Synopsis
Megaprojects and Risk provides the first detailed examination of the phenomenon of megaprojects. It is a fascinating account of how the promoters of multi-billion dollar megaprojects systematically and self-servingly misinform parliaments, the public and the media in order to get projects approved and built. It shows, in unusual depth, how the formula for approval is an unhealthy cocktail of underestimated costs, overestimated revenues, undervalued environmental impacts and overvalued economic development effects. This results in projects that are extremely risky, but where the risk is concealed from MPs, taxpayers and investors. The authors not only explore the problems but also suggest practical solutions drawing on theory, experience and hard, scientific evidence from the several hundred projects in twenty nations and five continents that illustrate the book. Accessibly written, it will be the standard reference for students, scholars, planners, economists, auditors, politicians and interested citizens for many years to come.
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About the Authors
Bent Flyvbjerg is Founding Chair of Major Programme Management at Oxford University's Saïd Business School and Director of the Oxford Centre for Major Programme Management. Previously, he was Professor in the Department of Planning and Development at Aalborg University. He is the author of the highly successful Making Social Science Matter (Cambridge, 2001) and Rationality and Power (1998).
Nils Bruzelius is Associate Professor at Stockholm University and an independent consultant on transport and planning.
Werner Rothengatter is Head of the Institute of Economic Policy Research and of the Unit on Transport and Communication at the University of Karlsruhe, Germany. He is also the president of the World Congress on Transport Research Society (WCTRS).
From the Back Cover
"Anyone concerned with public works projects, planning, and ethics in public policy making should read this book. It provides a genuinely original perspective on why large complex projects often cost much more than their planners say they will, and treats this problem as a fascinating puzzle involving technical methods, professional ethics, and the politics of urban decision making". MARTIN WACHS, DIRECTOR OF INSTITUTE OF TRANSPORTATION STUDIES, PROFESSOR OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING, PROFESSOR OF CITY AND REGIONAL PLANNING, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY
"Reading this fascinating story of systematic cost overruns of megaprojects ever since the Suez Canal, of underestimation of environmental effects and overestimation of benefits, economic and otherwise, one is reminded of Enron and similar affairs. The study, led by the planning-theoretical beacon from Aalborg in Denmark, Bent Flyvbjerg, does not stop at muckraking, nor is its point the blanket condemnation of megaprojects. Rather, it recommends itself for making concrete and useful suggestions as to institutional safeguards for greater accountability, illustrated by a case study bringing the proposals to life." ANDREAS FALUDI, PROFESSOR OF URBAN PLANNING, UNIVERSITY OF NIJMEGEN, THE NETHERLANDS
"Megaprojects are the pyramids of today . . . For readers interested in project management, MEGAPROJECTS AND RISK is a must." BARBARA CZARNIAWSKA, PROFESSOR OF BUSINESS ECONOMICS, SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND COMMERCIAL LAW, GOTHENBURG UNIVERSITY
"Many people talk about deliberative democracy, but few have actually done it. MEGAPROJECTS AND RISK is an important contribution to the literature showing how it is possible for us to deliberate rationally and publicly about risk and those large-scale decisions that are increasingly the concern of modern politics." JAMES BOHMAN, DANFORTH PROFESSOR IN THE HUMANITIES, DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY, ST. LOUIS UNIVERSITY, MISSOURI
From the Inside Flap
"MEGAPROJECTS AND RISK is an important and innovative book. It should be required reading for any serious student of planning and project management, as well as for professionals concerned with the planning and financing of public projects". SIR PETER HALL, PROFESSOR OF PLANNING, BARTLETT SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON
"MEGAPROJECTS AND RISK: AN ANATOMY OF AMBITION provides a fascinating look at the pervasiveness of misinformation in the planning of major construction projects, and the systematic bias of such misinformation toward justifying project implementation. The power of its analysis is vastly reinforced by the range of cases examined, extending over seventy years and five continents. An extraordinary accomplishment, it will doubtless serve as the standard reference on this topic for many years to come". ALAN ALTSHULER, PROFESSOR OF URBAN POLICY AND PLANNING, KENNEDY SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT, HARVARD UNIVERSITY
"This book is a warning against the betrayal of public trust when hubris and profit come together. It shows that some decisions are too important to be left only to the accredited experts; that there is no substitute for a post-normal science involving citizens' active participation . . . We should all learn the lesson brought home by this book, and never accept uncritically the experts' magic numbers that are used to justify megaprojects." SILVIO FUNTOWICZ AND JERRY RAVETZ, AUTHORS OF UNCERTAINTY AND QUALITY OF SCIENCE FOR POLICY
"The book is of enormous practical relevance, written by a team whose empirical engagement with their material, and what important empirical and theoretical material it is, is exemplary . . . This is social science that matters, because it makes a difference." STEWART CLEGG, PROFESSOR OF MANAGEMENT, SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, SYDNEY
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