Public Asset Management

Public asset management involves the planning, management, use, and disposal of public assets owned by governmental organizations. Several principles of public asset management include:

• Asset management decisions are integrated with the organization’s strategic planning process
• Asset planning decisions are based on an evaluation of alternatives that consider ‘life cycle’ costs, benefits, and risks of ownership
• Asset condition, use and performance are carefully tracked to establish a long-term perspective and accountability structure
• Asset disposal and acquisition decisions are based on a thorough analysis that will achieve the best available net return in an environment of social equity

Public practice landscape architects play an integral role in public asset management through their efforts to:

• Establish standards that are consistent with a level of service, reliability, and/or maximize use by the public
• Plan and design public assets that achieve multiple goals and objectives for health, safety and welfare, environmental resilience, and fiscal responsibility
• Use demand management techniques to maintain assets with a greater level of sustainability, to save money, and to reduce the demand for new assets.
• Establish maintenance requirements to ensure assets achieve useful functional life at optimum service delivery standards and minimize operating expenditures
• Achieve greater investment value through evaluating options for the cost of acquiring, developing, using, and maintaining assets.
• Examine reasons for under-utilization or poor performance of public assets, and take corrective actions
• Advise on public asset spending
• Evaluate the long-term viability of design elements