Urban Infrastructure Innovation: The Contribution Ratio-Based Distance-to-Target Prioritization Method for Advanced Systems

Abstract

As urban infrastructure increasingly benefits from adopting advanced systems, several approaches for prioritizing their utilization in urban infrastructure planning have been proposed. However, more research focusing on prioritizing advanced systems in urban infrastructure is required, and many existing prioritization methods rely on subjective inputs to determine the weights (i.e., relative importance) of evaluation criteria. This paper introduces a contribution ratio-based distance-to-target (CR-DTT) method for prioritizing advanced systems to assist urban infrastructure innovation. The novel prioritization method combines DTT normalization and ratio-based weights, and consists of three modules: (a) hierarchy table preparation; (b) input of advanced systems information; and (c) advanced systems prioritization. Each module involves multiple steps that generate outputs, which serve as inputs for the subsequent modules. We applied the prioritization method to a case study involving urban roads to demonstrate its effectiveness in real-world settings. The newly presented CR-DTT prioritization method contributes to the current knowledge in the area of developing prioritization methods by developmentally combining the DTT normalization and the ratio-based weights approaches into a practical data-driven prioritization method, which addresses the temporal aspect of the input parameter and provides objective insights into how best to prioritize advanced systems to assist transparent and credible decision-making in relation to investment in urban infrastructure innovation.