{"id":{"repo_id":"cambridge","oai_identifier":"oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/380648"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/cambridge/oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/380648","repository":{"repo_id":"cambridge","name":"Cambridge University","base_url":"https://api.repository.cam.ac.uk/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Leveraging the enabling environment to deliver infrastructure and services to meet the real needs of end users in developing countries","abstract":"Poverty remains widespread in developing countries. Basic needs still fail to be met, and sustainable development is slow. There remains a vast infrastructure and service needs gap, as evident in the Sustainable Development Goals. However, infrastructure and services have the potential to reduce this gap through the sector’s extensive reach into all areas of society; from water and sanitation to meet basic needs, to economy-boosting mega-projects. However, provision of infrastructure and services does not simply eliminate the needs gap. Engineering technologies exist to meet most needs experienced in developing countries, however it is the surrounding context that creates the barriers to their implementation and success. Therefore, an understanding of the contextual influences that effect the success of infrastructure and services is critical. This is termed the enabling environment. The enabling environment encompasses all influences in a national context, extending to institutional, economic, social, and environmental factors, which are highly interconnected through complex relationships. The enabling environment behaves as a system, where change in one area can generate change in another. When applied to the context of this study, a system representation of the enabling environment can be used to understand the barriers and opportunities to reducing the service needs gap in developing countries. A causal loop diagram is presented to model the enabling environment. Seven case studies are employed to analyse real-world projects, their interactions with the enabling environment, and its influence on the project outcomes. Five archetypes are suggested which classify project types by the way they typically interact and are influenced by the enabling environment, to identify facilitating and inhibiting characteristics that might be expected in similar future projects. This allows policy-makers and practitioners to make informed decisions to implement targeted change, to help deliver services that achieve their intended purpose in the future. This research builds on previous studies and industry practices, to bring together all elements of the enabling environment into one framework, to facilitate an understanding of the full enabling environment and its relationship to infrastructure and services not yet achievable using existing methods. With this understanding, it is possible to leverage the enabling environment to improve the outcomes of future infrastructure projects, to ensure that the services they deliver can effectively meet the needs of end users.","abstract_html":"Poverty remains widespread in developing countries. Basic needs still fail to be met, and sustainable development is slow. There remains a vast infrastructure and service needs gap, as evident in the Sustainable Development Goals. However, infrastructure and services have the potential to reduce this gap through the sector’s extensive reach into all areas of society; from water and sanitation to meet basic needs, to economy-boosting mega-projects. However, provision of infrastructure and services does not simply eliminate the needs gap. Engineering technologies exist to meet most needs experienced in developing countries, however it is the surrounding context that creates the barriers to their implementation and success. Therefore, an understanding of the contextual influences that effect the success of infrastructure and services is critical. This is termed the enabling environment. The enabling environment encompasses all influences in a national context, extending to institutional, economic, social, and environmental factors, which are highly interconnected through complex relationships. The enabling environment behaves as a system, where change in one area can generate change in another. When applied to the context of this study, a system representation of the enabling environment can be used to understand the barriers and opportunities to reducing the service needs gap in developing countries. A causal loop diagram is presented to model the enabling environment. Seven case studies are employed to analyse real-world projects, their interactions with the enabling environment, and its influence on the project outcomes. Five archetypes are suggested which classify project types by the way they typically interact and are influenced by the enabling environment, to identify facilitating and inhibiting characteristics that might be expected in similar future projects. This allows policy-makers and practitioners to make informed decisions to implement targeted change, to help deliver services that achieve their intended purpose in the future. This research builds on previous studies and industry practices, to bring together all elements of the enabling environment into one framework, to facilitate an understanding of the full enabling environment and its relationship to infrastructure and services not yet achievable using existing methods. With this understanding, it is possible to leverage the enabling environment to improve the outcomes of future infrastructure projects, to ensure that the services they deliver can effectively meet the needs of end users.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Waller, Amy"],"institution":"University of Cambridge","degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)","degree_level":"Doctoral","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Fenner, Richard"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2024,"date_issued":"2024-05-28","date_published":"2024-05-28","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:33:33Z","subjects":["enabling environment","infrastructure","services","developing countries","human needs","systems thinking","causal loop diagram"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":["https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/d22e894c-e2e5-49a7-8780-f1ee88448600/download","http://purl.org/NET/rdflicense/allrightsreserved"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.116213","outbound_label":"DOI","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.doi"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Fenner, Richard"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Waller, Amy"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2024-05-28"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.institution","label":"Dc Publisher Institution","values":["University of Cambridge"]},{"key":"dc:relation.isreferencedby.uri","label":"Dc Relation Isreferencedby URI","values":["https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/380648"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["Doctoral"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationname","label":"Dc Type Qualificationname","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["enabling environment","infrastructure","services","developing countries","human needs","systems thinking","causal loop diagram"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/d22e894c-e2e5-49a7-8780-f1ee88448600/download","http://purl.org/NET/rdflicense/allrightsreserved"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.doi","label":"DOI","values":["https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.116213"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/59fa075f-5eca-45a0-8cfc-1621a81191a9/download"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Poverty remains widespread in developing countries. 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The enabling environment encompasses all influences in a national context, extending to institutional, economic, social, and environmental factors, which are highly interconnected through complex relationships. The enabling environment behaves as a system, where change in one area can generate change in another. When applied to the context of this study, a system representation of the enabling environment can be used to understand the barriers and opportunities to reducing the service needs gap in developing countries. A causal loop diagram is presented to model the enabling environment. Seven case studies are employed to analyse real-world projects, their interactions with the enabling environment, and its influence on the project outcomes. Five archetypes are suggested which classify project types by the way they typically interact and are influenced by the enabling environment, to identify facilitating and inhibiting characteristics that might be expected in similar future projects. This allows policy-makers and practitioners to make informed decisions to implement targeted change, to help deliver services that achieve their intended purpose in the future. This research builds on previous studies and industry practices, to bring together all elements of the enabling environment into one framework, to facilitate an understanding of the full enabling environment and its relationship to infrastructure and services not yet achievable using existing methods. 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When applied to the context of this study, a system representation of the enabling environment can be used to understand the barriers and opportunities to reducing the service needs gap in developing countries. A causal loop diagram is presented to model the enabling environment. Seven case studies are employed to analyse real-world projects, their interactions with the enabling environment, and its influence on the project outcomes. Five archetypes are suggested which classify project types by the way they typically interact and are influenced by the enabling environment, to identify facilitating and inhibiting characteristics that might be expected in similar future projects. This allows policy-makers and practitioners to make informed decisions to implement targeted change, to help deliver services that achieve their intended purpose in the future. 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