Preliminary Feasibility Study for Road Projects Incorporating Balanced Regional Development
Namgeon Cho Director, Infrastructure Research Division, Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements (KRIHS), Republic of Korea, member of PIARC TC 1.4
Hyeon Park Executive Director, Public and Private Infrastructure Investment Management Center (PIMAC), Korea Development Institute (KDI), Republic of Korea.
Preliminary feasibility study (PFS), introduced in 1999 in the wake of financial crisis in Korea, has been an effective measure to select feasible projects incorporating balanced regional development policy goal as well as economic efficiency. A total of 200 PFS for road projects have been conducted since 1999, among which 57.5% were evaluated as feasible. PFS has induced informed decision in the budget allocation, enhancing efficiency of fiscal management by checking starts of unnecessary projects at their early stages. Due to its successful implementation, the PFS has been expanded to appraisals for local government projects and non-infrastructure programs, such as R & D and social programs, leading to improved public inquiry process in Korea.