Roughton recognises that transport and infrastructure projects alone cannot represent the engine of economic growth or initiate poverty reduction. Their planning and implementation must be undertaken in a context where many other factors come into play, especially in countries where the majority of the population are non-users of motorised transport and roads.
Development planning for urban infrastructure projects includes national social studies, which are integrated with engineering and economic studies, and ensure a full understanding of the complex and dynamic social reality, and how this informs investment planning. We make sure that key conceptual linkages between social issues and the urban infrastructure sector are identified and described, such as the impact of roads on:
We will facilitate poverty studies to examine how specific processes and causes of exclusion highlight these linkages, and we will look at cross-sectoral issues such as the impact of development policies on health and education.
Another important issue is the role of women in development. Because of the way many traditional societies are structured, it has often been the case that when local consultation on project planning or implementation has occurred, it has been only with men. This is gradually changing, and our work with different religions and in different societies has given us the experience to bring women into the consultation process, though sensitivity is required.Our objective is to identify all possible social issues at project design stage so that benefits can be optimised and dis-benefits minimised. During the project implementation stage we aim to have a real awareness and understanding of the social issues built into the project design to ensure that the objectives are achieved and monitored.
Areas that often require particular consideration are:
For more information about socio-environmental services email us: info@roughton.com