Considering design and PPP innovation: A review of design factors in PPP research

It is claimed that the PPP procurement provides incentives that foster creativity and drive innovative outcomes. Key to this encouragement of innovation is the idea that when design risk is transferred in a PPP project this provides an incentive for better design and design quality. Compared to traditional procurement it is argued that PPP designs better address the project's fitness for purpose requirements prior to construction. Therefore, it is important to begin to understand how design might or might be a positive factor in PPP procurement. However, in the fields of construction economics and management design and construction are often seen as separate and distinct fields of knowledge. This is despite the fact that in theory they are integrated in the PPP model. This paper will begin to question this distinction by surveying how design has been examined in PPP research to date. In order to achieve this aim the methodology of this paper involves compiling all relevant PPP/PFI papers published in Construction Management and Economics and ASCE s Journal of Construction Engineering and Management since 2000. The information gathered is used to develop a simple taxonomy based on how design is recognised as a factor in these research narratives. The paper then discusses any obvious trends in the way that design has been treated as an object of research in the research reported in these journals. The results of this review will help to better position design as a relevant discourse in PPP research and point to a more integrated understanding of design and construction in future research.