Through the Looking-Glass: Select blogs from 2021

Before 2021 becomes a blur in our rear-view mirror, we've selected some of the blogs that shaped our thoughts over the past year as countries grappled with the "interlocking challenges of (infrastructure finance, COVID-19, and climate change) in a context of diminishing public resources," as our blogger Mónica Altamirano phrased it.

The effect of COVID-19 on infrastructure finance, including PPPs, remained an ongoing thread for the second year in a row. The same was true for how to deliver climate resilient infrastructure through the private sector-a hot topic in a year dominated by extreme weather events across the globe fueled by climate change. But what exactly do the rich lexicon of words being used to describe climate-resilient solutions mean? David Baxter helped us unravel that.

Our authors also explored specific tools and advice about how to deliver infrastructure with the private sector. Blogs on land value capture and asset recycling are notable examples.

Altamirano called for an urgent shift in our economic development paradigm and the need for three revolutions: in understanding, planning, and finance. Helga Van Peer summed up what many of us are wondering as we try to predict the future: "In a post-pandemic PPP world we are all Alice in Wonderland"-wondering where we go from here.

Imagine, this blog was written a year ago; few of us imagined so little would have changed.

Happy New Year to you all. This is a blog program that has an active community of readers 35K strong. We're grateful for your continued attention to our issues-even as the ground continues to shift beneath our feet.

Brave new world - the impact of COVID-19 on upcoming and ongoing PPP tenders

Helga Van Peer

Image of binoculars looking at PPPs in 2021 | Photo: © Rob Hyrons/Shutterstock

In a post-pandemic PPP world, we are all like Alice in Wonderland-wondering which way to go from here. So, what should upcoming PPP tenders look like to attract bidders? Pricing and planning a PPP that will run for decades is a tricky exercise. Doing so while trying to factor in the uncertainties of a pandemic and its resulting measures is almost impossible. What is the single most reliable way to predict future behavior? Looking at the present!

Empowering local people to engineer their own futures: a new infrastructure planning approach

Mónica A. Altamirano

Children in Nicaragua after receiving school supplies as part of the UNICEF response to Hurricanes Eta and Iota | Photo: © UNICEF

How can we deal with the interlocking challenges of infrastructure finance, COVID-19, and climate change in a context of diminishing public resources? We need an urgent shift in our economic development paradigm. We also need three revolutions: in understanding, planning, and finance. An effective place to start is to challenge the way we invest and rethink our planning processes.

How can we help Latin American cities finance urban development?

Vanessa Alexandra Velasco Bernal and Monica Almonacid

Colombian government officials planning TIF projects.

With scarce resources becoming scarcer, a type of land value capture called tax increment financing (TIF) is a new, viable alternative for municipalities that enables local governments to use the expected income from taxation on a designated territory to finance investments needed in urban infrastructure. Colombia was ripe to explore this opportunity. Learn why and what the steps were to develop the instrument. There's also a road map for cities willing to implement TIF to finance urban redevelopment projects.

Asset recycling in EMDE infrastructure development can be a win-win-win

Satheesh Sundararajan

Asset recycling offers an innovative approach to address the massive infrastructure funding gap | Photo: © metamorworks/Shutterstock

Asset recycling offers an innovative approach to address the massive infrastructure funding gap in emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) in a fiscally sustainable manner. But what is it and how with the right framework can it a win-win-win for the public sector, private sector, and for MDBs?

Putting words into action to implement sustainable & resilient infrastructure PPPs

David Baxter

Terms describing climate-resilient solutions can cause confusion | Photo: © GoodIdeas/Shutterstock

There's considerable confusion over what is meant by the rich lexicon of words being used to describe climate-resilient solutions to government's challenges. A clearer understanding of these concepts will result in policies and practices that can leverage all committed parties' objectives coherently to future-proof infrastructure. Fortunately, collaborative international efforts are underway to build resilience, sustainability, and adaptation into PPPs, and new resources provide best practices and critical considerations to consider.

Topics

Infrastructure & Public-Private Partnerships