Quantifying socioeconomic disruptions caused by construction in densely populated areas

Executing construction projects in densely populated areas can have significant impacts on the residents’ quality of life during the construction phase. The social and economic impacts of dense-urban construction are reported for projects undertaken in planned areas as well as unplanned areas (such as slums and squatters). These impacts include residents’ relocation, roads closure, loss of businesses’ income, high noise levels, and temporary disruptions to essential services. On the other hand, socioeconomic disruptions resulting from poorly planned projects in densely populated areas generate resistance among residents to the executed projects, which in turn affects the success of the these projects. The objective of this paper is to present an assessment model capable of estimating and quantifying the level of socioeconomic disruptions expected to be experienced by residents of densely populated areas. This assessment model utilized GIS capabilities and can evaluate candidate construction plans in order to support decision makers in planning for such challenging projects. To this end, this model incorporates four newly developed socioeconomic metrics that are designed to assess (1) the travel delays due to roads closure and detours; (2) number of relocated residents during construction; (3) loss of income due to businesses closure or reduced accessibility; and (4) inconvenience due to high noise levels. In order to demonstrate the model capabilities, its assumptions, and underlying computations, a case study of an upgrading project in a densely populated area in Giza, Egypt is presented.