Towards bottom-up decision making and collaborative knowledge generation in urban infrastructure projects through online social media

Abstract

Evolution of civil infrastructure from a technical artifact into an engineering system and a national asset over the past century has created a new discourse for development, construction, and management of infrastructure, which more and more emphasizes soft and subjective aspects of the system. Modern civil infrastructure is a complex system composed of the physical network of assets together with the social network of actors users, and their interactions through the operational processes of the system Lukszo Bouwmas, 2005.This defines a sociotechnical system whose behavior cannot be studied without respect to the associated agents and therelated social institutional infrastructure.This system will be governed by organizational policies as well as social norms and standards. Such a definition for civil infrastructure has improved the role of the society from customers and end users of a service into stakeholders who may influence specifications of the system.Thisnew role introduces new opportunities and challenges to domain decision makers. On one hand, it creates great opportunities for social engagement.