An Economic and Social Evaluation Approach to the Sustainable Redesign of Old Urban Street Infrastructure

The aim of this study is to introduce an economic evaluation approach to the process of redesigning old urban street infrastructures. Several variants of street cross-sections are proposed for redesigning, both in Krakow, Poland, and Bari, Italy, and the optimal sustainable design options are suggested. An experimental economic method is then applied to evaluate the proposed sustainable options. Social return on investment (SROI), as a form of evaluation that contributes to a wider analysis of public investments and uses monetary values to represent the social and economic results. It provides information on creating economic and environmentally sustainable values. Economic evaluation results suggest how society perceives the implementation of sustainable transport investments by assuming the most important aims to be addressed in an urban context, such as sustainability, accessibility, and affordability. The innovative evaluation approach enforces the decision-making process and helps to properly allocate economic resources.