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Public involvement, climate change reactions, stakeholder management, and stakeholder management have all been identified as weaknesses in sustainable road infrastructure development (SRID) inquiry. Most scholarly studies on sustainable infrastructure development (SID) are undertaken in advanced countries, while limited academic studies on the SID in third-world countries cite challenges impeding utilization. This chapter examines the conceptual holes in the SID model and aims to solve three identified gaps: public participation, climate change response, and stakeholder management. The inclusion of highlighted challenges is based on the belief that successful SRIP implementation would be impossible without public participation and climate change adaptation. Public participation is essential for the efficient implementation of SID. It allows stakeholders and everyone affected by infrastructure projects to participate in discussions, recognizing possible problems and creating solutions. International organizations, such as the World Bank, have embraced the concept of public participation as a need for effective project implementation. In underdeveloped countries, most infrastructure projects exclude the general populace, so public participation should be seen as a vital variable in the effective implementation of SRIP in poor countries. Arnstein (1969) proposed an eight-stage stepping ladder for citizen involvement from exploitation through consultation to citizens in control. Information is the cornerstone of all types of engagement, and the mildest kind of real involvement is a meeting when project participants voice their concerns and opinions. Co-creation and co-choice are rare in industrialized countries, and the issue of involvement has become a concern. Notification and attendance are prerequisites for meaningful participation, which can begin when the public is given the opportunity to express their opinions. Players are seen as social establishments or gatherings having the power to influence the fate of the organization, and an evaluation of the players is needed to determine whom to include. Participation in projects boosts decision-making efficacy and sufficiency by widening the information base, encouraging innovation, and fostering public acceptance of methodologies. Stakeholder engagement can increase the speed and quality of strategic decision-making. The key takeaways of the chapter are that public participation in road infrastructure projects should have a say in decisions concerning activities that affect their lives or occupations, should take into account the people’s history, cultural, natural, political, and sociological foundations and should be involved in the following ways: initiated early in the life cycle, organized and well-arranged, phased and improved, non-partisan professionals, learning about members’ traits and interests, and focussing on contentious subjects. Public engagement in SRIP implementation must be efficient and well-managed to be successful. Public participation is essential for SRID.

This study examines the public participation in the implementation of the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL), a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) approach for urban development. HUL has six Critical Steps and four Tools Categories relating to community engagement, knowledge and planning, regulatory system and financial instruments. The HUL public participation component has materialized variably across the adopting cities, challenged by the local implementation capacity. In response, we have singled out two research questions revolving around the participants’ characteristics and participation methods.

This study instrumentalizes case studies as a research methodology and thematic literature as a theoretical context. The HUL projects for Ballarat, Australia and Cuenca, Ecuador have been selected as sources of published information because they exhibit comparative differences in completing community engagement. We have compared the community engagement accounts of the two cities.

The Ballarat and Cuenca HUL project accounts point out to commonalities and variances in responding to the HUL public participation mandate. The findings for the participants’ characteristics involve project setting, participants categories and participants empowerment; the findings for the participation methods involve initial preparation, domestic and international expertise and public conversation.

The results of the study help define public participation practices in HUL project implementations. The results present an opportunity for city officials, HUL project planners and field administrators for making informed decisions particularly in relation to the two public participation domains, the participants’ characteristics and the engagement methods.

The current booming development of smart cities poses new requirements and challenges for their internal infrastructure development. This article aims to explore the questions of: What is the level of social sustainability of smart city infrastructure today? and What are the core contents and paths to improve this level?

With the theme of public participation in the social sustainability evaluation of smart city infrastructure in the context of big data, this study mainly makes a systematic literature review of the Web of Science's Science Citation Index Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index databases. After collection and screening, 199 documents were finally obtained.

It is found that the level of social sustainability of smart city infrastructure is still low, and public participation can provide solutions to the difficulties and challenges involved in its development, while big data technology can broaden the channels for public participation and promote the development of smart city-related components in the process, including smart city infrastructure.

This article summarizes the internal mechanisms of smart cities at the theoretical level and analyzes the social sustainable development of smart city infrastructure. In practice, the shortcomings in this field are identified and suggestions are provided on how to carry out digital public participation, which has practical reference value.

Public participation is sometimes suggested as a way to establish legitimacy for contentious policies needed to realise a transformation in the transport sector to meet sustainability and climate goals. In this chapter, we first aim to summarise and draw conclusions from each part of the book, not least in relation to the transformative potential of public participation in the sector. The chapter also suggests recommendations for further research in the field. Important topics discussed are the diversity of public participation in transport; limits to participation; the specifics of participation in the field of transport; and the issue of consensus and dissensus. As regards transformation of the sector, public participation is considered a prerequisite, but the book also includes several cases where public participation does not seem to possess a transformational potential. We suggest representative, deliberative forms of participation as a possible solution to overcome dilemmas of representativeness, (lack of) knowledge, and the participation burden. We conclude that public participation is not easy, it has to be prepared and designed carefully to avoid unexpected consequences, and there is currently a need for more experiments and pilot projects on public participation in the field of transport.

A general global wave of public participation is occurring. Students and researchers as well as civil servants, policy-makers, and NGO representatives are encouraged to study, propose, and engage in public participation. New innovative forms of participation are suggested, and experiments in participation are ongoing locally and nationally. Within the transport sector, most studies of participation focus on road infrastructure and other land use changes. However, for other areas within transport, studies are limited and fragmented. Based on this, we see a need for a volume on public participation in transport, aimed at practitioners, students, and researchers, in what are unarguably times of change. The overall aim of the volume is to provide examples of different forms of public participation in transport, which can work as a setting for further analyses and discussions of public participation in transport. Drawing on different cases, eight empirical chapters are presented covering three main themes: grass-roots participation initiatives, participation in unconventional areas, and public participation that throws up unexpected results. In this introductory chapter, we set the scene for later discussions and analyses of public participation in transport. This chapter also provides an overview of the structure and content of the volume.

This study aims to examine the influence of entrepreneurial orientation and knowledge management orientation on participation of women-owned small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in public procurement. The research also aimed at examining the influence of knowledge management orientation on entrepreneurial orientation, and the mediating role of entrepreneurial orientation on the relationship between Knowledge management orientation and participation of women-owned SMEs in public procurement.

The study used a quantitative cross-sectional survey design. Data were collected using a drop-off pick-up method. The determined sample size for the women-owned SME firms was 123, while an effective sample size of 103 was obtained, and covariance-based structural equation modelling was used to test the research hypotheses.

Findings indicated that entrepreneurial orientation and knowledge management positively and significantly influenced both the search for tender opportunities and the number of times the firm submitted bids. Knowledge management orientation had a significant positive influence on entrepreneurial orientation, while entrepreneurial orientation partially mediated the relationship between knowledge management orientation and participation of women-owned SMEs in public procurement, thus implying that both knowledge management orientation and entrepreneurial orientation contribute to search for tender opportunities and the number of times a woman-owned SME firm submits bids.

The study was cross-sectional and quantitative in nature, yet it involved behaviour aspects such as participation in public procurement. Further, a wholistic approach is taken when studying the SMEs disregarding the industrial characteristics to which the SME belongs.

Almost 30% to 38% of SMEs in developing countries are owned by women. Focusing on increasing the number of women owned SMEs participating in public procurement will improve the nations’ GDP and increase the number of the citizens in the labour force due to increased employability.

Previous research takes a wholistic approach when examining SMEs participation in public sector procurement disregarding the impact of gender. Further, knowledge management orientation and entrepreneurial orientation in women-owned SMEs are studied for the first time in a public procurement setting.

The paper aims to elucidate effective strategies for promoting the adoption of green technology innovation within the private sector, thereby enhancing the value of public–private partnership (PPP) projects during the operational phase.

Utilizing prospect theory, the paper considers the government and the public as external driving forces. It establishes a tripartite evolutionary game model composed of government regulators, the private sector and the public. The paper uses numerical simulations to explore the evolutionary stable equilibrium strategies and the determinants influencing each stakeholder.

The paper demonstrates that government intervention and public participation substantially promote green technology innovation within the private sector. Major influencing factors encompass the intensity of pollution taxation, governmental information disclosure and public attention. However, an optimal threshold exists for environmental publicity and innovation subsidies, as excessive levels might inhibit technological innovation. Furthermore, within government intervention strategies, compensating the public for their participation costs is essential to circumvent the public's “free-rider” tendencies and encourage active public collaboration in PPP project innovation.

By constructing a tripartite evolutionary game model, the paper comprehensively examines the roles of government intervention and public participation in promoting green technology innovation within the private sector, offering fresh perspectives and strategies for the operational phase of PPP projects.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between citizen participation and the level of trust in government’s decisions and policies; as well as examining the impact of disclosure of information on the level of citizens’ engagement with governments’ projects. In addition, testing the real motives behind Egyptian citizens’ participation in financing national projects. The study is applied to the “New Suez Canal,” which was finished in only one year opposing the three years implementation period suggested by some studies.

The researcher depended on secondary and primary data as well in working on this paper. She used secondary data gathered from scholars and from domestic and international institutions. Then, she conducted a field study and collected data through distributing 384 Likert Scale questionnaires containing 34 self-administered among respondents to test the following: 1. Citizens perceptions regarding the level of trust in government’s decisions and policies. 2. The impact of citizens’ trust on their willingness to participate in governments’ projects. 3. Is ‘public service motivation’ (PSM) behind citizens’ willingness of participating in national projects. 4. Is the ‘high expected profit of Suez Canal Investment Certificates’ behind citizens participation in national projects.

H1 and H2 have been accepted as trust, transparency and citizen participation proved to be important pillars of building a participatory government. Moreover, citizens’ participation in national projects encouraged national and international enterprises to invest in the canal provision. H3 and H4 are accepted and the statistical study revealed dual contradicting results regarding the motive of citizens’ financial participation in the New Suez Canal project. The justification for the contradiction is that right after the 2011 up-rise, Egyptian citizens were overwhelmed with patriot emotions and feelings pushing them to participate in national projects. At the same time this patriot drive was moderated by the “performance-based rewards and citizens” self-interests’ pushed by the Egyptian government (offering a high-interest rate for Suez Canal Certificates at that time). Citizens might be motivated to participate in national projects triggered by many factors: public service drive – patriotism or self-interest.

The study needs further deeper investigation and empirical pieces of evidence to answer the following questions: would different participatory actions result differently in other circumstances? Do individuals’ levels of PSM vary over time? Besides, the researcher needs to find ways to test PSM against various motives such as self-interest, which needs to be confirmed empirically.

The author came up with important recommendations for central government and decision-makers in Egypt and is based upon the study’s statistical results. The most important recommendations were: central government and decision-makers should frame a policy designed to promote citizens’ participation in decision-making drawing on the guidelines for civil participation in political decision-making. Decision-makers in the central government should work local and regional authorities to update and improve local and regional regulations concerning the participation of citizens in local public life and promote a culture of democratic participation shared by communities and local authorities. Performance-based rewards (high-interest rate) are moderating the citizens’ public service motivation (PSM – patriot sense) and citizens may be motivated by different factors such as public service drive – patriotism or self-interest.

The study is tackling an important issue, which is civil participation in political decision-making. It is also discussing promoting cultural awareness regarding the importance of democratic participation shared by communities and local authorities. The study came up with certain findings proving Egyptian civil society’s willingness in participating with the government in national projects; believing in its socio-economic benefits.

Finally, the study is of value, as it could be considered a pilot study representing the outcomes of citizen participation in national projects; in addition, it can be considered as a road map to policymakers. Moreover, the findings provide a set of recommendations and policies for governments and decision-makers to undertake tangible actions to accelerate citizen participation in further projects and decisions and be able to establish a democratic system in developing countries.

This study aims to examine the influence of procedural capabilities for public procurement participation on small and medium enterprises’ (SMEs) sales performance in Tanzania. Also, the study establishes the interaction effect of internet marketing capabilities on the relationship between procedural capabilities and sales performance.

The authors conducted confirmatory factor analysis and PROCESS macro for simple interaction analysis to analyse cross-sectional data that were obtained through questionnaire from surveyed SMEs’ managers. The included SMEs are those that are involved in supplying goods, services and works to public entities in Dodoma, Tanzania.

The findings reveal that procedural capabilities for participation in public procurement enhance SMEs to improve sales performance. Also, there is a significant and positive relationship between internet marketing capabilities and sales performance. Lastly, internet marketing capabilities strengthen the relationship between procedural capabilities and sales performance.

This study is a wake-up call to SMEs to better comprehend public procurement procedures and e-business practices to use the available public procurement opportunities. It is argued that SMEs should invest in technology to market their businesses through social media and online platforms. According to the study, SMEs may benefit from improving their sales performance by fully utilising their internet marketing capabilities and participating in public procurement opportunities.

This study adds to the two main streams of literature that emphasise harnessing public procurement opportunities for SMEs (through public procurement participation) and leveraging internet marketing capabilities for SMEs to improve their sales performance.

The concept of “participation” has become a buzzword in contemporary public governance models. However, despite the broad and significant interest, defining participation remains a debated topic. The aim of the current study was to explore how participants perceived and interpreted the meaning and scope of participation.

This study is part of a four-year (2019–2022) longitudinal research project investigating stakeholder participation in the context of developing and establishing a strategic regional plan in Region Skåne in southern Sweden. The research project has a qualitative approach and uses interviews with different stakeholder groups such as municipal politicians and public officials and a survey as empirical material.

The authors developed a participation spectrum including eight types of participation: to be open, to be informed, to be listened to, to discuss, to be consulted, to give and take, to collaborate and to co-create. The authors also identified four different purposes of participation: creating a joint network, creating a joint understanding, creating a joint effort and creating a joint vision. The spectrum and the purposes were related through four characteristics of participation, i.e. involvement, interaction, influence and empowerment.

The study rests on a single case, and so the results have limited transferatibility.

Researching participation in terms of the participants' perceptions contributes a new perspective to the existing literature, which has commonly focussed on the organizers' perceptions of participation. Moreover, in order to clarify what participation meant to the participants, the study puts emphasis on untangling this from the why question of participation.