A regional environmental infrastructure management system for the Gaza Strip

Environmental Infrastructure in the Gaza Strip (GS) is a multidisciplinary sector related to provision of basic services of water supply, waste water, storm water drainage and solid waste disposal. The emerging institutions of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) are facing problems managing the poor physical facilities of the environmental infrastructure. The thesis assesses the current status of the environmental infrastructure in the GS within the context of designing a conceptual, sustainable and integrated Environmental Infrastructure Management Model (EIMM). This is the core of the research, which aims at making a contribution towards understanding and assessing Environmental Infrastructure Management (EIM) including the links to, and mandates of, the institutions involved in EIM tasks. In this context, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is introduced as a vital integrating element for EIM institutions. The lack of quantitative data on EIM in GS represents a major constraint, and therefore a well structured questionnaire was adopted for data collection. Reviews of the institutional set up of EIM in the UK, Israel, Jordan and GS were undertaken. To facilitate comparison among EIM systems, a Hybrid Comparative Technique (HCT) was developed aiming at highlighting strengths and weaknesses of the existing EIMM in GS, compared with other well established models elsewhere, to streamline institutional setup in GS. The quantitative information from the questionnaire is placed as triangulation alongside the qualitative data from the literature review to give further insight into the issues being studied. A SWOT analysis under different and political scenarios was the outcome of evaluating the performance of the new EIMM. The study showed that the EIM institutions in GS do not have clear mandates where roles and responsibilities overlap. New central Institutions are needed including central water, solid waste and GIS facilities. Privatization, human resource development, and customer satisfaction should all be considered.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo