To substantiate their big budgets, big projects promise big results. But the inherent time, complexity, and deal-making required to complete such projects is fertile ground for incompetence and corruption; or isn't it? A new study investigates.
"[T]he list of hectored mega-projects goes back years, all around the world: The Chunnel, The Big Dig, bullet trains in Japan and China," observes Anthony Flint. "The price tag is typically the number one concern, but so is the rationale, the usefulness, the promised economic development returns, and on to many other themes including the design, the execution, and the maintenance. There is an assumption as well that corruption works its way into all modern-day public works."
"But is that what happened?" asks Flint. In examining 30 case studies of $1 billion-plus mega-projects worldwide, a new study [PDF] by Harry Dimitriou, director of the Omega Centre at the Bartlett School of Planning at University College London, and his colleagues "found that most mega-projects were actually close to being on time and on budget."
"But the team looked well beyond the 'iron triangle' of fulfilled schedule, budget, and specifications — and indeed that is the major takeaway from the report: Big projects need to be judged for how they meet objectives over time, amid shifting societal, political, and environmental values."
FULL STORY: Are Mega-Projects Really As Bad As Everyone Says?

Rethinking Redlining
For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.

Montreal Mall to Become 6,000 Housing Units
Place Versailles will be transformed into a mixed-use complex over the next 25 years.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Santa Clara County Dedicates Over $28M to Affordable Housing
The county is funding over 600 new affordable housing units via revenue from a 2016 bond measure.

Why a Failed ‘Smart City’ Is Still Relevant
A Google-backed proposal to turn an underused section of Toronto waterfront into a tech hub holds relevant lessons about privacy and data.

When Sears Pioneered Modular Housing
Kit homes sold in catalogs like Sears and Montgomery Ward made homeownership affordable for midcentury Americans.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions