Papers to be considered for this Special Issue should be submitted before 10th November 2022 (deadline).
Background and Rationale
We are pleased to alert you to our call for papers from the above journal [BEPAM] for a Special Issue on “Public Private Partnerships: Past, Present and Future”
The Public Private Partnership (PPP) model is a part and parcel of infrastructure delivery system of many countries. In the recent years, this model has come under severe stress for a variety of reasons like failure to meet the value for money goals, challenges faced in mobilisation of equity and debt from the market, financial hardships owing to reduced demand for the built asset or service due to pandemic or war, renegotiations and so on. As a result, in recent years, governments, worldwide, have begun to lean back towards infrastructure delivery models involving public funding and involvement of private sector to design and /or construction process only. However, a revival of publicly financed infrastructure models does not mean “PPP” model is abandoned. In fact, governments are facing a financial crunch for infrastructure upgradation and maintenance, owing to increased budgetary allocations to tackle the COVID 19 pandemic and to boost healthcare infrastructure facilities. Hence, asset monetization has become another buzzword with adoption of PPP models like “Transfer – Operate – Transfer”, which provide revenue streams to the government from already build assets and ensure better quality service delivery to the customers. The greater emphasis towards the green economy and reduction in carbon footprint provided impetus to renewable energy projects. Also, the concepts like Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, and Digitalization have taken the built infrastructure sector by storm. Moreover, governments are promulgating smart cities, smart grid and smart roads for making infrastructure planning, design, construction and operation “smarter”. The usual infrastructure delivery model would need to be upgraded to deal with techno-economic and socio-legal complexities associated with delivery of “smart infrastructure”. As a result, governments are targeting greater private sector involvement for smart delivery and more innovative procurement models along these lines in the coming years, if not decades. The traditional and emerging PPP models can be said to be at critical junctures for proving their relevance in contributing to suitably address the current turbulent times. Therefore, this Special Issue is very timely in taking stock of the knowledge by looking at the “past” and “present”, and then suggesting improvements for the “future”. The knowledge creation and development in the process of this inquiry would be unique and it will be assimilated in this Special Issue.
The COVID 19 pandemic has severely disrupted infrastructure creation and delivery supply chains worldwide. This opened debates for crafting built infrastructure delivery models which are more resilient, flexible and socio-economically relevant. As PPP models have been used prominently for infrastructure delivery, it was expected that the continuous crafting and development of PPP models should take into consideration facets like ‘new normal’ needs, agility, and resilience. The evidence is currently very scarce with very few scholarly studies investigating impacts of COVID 19 or other pandemics or even disasters in general, on PPPs. Most available evidence is in the form of media reports showing mixed, unclear, and incomplete overall pictures. But in practice, many operational PPP projects have faced daunting tasks in terms of remaining viable, despite reduced demand, difficulties in meeting debt obligations and changed performance specifications. This predicament demands a reboot with revamping, revitalizing, and reinvigorating PPP models. In this context, it is pertinent to say that this Special Issue is fulfilling a now much required need of researchers, policy makers and professionals for bringing innovations and new thought processes into generating modern PPP project formulation and delivery models.
Objectives of this Special Issue
The proposed Special Issue expects to inspire the authors to develop papers to address the following specific objectives:
1. Chart the journey of PPP models by “looking back” and suggest meaningful innovations in this model for embracing “future” demands and priorities
2. Investigate the gaps and obstacles in planning, designing, financing, procurement, construction, and operation of PPP projects in the current era responsible for the poor performance of PPP projects
3. Map potential future courses of action for researchers, professionals, policy makers and practitioners to continuously revamp PPP models to meet the emerging realities while making them more resilient to withstand disruptions.
Anticipated Themes of papers
The following is an indicative, hence a non-exhaustive, list of anticipated themes that could be explored in different papers in this Special Issue:
● Historical Analysis of PPP Projects to map their evolution to match contemporary needs
● Addressing the ‘New Normals’ in the Formulation and Delivery of PPP Projects
● Improved Institutional Architecture of PPP Projects
● PPP for developing and/or delivering ‘smart’ (or higher value) infrastructure and services
● Critical Analysis of Existing PPP Infrastructure Procurement and Delivery
● Promotion of People-Centric PPP Models
● Enhancement of PPP Delivery Performance
● PPPs for Sustainable Development
● PPPs for Disaster Management
● Ensuring Transparency in PPP Procurement and Delivery
Submission Guidelines
Submissions to Built Environment Project and Asset Management should be through ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available at:
http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/bepam
Author guidelines must be strictly followed. Please see:
http://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/products/journals/author_guidelines.htm?id=bepam
The total word count limit (including wordcount equivalents of ALL Figures and Tables, counted at 280 words EACH) is 8,500 words. Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.
Interested authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue “Public Private Partnerships: Past, Present and Future” at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to “Please select the issue you are submitting to”.
Key Dates
Papers to be considered for this Special Issue should be submitted through the above portal before 10th November 2022 (deadline).
Following the submission and initial screening of the manuscripts, those judged suitable for the special issue will be sent to at least two independent referees for double blind peer review, after which submissions may be recommended for revisions and further review, acceptance or rejection.
BEPAM Journal
BEPAM is an internationally established Emerald journal; and is one of the three CIB recognised journals. It is also recognised by other prominent bodies such as the Australian Business Deans Council and indexed in renowned databases such as SCOPUS, EBSCO, INSPEC as well as in ESCI (Emerging Sources Citation Index) of Clarivate Analytics in “Web of Science”. For further information on the journal, please visit http://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/bepam.htm.
