Green business park project management: Barriers and solutions for sustainable development

Abstract Green Business Parks (GBPs) are getting an increasing interest from both the private and public sectors since GBPs is a way of achieving more sustainable industrial and business development. However, the adoption of GBPs still encounters impediments because there is a lack of proper project management framework for such projects. Therefore, the objectives of this study are to: (1) investigate and assess the barriers hindering the adoption of GBPs; (2) assess the impact of the barriers on project management goals; and (3) propose feasible solutions for overcoming current barriers and thus promoting the adoption of GBPs. To achieve the objectives, 15 barriers and 21 solutions were identified from a comprehensive literature review. Through a questionnaire survey with 40 experts in Singapore and post-survey interviews, the results first revealed that the top three barriers were “perceived higher initial capital costs”, “uncertain trade-off between environmental and financial benefits” and “lack of government support”. Moreover, the client related barriers had the most significant impacts on three project objectives which are cost, schedule and quality. In addition, all barriers had more impact on project cost than project schedule and quality. In addition, “government’s co-funding and incentives for training and technologies”, “policies and regulations for green industrial development” and “collaboration with research institutes and firms to study the benefits of GBPs” were identified as most feasible solutions to overcome the significant barriers. The findings of this study not only bridge the gap between knowledge and practice of the developments of GBPs but also provide useful outcomes about barriers and solutions for practitioners to avoid traps and ultimately achieve the sustainable industrial and business development.