Framing flexibility: Theorising and data mining to develop a useful definition of flexibility and related concepts

Abstract

Flexibility is a term used in various fields with widely differing interpretations. Moreover, several related concepts, such as adaptability, exist that have an overlap in meaning or are simply used synonymously. This article presents a framing of flexibility, and three concepts with which it bears a close family resemblance, for the use in the context of infrastructure constellations. The definitions proposed in this frame draw inspiration from existing literature, though they are not based upon a classical literature review. Rather, a usable set of definitions is proposed for the intended context. The definitions all have the same structure to better appreciate how the concepts are related..