Embedding Sustainability in Urban Road and Bridge Infrastructure: A Standards-Anchored Maturity Assessment of Dubai's Development Programme

Abstract

Embodied carbon within a city’s infrastructure resides predominantly within road and bridge assets but sustainability assessment of urban transport authorities typically focuses upon the sustainability of fleets and operations rather than the sustainability of their infrastructure delivery. The study examines and compares sustainability embedding throughout the lifecycle of Dubai’s road and bridge development programme against five global urban transport authorities. The research applies a case study design with comparative policy benchmarking using a Sustainability Embedding Maturity Rubric of four pillars and sixteen indicators drawn from a range of recognized sustainability standards and guidance including PAS 2080, ISO 14001, ISO 20400, EN 15978, Envision, BREEAM Infrastructure, the IS Rating Scheme, the GRI Standards and ISAE 3000. The study focuses solely upon public documentation and does not seek additional information from the authorities under review. Where documentation exists, each cell is scored as documented present or documented absent. Where documentation does not exist for a particular cell, the cell is not scored and this is noted against the authority’s total. 37 of 96 cells have been scored as containing documented information. Dubai’s road and bridge asset program contains documentation of the program’s Organizational Mechanisms (national sustainability framework, certified sustainable procurement policy, project waste target and GRI assured sustainability reporting). However, the same program contains no documentation of carbon related mechanisms at the road and bridge asset’s infrastructure stage (a target date and a capital carbon baseline for road and bridge assets). Two of the Authorities reviewed (both who have adopted a named instrument, either PAS 2080, the Sustainable Design Guidelines and Net Zero policy or MKI/DuboCalc) contain documentation of the design-stage carbon assessment and carbon weighted tendering process. Singapore contains documentation of the tender weighting and material mandates for sustainable construction as reported by the authority. The study provides a reusable rubric against a set of recognized standards, with a clear and transparent documentary search protocol and a Gulf region baseline against which other Gulf cities can measure themselves. The study does not assess the authorities against any effectiveness criteria.