Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town, Private Bay, Rondebosch 7700, South Africa; Independent Economic Researchers, PO Box 1015, Green Point 8051, South Africa
Standish, B., Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town, Private Bay, Rondebosch 7700, South Africa; van Zyl, H.W., Independent Economic Researchers, PO Box 1015, Green Point 8051, South Africa
A recent environmental impact assessment of a proposed new toll road in Cape Town, South Africa raised some interesting questions, particularly with respect to the impacts of routing a road through an environmentally sensitive area. The paper discusses the challenges encountered in assessing the economic implications of this routing and how workable methodological solutions were arrived at. Our approach was to investigate the longer-term opportunity costs associated with the preferred routing. This was done through focusing on the strategic importance of the area without necessarily engaging in detailed quantification. © IAIA 2007.