Allocating land-related social, economic, and legal benefits to people is crucial for meeting the commitments made by various countries for achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs). Economic growth in developing countries in the Southeast Asian region is very rapid, requiring primary resources such as land, which poses challenges for implementing nationally determined commitments towards SDGs. This paper quantitatively compares the relevant policy instruments issued by the key ASEAN countries to analyze the importance of land provision in achieving the specific SDGs. Using content analysis to formulate a framework for comparing the various policy instruments and strategic plans, the article identifies the importance of land use in various policy instruments focused on achieving SDGs. Most countries use authoritative instruments to incorporate land-related aspects. The use of the symbolic, capacity-building, and incentive instruments is relatively lesser. Many countries give prominence to land for providing shelter or as an economic resource, while land use for managing gender equality is negligible. Policy makers could incorporate a more balanced mix of instruments and those addressing different dimensions of land use while redesigning their policy or strategy documents to implement SDGs.

Within the real estate sector, the concept of sustainability has traditionally been associated with green building initiatives. This study broadens the scope by examining environmental disclosure practices across a spectrum of stakeholders, including developers, financiers, suppliers, and advisors, within the real estate sectors of Australia and India. Utilizing the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards to evaluate environmental reporting, this research scrutinizes publicly disclosed company data to assess the sector’s engagement with sustainability. The findings reveal a pronounced focus on emissions and energy, with less attention to other critical factors like biodiversity, materials, and supplier environmental assessment. This selective disclosure suggests a need for a more holistic approach to sustainability reporting. This study also investigates the influence of regional nuances and the integration of international reporting standards, shedding light on the varied practices of sustainability reporting within the industry. Furthermore, this paper examines the relationship between environmental disclosures and financial performance, measured by the economic value added (EVA). It was observed that environmental disclosures do not show a significant correlation with EVA for companies in either country, indicating that current reporting practices do not directly impact financial outcomes as captured by this metric. These findings offer actionable insights for enhancing reporting practices, encouraging a collective approach to address the environmental impacts of real estate, and contributing to the discourse on responsible environmental stewardship.

Accessibility and affordability are critical challenges for household water consumption in urban India. While the previous research on affordability and water tariff setting is substantial, the interplay of water access equity and its impact on household water expenditure is less understood due to the absence of granular household level data in India. This research draws upon the NSSO’s 76th round of data collected across the country to explore the differences in water access and expenditure amongst various income categories. Using regression analysis, this paper investigates the association between the socio-economic, tenurial status, sources of water, sufficiency, and access related factors and the household expenditure on water. Results show that water is a scarce commodity for lower sections of society and that they are incurring higher costs, making the water relatively unaffordable. The research findings indicate that the policymakers and project proponents need to develop more targeted metrics for measuring the disparities and configure interventions that mitigate the inequalities in urban water provision.

Over the last three decades, public–private partnership projects have emerged as strong alternative service delivery mechanisms to conventional public sector initiatives. The results, however, have been a mix of failures and successes. The determinants of success and failure of such arrangements have generated much interest among stakeholders and the research community, but the combinations of factors that influence the success of public–private partnership projects are relatively less researched. This article investigates the relationships among the complex factors that influence the success of such arrangements, using urban drinking water projects in India as an example. Eighteen projects were selected for the study and 11 factors affecting the project outcome (causal conditions) were identified based on the literature review. Fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis was conducted to understand which combinations of causal conditions potentially influence the outcome of a public–private partnership project. The analysis identified five causal solutions comprising seven to nine causal conditions each. Defining service standards in a manner that is amenable to measurement and public disclosure emerged as a necessary condition. Two causal solutions presented themselves with capacity of the public sector, and its consequent outputs, as a primary theme. Two other solutions have elements relating to appropriate project structure and baseline information as the key causal conditions. These causal solutions indicate the interrelationship between various factors that influence project performance and provide pointers for project proponents to focus on the causal conditions over which they have relatively better control, when configuring public–private partnership projects.

A rapid increase in land and property values has been one of the driving forces of urban ecosystem development in many countries. This phenomenon has presented project proponents/policymakers with multiple options and associated challenges, nudging them to configure or incorporate elements of land-based financing in their policies and legislations. Specifically, the Government of India and various state governments have sought to monetize land through diverse instruments, for augmenting the financial viability of infrastructure and area development projects. This paper compares Indian central and state infrastructure policies/acts with regard to land monetization strategies. The analysis indicates that policies and legislations are taking a turn towards promoting land monetization mechanisms as a financing tool for cities and project implementation agencies. However, the approach is cautiously used and implementation is often seen to fall behind actual project timelines. Based on the findings, key determinants of a successful policy that captures an increase in land values, are identified. The learnings provide useful inputs for states to strengthen their policy documents and legislative/institutional frameworks, for ensuring the effectiveness of land-based financing tools.

Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangements are perceived as compelling alternatives to traditional infrastructure development to raise finances and improve efficiency. However, with the substantial improvement in the provision of services through traditionally developed infrastructure, the benefits of PPP implementation need to be continually evaluated. This research investigates three categories of outcomes (educational, stakeholder satisfaction, and general outcomes) for schools in Melbourne implemented under PPP arrangement to those implemented under a traditional procurement method. Data Envelopment Analysis is used to assess the efficiency of these outcomes, based on the consumption of teaching, financial and physical resources. The results indicate that there is no substantial difference between the performance of both arrangements. While the schools implemented under the PPP arrangement have provided better education outcomes, the traditional schools perform better in stakeholder satisfaction and general outcomes. The results indicate that the policymakers need to evaluate infrastructure based PPP arrangements more closely and align with the desired outcomes.