Abstract
<title>Abstract</title> <p>As the popularity of public-private partnerships has increased within the last two decades, so has the discussion around their success, resilience and risks. Despite the fact that a great deal of these partnerships focus on building and maintaining critical societal infrastructure, there is a notable research gap in how the closely related concepts of safety and security are formed in these partnerships. This paper provides a systematic literature review of the factors that positively or negatively affect safety and security in public-private partnerships in critical infrastructure, consequently addressing the question of how they are formed. The databases searched included Scopus, Web of Science, ProQuest Central and Sage Journals. The final searches were conducted in August 2025. Thirty original research papers discussing the topic in English and published over a 10-year period were located, evaluated, analyzed and synthesized. The findings indicate that the key factors associated with the formation of safety in critical infrastructure public-private partnerships differ from those associated with security. The findings suggest that safety is primarily associated with organizational commitment and operational practices, whereas security is more strongly linked to institutional coordination, regulation, and information sharing. The synthesis identified four interdependent domains through which safety and security are formed: organizational, contractual, governance, and relational. The findings contribute to advancing the understanding of how public-private partnerships in critical infrastructure should be formed to gain the most value in terms of safety and security.</p>