluation of urban underground space, by evaluating the process to the outcome of sustainable solutions i.e. the capacity to adapt to change in different steady states. In consequence, a fundamentally different approach to planning that utilises future socio-ecological scenarios (NSP, PR, MF and FW) is incorporated in the ‘framework’ as a means of evaluating through its operational ‘model’, the sensitivity of investment decisions made today in the name of sustainability i.e. will the proposed engineering sustainability solution continue to deliver its intended function into the future, whatever that may be. The SUURE operational ‘model’ was employed as a proof of concept to the case study area of Birmingham Eastside, evaluating the potential use of multi-utility tunnels (MUT) in Eastside as a means of engendering sustainable and resilient use of urban underground space, through sustainable utility placement, both now and into the future. The flush-fitting MUT was found to be having the highest overall baseline (present-day) performance resilience index ratio at mean of 0.739, the shallow MUT second at 0.656, and the deep MUT last at 0.212. With regard to the evaluation of continued MUT functional performance into the future (whatever that may be), all three MUT options, if implemented today in the name of sustainability, would continue to deliver and retain their core functional performance, the deep MUT showing the most significant increase across all evaluation clusters (social, economic, physical, bio-physical and location aspects). The SUURE operational ‘model’ evaluation on the case study area of Birmingham Eastside demonstrates that it is a suitable tool to provide better decision-making for the geo-professional, urban planner and policy-maker, aimed at advancement of resilient and sustainable engineering solutions. It markedly improves the defensible formulation of evidenced-based administrative polices, that work towards incorporating an effective measure of resilience, for both the built environment and urban underground infrastructure, for adaption and mitigation, in light of future change. i Development of a DSS for Sustainable and Resilience Evaluation of Urban Underground Physical Infrastructure ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for the funding that enabled this research to be carried out under the Urban Futures Project, Grant: EP/F007426/1 – Principal Investigator: Professor Chris Rogers. I would like to give my profoundest thanks to my principal supervisor, Professor Ian Jefferson for his tremendous support and belief in my ability to conduct research. I wouldn’t have made it this far without your support and encouragement. I would also like to give a special thanks to both Dr Dexter Hunt and Professor Chris Rogers, my co- supervisors, for sharing your knowledge with me, providing exceptional guidance and for your continued support and encouragement throughout the duration of this project. I would like to thank Dr Nikolai Bobylev, Marie Curie Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham, in the midst of this research project. Your unorthodox methods helped to bring the best out of me. I would like to thank the British Geological Survey and the GSI3D Consortium for their support during the course of this research work, and for access to their extensive geological repository and expertise. I would like to thank all my friends, too many to mention by name, for the support and encouragement throughout the course of my studies, and for helping me to stay the course. On a personal level I would like to thank my family, especially my father and mother, for their support during this period of research, without which the present work would never have been possible. Last but not least, I would like to thank the research process itself, for teaching me a very important life lesson: “Every youth should be taught the necessity and the power of application. Upon this, far more than upon genius or talent, does success depend. Without application the most brilliant talents avail little, while with rightly directed effort persons of very ordinary natural abilities have accomplished wonders. And genius, at whose achievements we marvel, is almost invariably united with untiring, concentrated effort.” [Ellen G. White, Education - 232.3] ii Used Acronyms USED ACRONYMS AHP Analytical Hierarchy Process ANP Analytical Network Process BCC Birmingham City Council BE2ST in-Highways Building Environmentally and Economically Infrastructure Highways BREEAM Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology CBA Cost Benefit Analysis CEEQUAL Civil Engineering Environmental Quality Assessment & Award Scheme CHP Combined Heat and Power DDBMS Decision Database Management System DGMS Dialog Generation and Management System DSS Decision Support System DSSs Decision Support Systems EGI Environmental Geotechnics Indicators EIA Environmental Impact Assessment E&R Excavation and Reinstatement FW Fortress World GAPI Green Airport Pavement Index GeoSPeAR Geotechnical Sustainable Project Appraisal Routine GIS Geographical Information Systems GLEG Legend File GSI3D Geographical Survey and Investigations in Three Dimensions GSHP Ground Source Heat Pump GVS Generalised Vertical Sequence ISA Environmental Sustainability Index ISI Sustainability Index ITA International Tunnelling Association KPI Key Performance Indicator LCA Life Cycle Analysis LCC Life Cycle Costing MCA Multi-Criteria Analysis MCDA Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis MC-SDSS Multi-Criteria Spatial Decision Support System MF Market Forces MBMS Model-Base Management System MUT Multi-Utility Tunnel NJUG National Joint Utilities Group NSP New Sustainability Paradigm PR Policy Reform SEGM Sustainable Geotechnical Evaluation Model SES Socio-Ecological System SESs Socio-Ecological Systems SESEF Socio-Ecological System Evaluation Framework SESEFs Socio-Ecological System Evaluation Frameworks SI Sustainability Index SMCDA Spatial Multi-criteria Decision Analysis SPeAR Sustainable Project Appraisal Routine SUURE Sustainable Underground Use Resilience Evaluation UF Urban Futures UUI Urban Underground Infrastructure UUS Urban Underground Space iii Development of a DSS for Sustainable and Resilience Evaluation of Urban Underground Physical Infrastructure Table of Contents Abstract……. ........................................................................................................ i Acknowledgements .............................................................................................. ii Used Acronyms ................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents................................................................................................ iv List of Figures ................................................................................................... viii List of Tables ....................................................................................................