A Holistic Review of Public‐Private Partnership Literature Published between 2008 and 2018

Abstract

Adopting a holistic approach in the review of the public-private partnership (PPP) literature published since 2008 by incorporating scientometric analysis and further systematic analysis, this study aims to provide the big picture of the state-of-the-art research in PPP by addressing major issues and suggesting research trends in PPP. Following a three-step research methodology, this study started from a bibliometric analysis with science mapping to provide the state-of-the-art information on PPP research keywords, scholars, journal articles, institutions, and countries. A further systematic review was also conducted to identify future research directions of PPP in project management. The review of the existing literature in PPP revealed that there had been insufficient systematic approach in summarizing the research topics and proposing new research trends in PPP-related project management. It was further indicated that sustainability and innovation in PPP could be further studied, such as integrating building information modeling with PPP. Factors related to barriers in PPP implementation would continue growing. Future research directions in PPP were also proposed following the systematic review, for example, comparative studies of PPP practice between developing and developed countries. The current study provides a comprehensive approach by integrating bibliometric analysis, science mapping, and qualitative analysis in the latest PPP research. It reveals the contemporary research themes in PPP and provides directions for near-future directions of PPP research in project management.

Public–private partnership as a tool for sustainable development – What literatures say?

“…The key attributes, the best practices, as well as the barriers to PPP as to the tool for sustainable development, will offer new and interesting fields of research. Digital approaches will play a key role in sustainability‐oriented studies. Digital tools have been widely recognised as assisting decision‐making in the building industry (Ma, Li, Jin, & Ke, 2019); however, its application in PPP has rarely been examined by researchers. The potential of digital approaches, such as BIM and Mix Reality (MR), in assisting whole life design optimisation, whole life costing, integration of construction and the maintenance of assets at the early stage, should not be ignored.…”

A Scientometric Review of System Dynamics Applications in Construction Management Research

“…In this study, VOSviewer was chosen to draw science mappings, because it is suitable for larger networks and has special text mining capabilities [22]. In construction management research, VOSviewer has been employed by more and more researchers to construct science mappings, such as public-private partnerships [23], Building information modeling [24], and building control [25]. In addition, Zhao [26] indicated that this software could also be applied to other potential research areas.…”

“…been employed by more and more researchers to construct science mappings, such as public-private partnerships [23], Building information modeling [24], and building control [25]. In addition, Zhao [26] indicated that this software could also be applied to other potential research areas.…”

Toward Life Cycle Sustainability in Infrastructure: The Role of Automation and Robotics in PPP Projects

“…Public-private partnership (PPP) projects have gained worldwide popularity as an innovative method to deliver infrastructure, such as transport, water, waste, power, social and government infrastructure [1]. A public sector client initiates PPP projects with the key objective to procure public services at high quality in relation to the associated costs, and the PPP literature refers to this as Value for Money (VfM) over the project life cycle.…”