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The social, environmental, and economic metrics used in new linear infrastructure planning tools: what is appropriate and what are the issues? - Briefing Paper
Linear infrastructure planning processes have always been political. The significant need to build new infrastructure at pace to deliver net zero (and for resilience) is turning up the heat on this agenda. Some of this can only be addressed through democratic mechanisms. However, sitting behind this challenge is a complex web of social, environmental, and economic impacts that need consideration.
New tools and technologies can help support human decision-makers to work through some of these difficult issues. They are by no means ‘the’ only answer but if developed with care can be part of the solution. This briefing paper explores how this can be done in practice. It examines the different types of impacts in this area, approaches to deal with associated uncertainties, the need for robust data to underpin metrics and how metrics and data can be used and applied in practice.