Transforming project evaluation from GDP and Country’s Efficiency to QOL and Individual’s Sufficiency

Yoshitsugu Hayashi is a distinguished scholar and leader in transport research, urban planning and sustainability. He is a Professor Emeritus at Nagoya University and Distinguished Professor at Chubu University. He has held key roles including Executive Committee Member of The Club of Rome, Immediate Ex-President (2013–2019) of the World Conference on Transport Research Society (WCTRS), President of the International Society for Systems Management and President of the Chubu Branch of the Engineering Academy of Japan.  He has served as Visiting Professor at the University of Leeds, the University of Dortmund, Tongji University, Distinguished Visiting Professor of Tsinghua University and as a Consultant to Toyota Motor Corporation for the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. Throughout his academic tenure, Hayashi has mentored numerous leaders in government, academia, and industry, both in Japan and internationally.  In research he has pioneered methodologies that integrate individual quality of life improvements into infrastructure planning evaluation, fundamentally reforming traditional cost-benefit analysis based on increase in GDP. His research has driven major research projects such as the JICA/JST SATREPS “Smart Transport Strategy for Thailand 4.0 Realisation,” the JST e-Asia “Airport-front Smart City” initiative, and high-speed rail studies for the Asian Development Bank Institute.  He is the author of approximately 50 books and over 250 academic papers. His contributions have been recognised with 21 awards, including paper prizes from the Japan Society of Civil Engineers, the Japan Real Estate Science Society, the Japan Society for Symbiosis with Environment, and the Society of Environmental Science, as well as a commendation from the Minister of the Environment.