Sustainable infrastructure: A systematic literature review on finance arrangements and governance modes

In recent years, the concept of sustainable infrastructure has become a key concern for infrastructure development. However, there has been little comprehensive research on the enabling factors for sustainable infrastructure development. To address these knowledge gaps, this research conducted a systematic literature review of the enabling factors, with a specific focus on finance and governance, to provide new insights for development practitioners and academic scholars. The research first reviewed the characteristics of sustainable infrastructure, identifying several types of definitions. Subsequently, the research identified multiple finance arrangements and governance characteristics that have been applied to sustainable infrastructure. We confirmed that public-private partnerships (PPPs) and multilateral development banks (MDBs) play central and critical roles in leading and including other finance arrangements and governance characteristics of sustainable infrastructure development. In addition, the review suggests there are various governance modes combining horizontal process management with vertical project management for realizing sustainable infrastructure development.